Recently I was sitting with our almost one-year-old daughter when our 3-year-old son pretended to make a phone call with the TV remote. He often mimics daily life behaviors that he sees around him.
He will pretend to call Grandma or Grandpa. He will “play emails” or say he is going to the grocery store.
On this occasion, he said he was calling our pastor on the phone and proceeded to ask me if we had cucumbers, so he could tell our priest if we did or not. This is especially funny because he does not like cucumbers, but, in his little imaginative way, he must think that our pastor does (or that we should get them if we are expecting company).
Our children are sponges. We hear this all the time as we are raising children. This becomes more and more evident with time.
There are times that my husband, Brad, and I sit and look at each other and ask, “Did you teach him that?” Thankfully, these are usually sweet moments where we see that our son is absorbing the good in the world around him.
This imitation that we see is present in our faith lives as well. As parents, we are the primary educators of the faith for our children. Day by day they learn what a life of faith looks like.
Lately, we have been working on making the sign of the cross. While our son had a general idea, we still need to take the lead in helping him learn it correctly so that it becomes a firmer, lasting habit.
Even as adults, sometimes we need to take time to reestablish or change our own habits. Just like we want our son to make the sign of the cross correctly, sometimes we too need to look at our own lives and consider where our habits might need attention or renewal.
Whether you make New Year’s resolutions or not, there is something nice about opening a new paper calendar and being able to throw the old one away. It is a clean slate – not only on paper, but mentally and spiritually as well.
While any time of the year is a good time to draw closer to the Lord – and we shouldn’t wait for the “ideal time” – we can still take advantage of the New Year’s spirit and make changes for ourselves and our families. I encourage you to consider what that might look like for you and your family.
Perhaps it means praying before all meals. For others, it might be receiving the sacrament of reconciliation quarterly. For some, maybe this coming year is time to recommit to attending Mass every Sunday.
All of these can be challenging no matter our phase of life.
The Lord sees our efforts and wants to draw into a deeper relationship with us and our children. Making changes in our daily spiritual lives is not always easy, but it is necessary for our sake and especially for those entrusted to us.
Our children watch what we do and mirror it back to us. We as parents are especially called to examine our lives of faith and look for those opportunities to grow.
We are called to live our lives in the Lord. Jesus says, “Abide in me, and I, in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I, in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4–5).
It might be difficult to hear that we can do nothing apart from the Lord. There is also comfort in knowing that we do not have to figure everything out on our own.
With all of this, let us enter the new year seeking the Lord and striving to remain in Him. Let this be a time to reflect on how the Lord might be calling us to more, and allow Him to shape us.
Our souls need it and our children need to see it. If we hope for them to live lives of faith, they depend on us to show them how.
Call it a New Year’s resolution, but whatever it is, let it be visible to your children. You might not know what they are absorbing, but let what they absorb from you be a mirror.