Carve out small blocks of time to spend together talking throughout each day, like while driving, during meals, and before bed. Encourage your kids to ask you hard questions and not hesitate to express their doubts and fears to you as you seek God together. Speckle your conversations with both grace and truth. Never downplay their concerns or mock or ignore their opinions. Respect their thoughts and feelings, and help them learn to process them well and listen to others’ perspectives too.

See your kids as windows. Allow your children to become the windows through which you see and experience God. Value your kids’ intrinsic worth, realizing that when you welcome them, you’re actually welcoming Jesus into your life. Invite God to use your kids to shape you and teach you important lessons like slowing down, seeking and finding Him, and trading seriousness for playfulness. Through your children, you can see yourself and where you are in your relationship with Jesus. Ask God to help you notice the ways He is working through your kids. Regularly ask yourself how your children have helped you grow closer to Jesus lately.

Make your home a haven. Create an environment in your home that helps you connect your kids to God and to you. Let your home serve as a sanctuary from life’s storms – a place your kids want to come home to and bring their friends. Make your home a place where your children can be completely themselves and express all of their emotions. Assure your kids that you love them regardless of what they do or say. Speak kind words often in your home. Welcome your children’s hard questions. Be there for your kids at home as often as possible.

Limit TV shows, movies, and Internet sites that you allow your kids to access in your home, taking care to protect them from unhealthy content such as the kind that glorifies violence or sexual perversion. Encourage your kids to play outside often. Cry alongside your kids when they’re sad, and rejoice with them when they’re celebrating something. Give them time to be carefree and make happy childhood memories. Read to them often. Laugh with them. Teach them how to discover God’s presence in the mundane, such as when they’re doing household chores.

Embrace the arts. Help your kids appreciate and participate in the arts, which is vital to engaging with postmodern people. Encourage them to discover and develop their talents, and use them in creative ways. Use art to respond to the Scripture you read together. Visit art museums. Go outside to notice God’s creativity displayed in nature. Read, imagine, and tell stories together. Make art journals. Attend cultural events, like art, music, or food exhibitions. Listen to different styles of music together. Have an open mind about trying new things so you can all learn something new as a family.