Children are hard-wired for imitation and learn most about life in their early years — for better or worse — by reflecting their (gulp!) daddy.

Many parents are facing difficult decisions in this time of COVID-19 about how best to school their children this fall. Schools may or may not reopen or may be available for in-person attendance on a limited basis. Households with working parents will be challenged to provide virtual classrooms at home while maintaining their work schedules either at home or away from home.

Do you dream of a day when a movement of multigenerational disciple-making emerges in your community? Are you also connected with an established church that has deeply established cultural roots, norms and values? If you answered “Yes” to both questions, welcome to the context in which many of us labor. Many of us across the state pray and labor toward movement in an established church context. Many of us read about movements with awe and maybe even a sense of despair, knowing that the church should be doing more. Be encouraged to remain faithful, diligent and patient.

The only way to glorify God and be satisfied in this life is to be His disciple. Discipleship is therefore God’s gift to us, not our burden. Through this process, God transforms us from within so that we are content in Him alone, all to His glory. This is the purpose for which we were created. Consequently, glorifying God is central in the everyday discipleship of our children.

For many churches, children’s ministry will hopefully regather this fall after children have been worshipping and growing in their discipleship at home after an extended time away. As children’s ministries welcome children back to the church building (whenever that takes place), things may look and sound differently for them.

For months, children have been sequestered at home with distance learning from both school and church. Closed parks and playgrounds disappointed children and parents alike. Fear of contracting COVID-19 has disrupted life as we know if for months, and when we return to gathering as groups, our sense of what was normal will no longer be “normal.”