Matt Bonaimé

Dear Friends,

In reading Psalm 78: 3-7, one verse stood out to me: “We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord.” 

As my wife Alice and I watch our kids near adulthood, I often think that one of the most challenging aspects of parenting is sharing our faith with our kids.

How do we teach our children the beliefs given to us by our own parents? How do we engage with our children within the context of our faith? How do we make our faith relatable and engaging when the world seems to be moving towards quick bites and immediate gratification? 

While I don’t know the answers to these questions, I realize that so much of what we decide to share with our children appears to be influenced by what our own parents taught us. Alice and I come from different cultures and faith backgrounds. This impacts how we discuss teachings but does not change the underlying message.

When it comes to engaging with the kids, each of our children seems to relate to God and their faith in their own unique way. One may prefer to share his time with ministries, while another may ask us tough questions at the most unexpected time. We manifest our faith in different ways.

One of the points that Sarah Condon made during her talks at the Chapel Rock retreat in Flagstaff was that we often seek control as parents. An epiphany I had as a parent was that control is futile. Setting examples or guiding our kids in the right direction may be a more effective way of letting them live out their spirituality. Engaging with them when the tough questions are asked seems to be more effective than a lecture, even if we do not have all of the answers to their questions. 

In all this, one of the greatest gifts we have as parents is to watch our children grow into adults with a set of values that reflects what we have strived to teach them.

Blessings,

—Matt