Older Child/Teen: Sharing Our Story
Help your son or daughter understand their place in God’s story by reading God’s Story.
Before the Journey
Schedule a time with your older child/teen to go out to dinner at a place they prefer. Bring a Bible, a pen and pad of paper.
The Purpose the Story
Sharing a story is as human as breathing. Stories helps us learn about our identity and our purpose. Through sharing stories we learn to answer three vital questions:
- Who am I?
- Where do I belong?
- Why do I matter?
One of the most impactful ways we arrive at the answers to these questions is by being around our parents, hearing grandparents tell stories, and ultimately hearing God’s Story, the Gospel.
God’s Story tells us who we are why we belong in the world and why we matter. It helps us create a future grounded in a deeper understanding of our past.
Telling the Story
Step One:
Go out for a meal with your son or daughter and do a little history. Research as far back as you can in your family history. Get creative. Bring pictures or a family crest! Share any stories that you know, perhaps one your parents or grandparents shared with you. The goal is to place your child’s story within a bigger picture. The world was spinning before you or your child came into it. It will keep spinning after you leave.
Step Two:
Tell your child that we read the Bible for the same reason we recall our family’s history. David, Moses and Paul are not just Bible characters; they are our spiritual ancestors. The Bible is a story of God’s people trying to learn what it means to live in God’s world, God’s way. Their story of struggle, triumph, loss, and joy is not much different than ours.
Step Three:
Pick a Bible story. Maybe start with David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17), Noah and the flood (Genesis 6-9), or Paul and Silas (Acts 16). Read the story. Avoid calling the people in the story “characters.” Do your best to make them real. Then ask these questions:
- What did they learn about God?
- What did they learn about themselves?
- What does their experience mean for us?
Step Four:
Pray for each other. Pray that the Bible would become more real as you read God’s Story. Thank God for telling His Story to give us a sense of identity and meaning.