Saturday, my son got married. We celebrated as a family together with a ceremony, music, a dinner with over 200 of their close family and friends and, finally, with dancing. This wedding marks a milestone for me, now all of my children are married. We celebrated and remembered God’s faithfulness during this event. In big events like this Christian families like mine are good at making sure that we take moments to bring God’s place in this event to the front of our minds. There were times specifically that we talked about God and talked to God–both in the ceremony and at the reception. In small events in our lives we’re not quite so good. We need to be more intentional about bringing God’s place in our lives to the fore in our everyday lives.
In Seamless Faith: Simple Practices for Daily Family Life, Traci Smith gives many practical ways to make the practices of daily life practices of faith. For a high school graduation the author suggests giving a new pair of shoes or a gift card for shoes to the graduate. She includes the words to use for a ceremony or for a prayer such as: “God, thank you for being with (Graduate’s name) every step of the way, from preschool through high school. Please continue to guide his/her steps wherever you lead. Amen.” She also includes ways to vary or change the idea such as filling shoes with gift cards for gifts, making footprints when children enter school or decorating shoes.
There are literally dozens of other ideas in this this book for all stages of family life, including ceremonies for difficult times. It is a great resource for parents and grandparents who want to integrate faith into all the parts of life.
Comments
Thank you, Laura, for this lovely post on my book! If people are interested in checking it out, they can find it at Chalice Press or Amazon
Congratulations to you on your son's wedding; what a joyous occasion!
This book inspired me to start a new family tradition for Pentecost! I like the ideas involving kites and wind that the author suggested for Pentecost, but I've always noticed a certain flower that blooms in the spring that reminds me of a flame. So my family (which includes my husband and two-year-old daughter) planted an orange celosia plumosa flower as we talked about the Pentecost story. Then we sang a simple song that I learned through the Little Lamb's curriculum which is set to the tune of the Farmer in the Dell:
The birthday of the church!
The birthday of the church!
We celebrate Pentecost, the birthday of the church!
The wind was very strong
The Holy Spirit came,
Disciples told of Jesus love and praised his holy name!
We will probably outgrow that song as my kids grow up, but I hope to continue planting the flower each year! Now it sits in a pot near our deck reminding us of the important day when the Holy Spirit came in a new way. My daughter waters it while she plays with her water table and sings the Pentecost song!
Thank you for sharing this, Laura! I like the idea of honoring the small occasions in our family's life. Our oldest child recently graduated the eight grade, and her school doesn't have a ceremony or anything to mark it, but I have been wondering how our family might mark, even in a small way, this milestone in her life as she sets of for high school. I am eager to check this book out.
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