Faith Forward Family Devotional

Do you need a devotional to help connect your family? With 100 devotionals, Faith Forward Family Devotional by authors Patrick and Ruth Schwenk equips parents to raise faith-filled kids who know, love, and live for God. Somewhere between diapers and sippy cups, piano lessons and soccer practice, dating and college searches, even the most well-intentioned family can lose sight of creating a God-centered home. As parents of four, pastor Patrick Schwenk and his wife, Ruth, of The Better Mom blog, understand the challenges--and importance--of raising faith-filled kids. Patrick and Ruth help you pass on your faith with devotions you can do at your own pace as a family. Each devotion features a Bible passage, a teaching that's applicable for kids of any age, key ideas to learn about God and His character, questions to spark family discussion, and a prayer. Faith Forward Family Devotional is aimed primarily at families with kids ages 8-12, but it also includes ideas for activities for younger children and recommendations for further study for older kids, so the whole family can join in the devotional gathering. You've passed down to your kids your last name, your love, and maybe your sense of humor or favorite hobbies. But have you passed down the most important thing: your faith? Faith Forward Family Devotional helps you grow closer to your kids as they grow closer to God. Whatever season of parenting you are in, sharing this devotional time together will help your children nourish a faith that lasts a lifetime.

Kids are wrestling with tough issues these days—peer pressure, purpose, unexpected change or loss, and wondering where their faith fits in with it all. Roar Like a Lion encourages your kids to "run toward the roar" as they face their fears, knowing that God is with them every step of the way. Pastor and bestselling author Levi Lusko is known for making tough topics accessible while drawing his readers toward a richer spiritual life. In his first children's devotional for ages 6 to 10, Levi tackles real issues our kids face with a lighthearted and approachable tone. Kids are equipped to approach both fun moments and tough times with their hearts set on God's faithfulness with the help of fascinating stories and facts, eye-catching art, Bible verses, prayers, and simple action steps. This 90-day devotional covers highly relevant topics such as: facing fears about school and friendships having courage to try something new handling new challenges, past disappointments, and grief dealing with peer pressure and bullying understanding how we each fit into God's great story As a parent and pastor, Levi is able to address real-life situations with compassion, grace, and biblical authenticity. Roar Like a Lion is a great way to spark discussion with your kids on meaningful topics and get them in the habit of reading a biblically-based devotional. Offering practical approaches to faith in everyday life, Roar Like a Lion will inspire your kids to nurture their personal faith in a God strong enough to protect and guide them as they run toward the roar during the challenges in their lives.

Knowing how to nurture faith in young people is a challenge, particularly when we want to encourage a faith that is generous, innovative, and contextual. Faith Forward gathers 21 presentations from the 2012 "Children, Youth, and a New Kind of Christianity" conference held in Washington, D.C., and makes them available for those in ministry with children and youth, pastors, parents, professors - anyone called to help young people on their journey of faith. Authors and attendees alike came from several countries and many denominational inflections. Likewise, the chapters express various contemporary takes on Christian faith and discipleship. This book is a goldmine of information and inspiration for those seeking to engage children and youth in respectful conversation, exploration, and learning in today's complex world. If you are seeking grassroots, forward-thinking, ecumenical, innovative, and collaborative ways to do children and youth ministry, then this book provides the material to move you in that direction.

Mothering is messy. Our joy and hope in raising children doesn’t change the reality that being a mom can be frustrating, stressful, and tiring. But just as God is using us to shape our children, God is using our children and motherhood to shape us. In The Better Mom, author Ruth Schwenk, herself a mother of four children, encourages us with the good news that there is more to being a mom than the extremes of striving for perfection or simply embracing the mess. We don’t need to settle for surviving our kids’ childhood. We can grow through it. With refreshing and heartfelt honesty Ruth emboldens moms to: Find freedom and walk confidently in purpose Create a God-honoring home environment Overcome unhealthy and destructive emotions such as anger, anxiety, and more Avoid glorifying the mess of mom-ing or idolizing perfection Cultivate life-giving friendships At the heart of The Better Mom is the message that Jesus calls us to live not a weary life, but a worthy life. We don’t have to settle for either being apathetic or struggling to be perfect. Both visions of motherhood go too far. Ruth offers a better option. She says, “It’s okay to come as we are, but what we’re called to do and be is far too important to stay there! The way to becoming a better mom starts not with what we are doing, but with who God is inviting us to become."

Many parents are searching for ways to bond as a family while encouraging spiritual growth in their kids. The One Year Classic Family Devotions provides a full year of devotions and activities designed to strengthen family time and deepen spiritual awareness. Each devotion includes a story about children and other family members, fostering personal connection with the content. Lessons come from the child’s perspective at times and from the parents at other times. An activity page is included every seven days as an additional source of ideas for families to use in their time together.

Most Christian parents dream of raising children who will love God with their whole being and seek to serve Christ with their very lives. However, sometimes parents feel they lack solid Christian role models for their children outside of their family. Our kids need Christian heroes. Courageous Christians, by Joyce Brown, is just the family reader we need to fill this gap! The vast array of men, women, and children profiled in this book give everyone someone with whom to identify. These personalities are from different parts of the world and different time periods. These are people who have moved mountains with their faith, had courage beyond belief, and have demonstrated selfless, sacrificial love. Courageous Christians is a book that can be used by families with children of all ages. Joyce Brown provides clear, simple, well-explained stories of various Christian heroes. With sixty daily readings, this book will provide a perfect format for family devotions. This delightful family reader will teach children and parents alike what truly makes a Christian hero.

Your Storm Doesn’t Have to Sink You At some point in our lives, we all find ourselves in a boat in the middle of a lake. We might be there due to a job loss or the death of a loved one. Maybe disability, divorce, or financial insecurity has stranded us. Patrick and Ruth Schwenk found themselves feeling battered after five miscarriages and then surrounded by the waves with Patrick’s cancer diagnosis at age forty-three. They were alone. Drifting. And that’s when their transformation began. In this compassionate and powerful book, the Schwenks weave together lessons from their own experience with insightful Bible teaching to remind us that one of the greatest ways God transforms us is through trials. As they unpack why Jesus called the disciples into the middle of a lake when dry ground was so safe and comfortable, they help us understand why the depth of our hurt enables us to experience deep hope; learn to conquer fear to experience the freedom God has for us; and discover how God uses chaos, and not just the classroom, to shape and work through us. Today—in your confusion about God’s intentions, your disappointment over lost dreams, your disillusionment about prayer—God is offering hope. Because Jesus is still Lord over the water. And while he is not moved by the waves, he is moved by you. And this flood might just be a path to abundance. “A powerful reminder that our current reality is not our final reality, and God is Lord over all chaos and suffering!” —Candace Cameron Bure, actress and New York Times bestselling author

As the meal comes to a close, family members can alternate turning to the dinner-table devotion for that day. The result is a meaningful daily discussion in which every family member can participate, drawing the whole family closer to God and each other.