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When God places a child in your life—whether as family or friend, but especially as parent, grandparent, or godparent—you are being called to a vocation of loving leadership. The Holy Spirit gives you the desire and ability to live joyfully with the child enveloped in the arms of the Savior, here and into eternity. By grace, the Holy Spirit instills a "fragrance" to your family: "For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing" (2 Corinthians 2:15). This day, how does your family smell? As a loving Christian family leader, you strive to in- struct and model faith to this child, accompanied by values and thankful stewardship behaviors centered in God's will. This will help the child become a fruitful, respectful, perseverant, moral, compassionate, and Christ-purposed citizen of the family, faith community, and civic community. This is, indeed, a daunting task in a society characterized by rapid change, high anxiety, myriad unhealthy and self-harming choice options, and the breakdown of the family unit as the foundation of safety, stability, and faith formation. To define our family wellness dilemma more succinctly, contemporary families are struggling to emit a Christ- like aroma of meaning and purpose in an environment focused on spewing forth what is best for me as an individual rather than what is best for we as a healthy personal, faith, or civic family. A healthy family remains the finest sustainable workshop for learning to build and refine God-pleasing relationships; God designed us this way. God calls us His children through Baptism. He nurtures His relationship with us through the Word and Sacraments. He gifts us His Spirit to help our rela- tionship with Him grow and mature. And His Son, our brother, Jesus, will return on the Last Day to bring well- ness and wholeness not just to we His children but also to all of creation. God so loves His family and desires us to live sweetly with Him. This day, how does your family smell? In a stinky human neighborhood scented by a self-cen- tered, sinful focus on me, how does a healthy Christian family build caring, outward-serving, Christ-fragranced, we relationships? "How did our parents do it?" I asked a wise Lutheran pastor friend a few years back, and he had an assured answer: "We ate twenty-one meals a week together. We prayed together before and after each meal, and we had family devotions every evening. We worked out our smelly struggles together around the kitchen table." While that may seem like a nearly impossible task in the twenty-first century, family mealtime remains the perfect method and ingredient for building and deep- ening relational we living and serving. Children do not merely hear how their parents and siblings treat and talk with one another; they also observe how those closest to them deal with people outside the immedi- ate family. Children are remarkable sponges, especially as their bodies are being refueled. Remember, in the family, we have an opportunity to nurture not just their physical beings with healthy nutrition, exercise, and rest but also their minds, emotions, and spirits with loving communication. Particularly around the dinner table, we can share and instruct them in God's Word. Surely, the Holy Spirit is amid this holy gathering time of family. Occasionally, mealtime togetherness may not be avail- able to provide a wellness pause-point; but there is always bedtime to settle your child into restoring rest. Moments of closeness at the end of the day are unique times for unpacking the day's burdens in conversation with each other and with our heavenly Father in prayer. With the Spirit's presence, we can perfume our child's soul in Jesus, who has kept us this day, who hears our cries for the forgiveness of our sins, and who will surely keep us this night. As loving family leaders and as young ones, we sleep every night, God willing. This, indeed, is a sweet-smelling wellness fragrance for life and service together. w A well family is more than just physically healthy; it's mentally, emotionally, and spiritually healthy as well. Find out how to implement things that encourage this all-encompassing wellness with Dr. John D. Eckrich by using the five core value sets and God's Word. Find this title and others listed in this magazine at cph.org/llresources. FAMILY WELLNESS Lutheran Life 21

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