by Shirley Lacy

Created on: April 05, 2010

Christian families come in all types. Some with traditions that include church going, verse memorizing, and multiple prayer sessions during the day while others may not attend church regularly, they may not memorize Bible verses, and they may not take time out of every day for prayer sessions. But all these families can still be Christians loving God and with strong family traditions and values that move powerfully from one generation to another.

It starts with two people who love God and love and respect each other. With that combination a Christian family is born. When their children come along, they are taught to love God and to love and respect their parents. Those children are also taught to respect other people outside of the family and to treat everyone with courtesy. A family who grows with these values is happy to spend time together. The Father and Mother want to be home with each other and their children and the children want to be home with their parents and siblings. They enjoy the company of one another. In this family teenagers experience a much easier transition from childhood to adulthood and parents are still respected and heard. The difficulties will be manageable if there is God, love, and a mutual respect among the players.

Traditions in a Christian family will most likely be centered on family gatherings with God present. Everyone will be happy to see everyone else. It may be Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, a birthday, or the 4th of July. But everyone is glad for the gathering. Conversations fly between the teenager and grandmother or father and son or brothers. There is no lack of things to catch up on. If the family loves music then music will be included. Each family develops it’s own traditions. For example, my children always come to my home for Thanksgiving. I know exactly what they like to eat and I provide it. My grandsons and sons love butterhorns and bearclaws the morning after Thanksgiving Day, so that’s what they get. My daughter-in-law likes to have Thanksgiving dinner again for breakfast the next day, so that’s what she gets. Christmas is always at my children’s home and I always bring the Prime Rib. We gather together many times during the year and at least three times with the extended family which includes my core family and their children. And wherever we are, God is always present.

When the children leave home they will take these, now very valuable, experiences into their adult life. And when they decide to marry they will be looking for someone with those same values, someone who will love God and love and respect them. And when they have their children they will know exactly how to teach them to love God and to love and respect everyone else in the family. And they will look forward to bringing their children back to their parent’s home where they can experience the amazing warmth and embrace of the rest of the family. And so it goes with the traditions and values of Christian families, perpetuating love and respect with God always present.

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