What if your child grows up knowing the Bible stories of David and Daniel, but never hears how God has been faithful to your own family? We absolutely want our children to know the stories of scripture, but we also want them to begin recognizing that the same faithful God they read about in the Bible is at work in their real life and in real life. So today we're talking about why intentionally remembering the works of God matters and what you can actually do to help your 8 to 12year-old recognize God's faithfulness before the teen years. And I'm joined today by Donna Martin. Donna is a pastor, therapist, author, wife, and mom who has spent years serving women and young people, including through her work with the Joy Company and helping families take faith beyond Sunday morning. Welcome, Donna, to the Faith Mom Mentor. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me on. It's a blessing. I'm honored to be here. Well, we're glad that you're here. And I want to start with a big question behind this entire conversation. Yeah. Why is it so important that our children not only know what God did in the Bible, but also hear us talk about what God has done in our lives and in our families. You know, I think the power of testimony is so important, right? The Bible says uh in Revelation that we overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. And it's easy for our kids to, you know, read the scriptures and think, "Oh, that happened so long ago or those happened with those people." But when you start to tell them your story of how God has shown up in your life in the same way that he showed up in Daniel's life or in David's life, that God shows up for us personally. I think you introduced them to not just a story book God, but a very real personal God who puts stories in the Bible so that we can relate to him uh in truth and and in reality. And so kids need to know he's not it's not a fairy tale. He's not a storybook god. This is not like we're reading, you know, Pinocchio. This is a real relational God who interacts with us and wants a relationship with us. I think that's so important. A lot of times we do say our Bible story for today is and the kids can start to associate that with books like Pinocchio and that sort of thing. And so I really think many loving Christian moms might hear this and say, "But we're in church. My child goes to Sunday school and they're hearing about God." So why is it important? Why do our children need more than regular church attendance if we want faith to become something they recognize and live out personally? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Bara research even says that a child needs about seven people in their life for their faith to remain and stay steadfast. And so that's mom and dad, that's a grandma, that's an auntie, that's a teacher, it's a youth pastor, it's a counselor, Christian counselor, it's uh seven people, a mentor, about seven people. And maybe not consistently, but over time, kids need to be surrounded by at least seven people who are active in their faith, who love God, and lead lives of, you know, uh, godly lives before them. So, it's not just about the act of going to church. Again, it's this very practical, real I walk with God every single day. And that's how they connect. Oh, this isn't just a place that we go as a family. God lives here. He lives in me. He lives in our family. He guides our family. He walks with our family. And I think that that's really important. And kids need to see this is not just a religious experience, which going to church, obviously my kids go to church every single Sunday, but we don't want it to just be a religious experience where they're only experiencing God at church. We want them to know, hey, you can experience God at home. You can experience God in your own prayer time, at school, wherever you are. And we put people in their lives that are not um that so it's not just mom and dad's voice that are speaking truth over them, but they hear it again from a youth pastor, a grandma, an aunt, a mentor, a Christian counselor, a camp counselor. They have to have those witnesses around them for that faith to be lasting. That is so good. And for the mom who's realizing this for the first time, I've got another question to ask you. But before we go further, if you want practical help preparing your 8 to 12year-old to recognize God and walk with him, please like this video so more moms raising twins can find this kind of help, too. So, let's say, Donna, that the mom realizes, I really haven't told my child many of my faith stories. How can she begin telling an 8 to 12 year old about times God has been faithful to her without turning every conversation into like a lecture or making the story all about her? Yeah, absolutely. I think it's in those practical moments. You know, I find myself talking especially to twins and teenagers as well, but you spend a lot of time talking in the car. I think with teenagers, one of the best places for them to open up is right before they're about to go to bed and in the car when you're commuting back and forth to school or to practices or to church and just bringing up practical things of how God has shown up in your life. You know, I remember when I my one of my kiddos was missing something. Uh they were missing a um I forget they had lost something and we said, you know, let's pray. Let's ask the Lord where it is. And in that moment, I was able to share with them. You know what? I remember one time when I was in college and I couldn't find my ID. And when you're in college, your ID is everything. It gets you into the, you know, into your uh into the cafeteria. It gets you into the library. It gets you into some buildings. You have to have your ID. And I couldn't find it. And I tore my whole room up. You know, I'm telling my kids, looking for it. And finally, I sat down and I said, "Let me pray." And I felt like the Lord showed me exactly where it was. It was in my back pocket of my jeans. And I saw the Lord show me that I had