Brandon Martel

Adapted from material from The American Psychiatric Association, The Mental Health Commission of Canada and The Mental Health Foundation

Over the last number of years, media reports have abounded with the epidemic that mental illness and poor mental health has become, especially with our younger generations. The statistics are clear: “An estimated 1.2 million children and youth in Canada are affected by mental illness—yet, less than 20 per cent will receive appropriate treatment. By age 25, approximately 20 per cent of Canadians will have developed a mental illness (https://ymhc.ngo/resources/ymh-stats/) and “Among children and youth aged 5 to 17, 17% reported poor or fair mental health” (https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/plus/907-youth-mental-health-spotlight-again-pandemic-drags).

While we all may want to help those struggling, especially our children and teens, it’s sometimes difficult to know what to do or even know what mental health/illness is. This post will provide some information about the different ebetween mental health and mental illness, what some common disorders are and what you can do for your student to help them.

What is Mental Health & Mental Illness
Mental illnesses are health conditions involving significant changes in thinking, emotion, or behaviour (or a combination of these). Mental illnesses are associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work, or family activities. Many people who have a mental illness do not want to talk about it. But mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of! It is a medical condition, just like heart disease or diabetes. And mental illnesses are treatable. We now know much more about how the human brain works, and treatments are available to help people successfully manage mental illnesses. Mental illness does not discriminate; it can affect anyone regardless of one’s age, gender, income, social status, race/ethnicity, religion/spirituality, sexual orientation, background, or other aspect of cultural identity. While mental illness can occur at any age, three-fourths of all mental illness begins by age 24. On the other hand, “mental health” is a concept similar to “physical health”: it refers to a state of well-being. Mental health includes our emotions, feelings of connection to others, our thoughts and feelings, and being able to manage life’s highs and lows. The presence or absence of a mental illness is not a predictor of mental health; someone without a mental illness could have poor mental health, just as a person with a mental illness could have excellent mental health.

Common Mental Illnesses
Mental illnesses take many forms. Some are fairly mild and only interfere in limited ways with daily life, such as certain phobias (abnormal fears). Other mental illnesses are so severe that a person may need care in a hospital. The following are short descriptions of some common mental illnesses:

Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety is a reaction to fear or stress. Everyone feels anxious sometimes, such as when speaking in front of a group or taking a test. A person may feel his/her heart beating faster, or may be short of breath or feel sick. Normal anxiety can usually be controlled and does not last much longer than the situation that triggers it. When anxiety becomes excessive, involves unfounded dread of everyday situations, and interferes with a person’s life, it may be an anxiety disorder. Nearly 30% of people will experience an anxiety disorder at some time in their lives. Anxiety disorders take many forms like panic disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social anxiety disorder, phobias and generalized anxiety disorder.

Depression
Depression is a potentially serious medical condition that affects how a person feels, thinks, and acts. The primary signs of major depression are that the person feels sad or has no interest or pleasure in normal activities for most of 2 weeks. Activities such as eating, socializing, sex, or recreation lose their appeal. Other symptoms include changes in appetite, sleep changes, agitation, restlessness, or changes in motor movement, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, problems thinking, concentrating, or making decisions, lack of energy, fatigue and thoughts of death or suicide. Depression is more intense and long-lasting than normal sadness. It can develop slowly, draining the energy, pleasure, and meaning from a person’s life. Like anxiety, depression can take different forms such as major depressive disorder, persistent depressive disorder and postpartum depression.

Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder can cause dramatic mood swings, from feeling high and energetic to feeling very low, sad, and hopeless. The periods of highs and lows are called episodes of mania or hypomania (lower grades of mania) and depression. During a manic episode, a person may speak rapidly, feel little need for sleep, and become involved in activities with a high potential for risk or pain. During a depressive episode, a person may feel despair, hopelessness, or fatigue. People with bipolar disorder are at higher risk than the general population for alcohol or substance misuse.

Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a chronic serious mental illness that usually begins in a person’s 20s. When untreated, it can cause people to have psychotic thinking (impaired perception of reality and ability to communicate), delusions (fixed, false beliefs), or hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that aren’t real). Some people with schizophrenia do not recognize that they have a mental illness. Treatment can help relieve many symptoms of schizophrenia, but most people with this illness cope with symptoms their entire lives. Nonetheless, many people with schizophrenia live successfully in their communities and lead rewarding lives.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can occur after a person has experienced or witnessed a situation involving harm or the threat of harm. People with PTSD may startle easily or be unable to feel positive emotions. They may experience flashbacks of the event that triggered the disorder and be quick to anger.

Addiction/Substance Use Disorders
Addiction is a chronic brain disease that causes compulsive substance use despite harmful consequences. As a result of research, we now know more about how addiction affects the brain and behavior. Addictive Disorders, including substance use disorders and gambling disorder, are mental illnesses defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM-5®). People take drugs for a variety of reasons—to feel good, to feel better (for example, overcome distressing feelings), to do better, out of curiosity, or because peers are doing it. An initial decision to take drugs is usually voluntary, but with continued use changes take place in the brain impairing a person’s self-control and judgment.

Warning Signs of Mental Illness
-Often talking or writing about death, dying, or suicide when these actions are out of the ordinary
-Making comments about being hopeless, helpless, or worthless
-Expressions of having no reason for living; no sense of purpose in life; saying things like “It would be better if I wasn’t here” or “I want out”
-Increased alcohol and/or drug use
-Withdrawal from friends, family, and community
-Dramatic mood changes
-Changes in behaviour (Sleep, appetite, grades, etc)

What can you do to help
-Be informed. Learn what you can about mental health and how to best support your child.
-Begin discussions early. Don’t wait until it’s too late to talk to your teen about mental health and the resources available to them.
-Emphasize you care for them. Many of those struggling with mental illnesses feel alone, and may just want to know that you’re there for them.
-Don’t try to diagnose or second guess their feelings. You probably aren’t a medical expert and, while you may be happy to talk and offer support, you aren’t a trained counsellor. Try not to make assumptions about what is wrong or jump in too quickly with your own diagnosis or solutions.
-Let them share as much or as little as they want to. Don’t put pressure on them to tell you anything they aren’t ready to talk about. Talking can take a lot of trust and courage. You might be the first person they have been able to talk to about this.
-Keep questions open ended. Say “Why don’t you tell me how you are feeling?” rather than “I can see you are feeling very low”. -Try to keep your language neutral. Give the person time to answer and try not to grill them with too many questions.
-Talk about self-care. Talk about ways of de-stressing or practicing self-care and ask if they find anything helpful. Exercising, having a healthy diet and getting a good nights sleep can help protect mental health and sustain wellbeing.
-Take appropriate action. Don’t hesitate to remove possible means of self-harm or forbid isolation if you’re worried they may be suicidal.
-Seek professional help. Your family doctor will be your primary method to get them more assistance and referrals for your child.
-Set aside alone time with your child. Find activities you can do together, and guard time with them. As they get older, this will be incredibly important.
-Avoid taking on all the load. It’s easy to try to solve all your child’s problems in your home but take note of your limits. Don’t try to handle the enormity of your child’s pain and struggle alone.
-Rely on and point your child back to God. God is there for us, through everything in our lives. Pray for wisdom and help and pray with your child as well.

