Poll Results and Response

Response to the Poll

We start off the day with prayer and Bible reading – 11%
Way to go! What better way to leave the house heading for a day at school than knowing you have been prayed for? Start the day off with God and the day seems to go much smoother.

We are busy to fit it into our schedule – 7%
If a Christian family is too busy than something has to go in the schedule. This small investment of daily time will have huge returns in the long run. Everyone go to be 15 minutes earlier and wake up 15 minutes earlier. In our culture we have so over-packed our schedules and families have become so busy. Little Susie has to be in dance, volleyball and girl scouts all at the same time. Children are so over involved in extra curricular activities and the result is more stress in the home and on the child. Let the child narrow down their choice to one activity outside of school and church and stick with it, this teaches them the art of prioritizing. When I look at my calendar it clearly tells me where, what, and who, my priorities are.

I don’t think my kids would want to – 6%
Does a parent let their child stay home from school if the child doesn’t want to go? Since when are the children supposed to call the shots? You may be surprised that they do want to. “I don’t think”, have you asked them? Maybe they would love to have their mom and dad sit down and pray with them before heading off to school. Perhaps they would like a family devotion time together. I double dog dare you to take the 6-week challenge. Spend 6 weeks of prayer with your child in the morning and then a family devotion time in the evening a few nights a week. At first they may not be enthused but they will get the hang of it, just make sure you find a devotional that is age appropriate and interesting and involves them.

Not sure where to start – 29%
This is encouraging to me. There is no sense of having given up but just not sure what to do. I think this is more than likely the boat that most parents are in. They want to but are not sure what to do. My theory is that some parents don’t know where to start because no one did this for them when they were children. More is caught than taught. If you find you don’t know where to start here are a few tips:
>Set a time with your family
>Start with prayer
>Read a chapter from Proverbs or get a devotional book or a Bible that is easy to read.
>Let the kids share their prayer request and you share yours.
>Have a time of prayer
>Most importantly let the kids be involved by letting them read or take the lead or write down the prayer requests in a family prayer journal.
>Just do it! Start today.
>Heart Connex family devotional

We follow supper with prayer and a devo – 26%
Family supper is important and in many families it is disappearing. Way to go! Keep it up. Perhaps you have some tips you could share in the comments to help the parents that aren’t sure where to start.

Other – 21%
There were several different devotion options shared. Some aren’t daily but do so a few times a week, which is great.