folded my jeans over the hanger and the ID had fallen down into one of my shoes. And I looked in my shoe and there it was. And my kids were so amazed about that. And I said, "But God can speak to you just like that." And so those small moments, very practical, real moments where you're sharing with your kids when they are experiencing something or you're riding in the car, um just telling them, "Hey, you know what? One time this happened to me and I felt like God did this or God did that." Even when there's victories in the family, hey, we've been praying for a new car, whatever. And you know what? God answered our prayer. sharing those things with your children in a very practical way is so important. Yes. All those answered prayers just that um testimony as you used that word earlier, the testimony of the answered prayer. And mom, here's something I'd love for you to think about while you're listening. I'd love for you to think about what is one story of God's faithfulness you want to make sure your child knows. You can share it with them. Put it in the comments. You don't have to tell us every detail. Maybe just the name of the story or the moment. And be sure to tell them. And Donna, that leads right into something else I wanted to ask. Sometimes adults can look back and recognize God's faithfulness, but children are still learning how to do that. How can a mom help her child begin recognizing God's faithfulness in everyday life? Yeah, absolutely. I think just making a point to point it out. You know, every single morning on the way to school, and I know not everybody takes their kids to school, but on the way to somewhere, church or wherever you are in the car, um we pray and we thank God for everything that we have. We thank him even for bringing us I pray right before I drop him off at the gate. Thank God for getting us here safely. We pray for all of our friends and we thank God for keeping our friends safe and bringing them to school on time safely. You know, um you just you you find ways to build gratitude in your children for everything that they have. And you point out, hey, it's not just mommy and daddy at Christmas time. You know, we say, let's thank God during meal time. We thank God for his faithfulness. Thank you, Lord, that we have the food to buy, the money to buy this food, and that you've given us health and strength every single day. Even in those moments of prayer, you're teaching gratitude. You're teaching we acknowledge God for the things that we have. And and yes, they're still experiencing God. Many of them haven't been through a whole lot yet. Some of them have, but helping them to see God in every situation. And even when you can't see God, asking him for the grace to Lord, help us to see where you're moving and acting in this space, you know, and I sensed earlier, Ann, while you were talking and sharing with the moms about uh recalling uh the faithfulness of God and teaching their kids, I sensed that there are many moms watching that their child's birth is a testimony. It is a God story. It is it is something that they can share with their child and say, you know what, you know, and this is just for example, you know what, we we didn't know if we were going to be able to have kids and we prayed and God gave us you and you are such a blessing. And I just sensed as you were talking that many will watch this and that is a testimony. That is a gift that you can share with their child. God, you are God's uh answer to us. you. God answered our prayer by giving um you to us. And so anyway, just just a moment of hey, sharing with your kids gratitude on a daily basis can help train them to recognize the faithfulness of God. That one simple rhythm that moms can do is just a daily practice of gratitude. And that would definitely give an opportunity to show where God has shown up. And um that would be something that would impact a child and give that child that remembrance of that um rhythm, that daily rhythm every day. Yeah. Especially in prayer, right? Finding a time to pray throughout the day with your kids and in those moments of prayer, thanking God for the things, the simplest things. It will help them to benchmark. Oh, we we acknowledge that God gave us this. God gave us the job. God gave us the food. God g provided the finances. God gave us the clothes on our back. Yeah. Yeah. And God gave us you. Yes. He brought that out. Um faith mom, if another if you know of another mom that may need to hear this, too. If you know a mom raising an 8 to 12y old who wants to be more intentional about her child's faith, but isn't sure where to begin, send this conversation to her. This is a great one place that she can start in just incorporating that one simple rhythm in her day-to-day life and change her child forever. Donna, before we close, what do you wish more moms understood about this risk of waiting until the teen years to begin these conversation? Even if the mom is thinking, I haven't done this well and my child is already 10, 11, or 12. What would you want her to know? Yeah. Well, first I would say it's never too late, right? It's never too late to start sewing those seeds into your child. Um you you maybe you've just waking up awakening this to this topic or you're just, you know, like Ann said, you're trying to go, "Oh, I haven't done that." It's never too late to start sewing the seed of God's word into your child. And so begin as soon as you can. Um, but we don't want to wait until, you know, as our children go grow older, they start to hear, you know, they get a script about what life is about. They have a um a a mindset. They develop a world view about what life is about and what's important and what's not important and what's godly and what's not godly. And and so from a very young age while these children are developing um and growing and experiencing the world, it is so important that we sew the seeds of God's word inside of them. Sew seeds of truth inside of them before they're before they're in situations where they're having