Faith and Family Series - Jonathan's Family

After a couple Mondays off, I would like to return to the Faith and Family series for a special edition post! I have always wanted to feature my husband as a guest-poster and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so. As the spiritual head of our family, what he has to say on this topic is very important to me, and I am excited to be able to introduce my husband, Jonathan, first-hand to my readers.

Also, today is his birthday, so what more fitting way to say "happy birthday" than to give him the floor and let him share about our family?

Tell me about your family. 

Christa and I were married almost four years ago, and I could not be happier. I absolutely love being married to this incredible, beautiful woman. She has grown to be such an essential part of who I am; I could not imagine me being me without her. After being married while in college, we felt ready to start a family. As you probably know from reading this blog, we struggled to do that. By the grace of God, we were blessed with our little girl. We find parenthood an absolute joy. I love being a dad. As we desire to continue to grow our family, we hope also to adopt someday by the grace of God.

Tell me about something your family does that you are very proud of.

Our family does not have a devotional life that would rival that of a monastery. We do not keep a rigid, daily routine of Bible reading (though we have done a good job of reading a children’s Bible to Charis before bed almost every night). We do not hold a family prayer session several times a day. We do not go through a family liturgy or service at night. But, what I am proud of is how freely and openly we talk about God and our Christian walk almost daily (if not more often) and how it permeates all aspects of our life. In the evenings over dinner and dishes, Christa and I talk about a wide range of topics that we have been exposed to throughout the day at work, in the news, on social media, or with each other. It is very common that during the conversation, the topic will be brought up in terms of our Christian faith. While I, the seminarian, may commonly be the culprit who steers the conversational ship into theological waters, I must say that I have been blessed to have the opportunity to be married to a woman from whom I have learned a great deal and grown much in the faith during our talks.

I am proud how seriously we take our faith. Sure, we have things to work on, but our faith is important enough to us that we talk about it often, and often in the context of situations that are not overtly or inherently spiritual. That makes me excited about raising kids. Our daughter is going to grow up in an environment where she is going to feel comfortable talking about Jesus and the gospel and Christianity. She is going to learn a lot about faith, God, and the world just by interacting with us in daily life – not even including how she will grow from being with the church and learning the Bible. We have even already started. After we read the children’s Bible with her, I pray with her incorporating the stories we just read. We commonly talk to her about the gospel (even though she does not understand).

Tell me about something that your family does that you are still working on.

As I stated previously, we do not have the most regimented devotions. I would love to get to a point where we do have a regular devotion as a family. I think reading the Bible as a part of children's bedtime routine, however, is a good start.

If you were raised in a Christian home, what is something that your parents did when you were a child that made a lasting impact on you and your faith as an adult? 

I still remember that my dad read Bible stories to me when I was little as a part of my bedtime routine. That had a lasting impact on me in that it gave me at least introductory biblical literacy. It also gave me time with my dad and taught me that (as it was an established part of my bedtime routine when I was little) our faith was an important part of our family. That, coupled with the fact that both of my parents made a significant effort to have the whole family attend church, taught me how central a place Christianity has in the family.

What Jesus has done in human history (the gospel), does have a significant impact on the family. It brings reconciliation, love, and significance to the family – a place where brokenness runs rampant in our society today. My family demonstrated this to me as a child, and that is was what I want to pass on. We are making a significant effort to read Bible stories before bed with Little Girl (even though she does not even yet understand them). I want to find ways to make going to church significant for us as a family – even though I will be the pastor leading worship in the front. I want to also find ways to purposefully and spontaneously incorporate following Jesus into our family (though we have not necessarily discovered all the ways we can do that yet).

What is something that is very important to you when raising your kids that you think a lot of Christian parents miss? 

Delivering the gospel to their kids. I think we talk a lot about the gospel, about God, about Jesus and his work, but we don’t necessarily deliver the gospel to them. We can talk all about how Jesus came as a baby, what he taught, that he died on the cross, that he rose three days later, that he’s coming again. But we don’t often add for you when talking to our kids. John 20:23, Matthew 16:19, and Matthew 18:18 give Christians the authority to deliver the forgiveness and salvation that Christ won for us. It is something that I have had to intentionally and consciously remember and do, but I try to often tell my daughter directly, “Jesus died and rose again for you. Because of Jesus, you are forgiven and will live forever with him” (or something similar). It is like the difference between telling someone about your love for them and telling them that you love them, but it is an important difference.

What is the number one thing that you want your children always to know about God, faith, and their relationship with Him? 

That Christ has done it all. God has acted in history on our behalf through creation, redemption, and into our lives. Charis has eternal future, not because she has done anything to get that, not because she does not do anything wrong. She has been given faith in her baptism, and Jesus has given her hope and certain life in the new creation to come.

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I promise I didn't ask him to say all those nice things about me! But he is the best, isn't he? I hope you enjoyed hearing his take on things - I loved being able to step back and let him do the talking. I have no future posts in this series planned, but it may resurrect in the future. Please do check out the first three posts if you have not already:

Melissande's Family
Kimberly's Family
Jennifer's Family

I have very much enjoyed learning from those who have taken the time to share in this way. If you would like to be featured in a similar interview post, let me know.