As another school year begins, our family calendars quickly fill with early mornings, homework, sports practices, music lessons, and countless activities. Before life picks up speed, this is a wonderful opportunity to ask an important question:
What rhythms do we want to shape our family this year?
I’ve found that family discipleship is often less about extraordinary moments and more about ordinary, faithful practices. It’s simply learning to do faith and life together in every season over the long haul.
For our family, having a simple plan ahead of each school year has made all the difference. Rather than hoping meaningful spiritual conversations and formation happen spontaneously (and sometimes they do!), we’ve discovered that intentional rhythms create a predictable cadence that’s allows space for God to meet us in everyday life.
Here are three simple practices that have worked for us the last few years of raising our elementary-aged (and a pre-schooler) children. As you read through them, ask the Holy Spirit to give you inspiration and ideas for your own family in whatever stage of parenting you are in.
Even choosing one simple rhythm this school year can have a lasting impact. As Noah and I often remind ourselves:
Doing something is better than doing nothing.
What will your something be this year, the non-negotiable that you can commit to as a family? Maybe it could be one of the following ideas…
1. Establishing a Simple Breakfast Table Devotion
Now before you roll your eyes and stop reading, hear me out.
I know mornings can feel chaotic and therefore it feels completely unrealistic to even think about the possibility of doing anything ‘spiritual’ before school.
I get it. And I was there too.
But then something shifted one year when we bought ahead of time a devotional we could work through as a family. We set a time to be at the table (for us, it is 6:15am!) and during a simple ‘continental style breakfast’, we started opening the devotional—which included a passage of Scripture, an inspirational (and short) teaching or message for the day and a prayer.
That’s it.
So this became our rhythm Monday through Friday, spending five to ten minutes starting our day with God and praying for the day ahead.
Is it always easy? No. Is it always profound? Not at all. But over time those few minutes have shaped our family far more than we realized.
There is something powerful about starting the day with our hearts and minds focused on God. Even for a few intentional moments.
If a weekday morning isn’t realistic for your family, don’t let that stop you. Maybe it’s one weekend morning a week. Maybe it’s after dinner instead. The point isn’t to copy our schedule—it’s to intentionally create space for God somewhere in the rhythm of your family’s week. And to spend some time planning when and where and how that might look.
2. Worshipping Together as a Weekly Priority
Regular church attendance does more than fill an hour on Sunday. It anchors us and sets the tone for the entire week ahead. Worshipping together, hearing God’s Word, praying with other believers, and sharing life with the church family quietly shapes us over time.
Life happens, and there will be weekends when you’re away or someone is sick. This isn’t about perfect attendance. It’s about establishing a pattern that says,
“Gathering with God’s people is part of who we are.”
We tell our kids when grumbling sets in: Church is what we do. Just like eating, breathing and exercising. It’s who we are.
And what I have noticed, is that on our way home from church each week we are all uplifted in a way that nothing else can provide. I am reminded of how the writer of Hebrews says it,
“Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another…”
Gathering together in community is a habit we form as a family that shapes us profoundly and provides supernatural encouragement and sustenance we need to keep going in our faith journey.
Let this year be the year of neglecting not this important practice!
3. Ending the Day with a Simple Bedtime Liturgy
The end of the day just before bedtime can be precious time for spiritual conversations and prayer with our children at whatever age and stage.
This year I bought another simple resource we can end our day with, as a sort of ritual and liturgy to wind down—with God.
We’ve realized that we want to teach our kids the importance of beginning and ending the day with God — a God ‘sandwich’ if you will. Kids love that image!
It doesn’t have to be elaborate or overly formal. I often return to the inspired words of Deuteronomy 6, which encourages God’s people to talk about God as a way of life, especially throughout the ordinary rhythms of family life—when we sit at home, when we walk along the road, when we lie down, and when we get up.
This year, we have it as a goal to do this short Scripture reading and discussion together and then pray at the day’s end, followed by their father’s blessing sung over them.
Again, this is not something to be copied verbatim, but to stir ideas and inspiration for what words in your household.
Not Aiming for Perfection
None of these practices need to be elaborate. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s consistency. Small, faithful habits shape hearts over time.
If this feels overwhelming, don’t commit to the whole year. Just commit to the first school term. Try one rhythm between now and Christmas. See what fits your family. Adjust where needed, and keep moving forward.
Family discipleship isn’t about checking spiritual boxes. It’s about creating intentional spaces where faith becomes part of everyday life.
As we begin this new school year, my prayer is that your home, as well as mine, will become a place where conversations about God happen naturally, where prayer becomes alive, and where your children see that following Christ isn’t overly complicated, but can be woven into the ordinary rhythms of family life.
Cheering you on, dear parent, as you enter this new school year— we are in it together!
From One Home of Glory to Another,
Ali
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Homes of Glory provides biblical encouragement & practical tips to help families stay grounded and growing in Jesus Christ.
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