to make a whole lot of decisions about what truth is or what friends they're going to have and all of those kinds of things. from a young age instilling those solid biblical principles into them. And by that I mean we follow God, we love God. We don't engage in sin. We, you know, those simple truths. I'm not saying theological, you know, uh, rigomearroll like you're just, you know, you don't have to know everything, but simple biblical truths that you can, uh, invite your children into the Bible stories that we talked about, getting those deep inside of your children, so that before they're teenagers and before they reach that place where they're having to make really tough choices about the world, where they're being exposed more and more to what the world has to offer, they already have a compass inside of them. your voice which which really is what they hear which really is the Holy Spirit, right? Um that that conviction is in them from a because it's been built into them from a very young age. And so uh don't neglect to invite your children into places where they can experience the voice of God or the presence of God or even just the awareness of God in their everyday life. You know, around 11 years old is where the kids' brains melt again. So at two years old they kind of melt and that's because they're it's preparing their brains to learn language and to learn autonomy and all of their you know uh all of their daily living skills and so the brain kind of opens up around 2 years old and and the kid is absorbing so much information at that time and then it kind of solidifies again but around 11 years old is when it does it again. It's opening up again almost like it's melting. If you've ever watched the Disney movie Inside Out, it is a perfect representation where there's construction tape and people are moving things in and moving things out. It's a perfect representation of what happens to the brain because it's preparing the child for puberty. And so 11 years old, 8 9 10 11, those are the perfect years while the brain is very soft, while the brain is very pliable to instill biblical truth inside of your children. because as they get older, those mindsets, that stuff starts to harden. And all the way up until 25, it hardens. But and and they they're kind of solidified in their faith. But all the way up until then, especially when the bl the brain is most pliable, that is when you want to be giving them the truth of God's word, sewing it into them as consistently as possible, as practically as possible. Again, that means prayer, that means gratitude, that means taking them to church, telling them about the testimonies of God. This is a crucial time because this is when their brains are they're getting ready for puberty and so it's a a beautiful time where their brains are very malleable impliable to insert God's truth. That is so good because I think what you're also implying or saying is that we better put God's truth in because if we're not putting God's truth in, they could be getting their other information put in from everywhere else. Yep. Before God's word. And so we want God's word to be the dominant um to have the dominion over their brain. Yes. You want that. You want that compass to be there. That compass is there to help them navigate. You're not going to be able to shield them from everything that the world has to offer. It doesn't matter how many things you restrict. And I do believe in that. I'm not saying don't put up guard rails or restrictions or anything like that. I do 100%. But kids can learn from kids kids. you know, somebody from school or somebody at church that has access to whatever. And so, your children need to have a gu a a a compass so that they're navigating the world with this this worldview, this mindset that we love and honor God in all of our decisions. And they're not going to do it perfectly, but that's when they come back. You're able to bring them back to that compass. Hey, that was a mistake. Let's talk about why it was a mistake. What does God's word say about that? Oh, and the why is so important for kids to understand in that age. Absolutely. Donna, this has been great. I know faith moms want to hear more of what you have to say. Where can the faith mom community connect with you and continue learning from you? Yeah, absolutely. So, you can find me on YouTube on Donna Martin podcast and also at our website, thejoy company.info. I nfo. and the Joy Company is all spelled out. I'm also on Facebook and Instagram under Donna Martin. My Instagram is with Love_Donna Martin. So, hope to see you there. That sounds fantastic, Donna. Thank you for being with us. Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for having me. Yes. and faith mom. If you're raising a child between 8 and 12 and you want to help them know what they believe, understand why they believe it, and learn to walk with God before the teen years, please subscribe to the Faith Mom. That's what we work on here every week. So, you don't have to figure out how to prepare your child all on your own. Again, Donna, thank you so much for being here and for helping us think more intentionally about something that's so easy for us to overlook. Yes. Yeah. Thank you. I'm It's been an honor. God bless everyone. Yes. And mom, your your child may remember the stories of David and Daniel from the Bible for the rest of their life, and I hope that they do. But let's also make sure that they know the story of God's faithfulness in your family. Even their own birth story would be terrific for them to know. And you don't need a perfect system. You don't need a perfect system. Just start with one story. Tell them what God did. Tell them what you learned about God and begin helping your child notice God's faithfulness for themselves. Donna's information and YouTube channel will be in the description. and continue watching the Faith Mom mentor for real life help raising kids who know God, understand their faith, and learn to walk with him. And I'll see you in the next video.
