Making Time for What’s Important
Dear Momma,
I’ve heard momma’s ask questions that I hear again and again. Maybe you are asking some of these questions, too.
How do I get my children in the Word?
How can I help them love the Bible, or maybe just…read it?
How can my children develop friendships with other kids who are believers (inside and outside of church on Sunday’s)?
How can we develop real community within this fast-paced society we live in?
Where do I even start with any of this?
I’ve had these same questions as my girls were young, and here are a few things I’ve learned along the way.
Pray about it.
I’ve prayed for my girls’ relationship with the Lord, very specifically. I’ve prayed for me to be the model He has called me to be for them. Praying over my daughters, their relationships (current and future) is something I will continue to do. I’ve prayed that our home is one that the Lord will use for His glory.
Put it on the calendar.
Our family is busy. Very busy. Multiple sports teams, student councils, broadcast classes, school and more. Times 3 girls. If we don’t have a day of rest on the calendar, it won’t happen. If we don’t make time for studying the Word as individuals, as a family and with others, it doesn’t happen (consistently, at least). So, my husband and I will sit and plan for this time with the Lord as individuals, as a family and with the girls and their friends. If it’s not on the calendar, it probably doesn’t matter that much to us, I suppose. If it’s planned, it’ll happen. During this process, we’re reminded that we serve the greatest Planner of all time.
Prepare.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I question how ‘qualified’ I am to ‘lead’ anything. If this is you, this is a friendly reminder that the voice you’re hearing here is NOT from the Lord. Pray about the season of life your daughters are in and what message might be impactful for this season. Find the study. Go through the study yourself first. This is a pattern that has worked well for me.
Invite others and make it happen.
As our girls grow up, their peer group can be one of the most influential people in their lives. Knowing this, my husband and I have always wanted to invite this group over. Pray with this group. Feed this group. Read and study the Word with this group. We try to make this a pattern in our household with the girls and friends they’re growing up with. Our groups over the years didn’t always meet regularly due to schedules and vacations. However, we work around these things to establish rhythms of coming together. Our groups have seasons where we’ve met more regularly and other seasons, like this past summer, where we set a goal and met when we were able to do it. The ‘group’ changes year to year, and book to book. God will always place the right people at the right time, if we ask Him. This is a reminder that sometimes it’s messy. And that’s ok. Keep stepping into this time with your girls, their friends, and their friends' moms, too. It’s always worth it.
Have fun!
We make time to Study the Word, but during this time we also make time to eat together, play games together and hang out. At then end of the study, we always try to do something different, something fun together. (Look for ideas at the end of this letter! After this particular study we did together, we found an amazing local ceramics shop and the girls took a pottery class and had a BLAST! The focus of the study was around the girls identity in Christ. We connected being formed by our Heavenly Father just as we form and mold the beautiful creations the girls were creating.)
Side Note: I first began ‘mother and daughter book studies’ years ago. We were reading about Jesus with our girls at home, but I found that it was important for me to be creative with others as we were getting started. The first book the girls, their friends and mom’s ever read together was in 2016 and it was not a book about Jesus, as I was finding most of the moms weren’t comfortable or interested in Him being the focus at this time.
So, I found books that had some themes focused on loving others, treating others with kindness, etc. The bigger focus was getting girls and moms, at a young age, used to talking. The bigger picture is that by the time my girls, and all of the girls, would be in middle school, they would have a strong foundation of talking through things and doing so in a community of other girls and momma’s.
By the way, the first book we read was called A Hundred Dresses. My girls, to this day, remember this book.
I’m hopeful this can inspire you to make this time and space happen within your household with your daughter and folks within your sphere of influence. If we as parents aren’t making time for this with our families and our children, who is? Where and when does the studying happen? Where does the connection and community happen? This is, after all, how the Church works. We connect, we break bread together and we sit in the Word together.
If you’re still reading this with me, I’ve shared an example of a study we’ve done in our household. If you’ve never led a group before, this is a great place to start. Use it, edit it and personalize it for you and yours.
Before diving into the Defined study, we watched the movie, Overcomer, together and went through the study as well. I strongly suggest watching this movie together before diving into the Defined study. It’s a beautiful movie. Again, the girls remember this movie to this day. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room when we watched it together.
Let’s turn our Eyes to Jesus because it’s all for His Glory.
In love,
Kassie Leigh
Interested in beginning a study with your daughter and some friends? Look below!
Good morning friends!!
I hope that the end of this school year is treating you well. Several of you and your daughters were part of our last Bible study. This summer I'm going to be leading the girls through our next Bible study. The 8-session Bible Study for girls is called Defined and was written by Priscilla Shirer. It's kind of a part-2 of the Overcomer study we did this past semester. If you're new and didn't join us last time, it's totally all good! You're still here at the perfect time!
How our time together will look:
Girls will get together at our house (and we will also use Marci's home too-thanks for the offer:). We will have snacks/appetizers for the girls. We will begin with prayer and then watch a 10-15 minute video clip from Priscilla Shirer. After that, I'll be getting the girls a journal with some pens (colorful ones OF COURSE!!) for some journaling time/reflection time independently, followed by small group discussion. This study has daily things for the girls to do as well. Just like last time, if you get to everything, GREAT! If you don't, GREAT! We all have different things going on, so I do NOT want this to be a high pressure type of thing. The goal is to get our girls closer to Jesus and each other!
Getting schedules together at any point with momma's who have multiple kiddos is not IMPOSSIBLE, but let's be honest, it's close to it (LOL)! So, with that being said, I'm wanting to begin sharing dates and aligning calendars to see who would be able to join and IF you're able to join, see how often.
Here are the dates and times that I have for this summer:
1. Sunday, June 4th
2. Sunday, June 25th
3. July 8th
4. July 16th
5. Sunday, July 23rd (We might have to do Saturday this weekend possibly.)
6. Sunday, July 30th
7. Sunday, Aug. 20th
8. On Saturday, Aug. 26th, Priscilla Shirer is actually coming to Kansas City!! (Thank you Marci for sharing this!). This will be our last day together as a group IF you're interested in joining this day. I love Priscilla Shirer and think it will be an amazing day. What perfect timing, too!!
Here is the event: https://www.lifeway.com/en/events/going-beyond-live/going-beyond-kansas-city
**I have already purchased tickets for my girls to go. Tickets are cheaper if they are purchased in bulk of 5 or more. So, if you're interested, let me know and we can organize that so it's cheaper for everyone:)
I'm thinking the time that might work best would be later in the afternoon or early evening.
Please let me know a few things:
1. Is your daughter interested?
2. What dates work for you from the above list?
3. If Sunday's aren't an option for you, what's a better day?
If you're interested, your daughter will need to have this book:
https://www.lifeway.com/en/product/defined-teen-girls-bible-study-book-P005815892
**I'm sure there might be a cheaper option somewhere in the world if you're interested in looking.
That's kind of a lot! However, I think it will be a really great thing for our girls as they continue to walk through pre-teen years together.
Talk soon,
Kass