A New Way to Parent

Sunday our family missio community Arbors met with a new focus for the Winter/Spring. We are learning to parent with a bunch of shapes! No, really, we are learning to use the 3dministries LIfeshapes as a tool to help spiritually form our children.

Missio Lux realizes that one of it's biggest calls it to come alongside parents and equip them to love their children into following Jesus. It is by recognizing that we are the main modelers of our faith to our children that we realize that we need tools to help shape them, just as a carpenter needs tools to shape the wood, or an artist needs brushes to paint their picture.

Lifeshapes is a great tool to give to parents to not only teach their children; but to learn how to walk the Jesus Lifestyle themselves. The first tool is the Learning Circle which starts with a Kairos Moment. This is everything stops and we realize that God is trying to get our attention. When he gets our attention, he wants us to do something and it usually involves us changing our minds about something, or as the Jesus tells us in Mark 1:14-15: Repent. . . for the Kingdom of God is at hand.

To repent is as simple as changing our mind. It is to give up our mistaken belief and take on Christ's mind. Of course, life isn't as easy as changing our mind because a mind change demands a behavior change: this is the action step of Belief.

So, we learned a lot Sunday. We all started out together as we heard stories from the adults of ways that they made mistakes, or sinned, as children. One woman shared that she left off a friend from her neighborhood party. This made such an impression on her that she is probably the biggest includer of other people that I know.

After we had opened up the idea together; the kids went off to play the lifeshapes game. It resembled Mother May I as when they heard kairos, they had to stop. We have to make an observation to have a kairos moment and that involves a pause. They had to turn around with repent: changing our mind. When they heard believe, they moved forward. Sounded like fun to be, I was rather wishing I was with the kids moving all around as they observed the atmosphere of lots of families, kids aged 3 to 11, all together enjoying one another and being loved by many beyond their own parents.

Stay tuned for the rest of the story for Arbors Family Missio Community. We just may stop for a kairos moment and share it with you on the blog!