For those who observe Lent, the season comes just in time to reignite some of the ideals behind already-rejected resolutions.
No matter what a family’s faith, the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter can offer an opportunity to reflect on the excesses of our everyday lives and give thanks for the gifts too easily taken for granted the rest of the year. And even kids are capable of doing something more significant than giving up video games or sodas for a few weeks, says Audrey Davis, student ministry director at The Gathering United Methodist Church.
“We really focus on not giving something up, but on adding something and looking at their time differently,” she says.
Davis suggests setting aside a time to discuss possible goals with children. Maybe the child decides to donate a percentage of her allowance to a nonprofit or spend more hours volunteering. But to make charity more than just another chore, it’s important to emphasize what the kids themselves stand to gain from such good works and “establishing what they want out of it instead of just what they want to do.”
Although it’s nice when the whole family makes a commitment to be more grateful through giving or spend time helping those in need, older kids can also set and achieve their own goals successfully.
“If they have a goal in mind, it shouldn’t be dependent on whether or not their family decides to join in,” says Davis, who supports some students whose parents don’t attend The Gathering, which offers services at locations around the area.
The key is to set realistic goals for kids, and yourself. For example, she tells students they don’t have to commit to several minutes a day praying, instead suggesting they start with once a week.
“It doesn’t matter the length,” says Davis, who works with students in fifth through 12th grade. “It doesn’t matter what you say, just as long as you spend some time in prayer.”
It’s better to achieve, and maybe even exceed, a modest goal than to fall short of an unrealistic aspiration, she says.
“If they’re not attainable, I think we just feel like failures,” she says. “And I don’t think that’s how God sees us at all.”