Resources you can use
https://kidshelpphone.ca/ – Anonymous and confidential communication with individuals who can assist with mental health issues. There are online, text and phone call options. This is for those 18 and under.
https://mindyourmind.ca/ – interactive tools and innovative resources to build capacity and resilience
https://brave-online.com – An interactive, online and evidence-based cognitive behavioural therapy program with complementary programs for parents
https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/therapists – A resource for finding therapists in the Sudbury area
https://ementalhealth.ca – A directory of mental health services and educational information
Family Doctors – These can often be the first point of contact to getting medication or referrals to psychologists. You can find a family doctor at https://www.ontario.ca/page/find-family-doctor-or-nurse-practitioner
https://www.mindbeacon.com/ – Free guided therapy from the Ontario government
211 – Information and referral for community, government, social and health services, including mental health resources across Ontario.
https://bouncebackontario.ca/ – free skill-building program managed by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA).
https://www.connexontario.ca/en-ca/ – Assistance to find assistance with mental health issues and addiction concerns
1.833.456.4566, or text them at 45645 – Talk Suicide Canada can assist with crises you may find yourself in.
911 – If there is a crisis, emergency services may be required

How’s your prayer life? It’s a simple question, but it can be tough to answer. Literally it sounds like, “How has talking to God been lately?” Emotionally it might feel like, “Sum up your relationship with God at this point in your life.” Last week we talked about reading your bible, we talked about how to properly study the bible. Bible reading, compared to prayer, is clearer and more “objective.” How many pages? How far along in your plan? Which books have you been reading? What have you learned? Prayer doesn’t fit into an Excel sheet quite as easily. For me, if I’m being honest, I can say that sometimes my prayer life hasn’t been the greatest. Sometimes I don’t feel like praying, or I’ve felt like I haven’t had time… sometimes I don’t even know what to say. It doesn’t matter how long I seem to come in my walk with God, there’s always times when prayer is difficult.
And yet, the bible tells us time and time again that prayer is one of the most important things that we can do. You probably feel as insecure about your prayer life as you feel about anything. Prayer might be, at the same time, the most pivotal and most puzzling activity in the Christian life. It is the lifeline and life-mystery for believers. We know we need to pray, but we know we don’t pray enough.
I’ve learned that everyone seems to be an expert at something. I have been to chocolate factories and learned things I never knew before from the people who make the chocolate.   I have found out from junior high students, that getting help on a video game is just a quick YouTube search away! I know a high school student who wants to work in the film industry and knows a crazy amount about most movies made in the last 10-15 years. And I don’t have to look very far to find some people who know more statistics about sports than I ever thought possible.

What about you? Think for a minute. If I were to ask your friends and family what topic you have some crazy amount of knowledge in or experience with, what would they say? When you have a question, who do you ask? That person at work who seems to know how to do everything, isn’t just a great coworker but they’re also someone who would probably be the perfect person to ask if you had a question about your job. If you want to improve in your parenting, maybe you ask that friend who seems to have their kids under control all the time. Or maybe you just want to cook that super good meal, so asking your neighbour who makes the most delicious food is the best bet. But if we’re being honest, those people around us are not always the best people to seek out for advice.

Think back over these options again. Have questions about your job? I would guess your manager or supervisor might be a great person to ask. What about truly improving in your parenting? A parenting expert would probably be the best person to ask for tips and direction. And with cooking, you could probably get the best advice from a professional chef. So, who do we seek out when we have questions about God? Sure, you might say a pastor or an elder. But, why not just ask Jesus?! That’s what the disciples did. We can learn for ourselves by reading how He answered their requests.

Luke 11:1, New Living Translation:

Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

There are so many times we read about Jesus trying to find a place away from the crowds to pray. One of the disciples comes up to Jesus as He’s praying. I imagine the disciple quietly walking up as Jesus is praying, trying not to make a sound to distract Him. Then, I see that disciple standing, or maybe kneeling, or possibly sitting far enough away from Jesus to respect His privacy, but close enough to where they would be able to talk when Jesus is done. And honestly, this disciple may have been close enough to hear the words Jesus was praying. The disciple drops the comparison—can you teach us like John taught his disciples. And the question is specifically about what Jesus had just been doing before this disciple approached Him—praying.

Luke 11:2-4, New Living Translation.

Jesus said, “This is how you should pray: “Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. Give us each day the food we need and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.  And don’t let us yield to temptation.”

So many people throughout history have skipped over the very significant first words in verse 2. Did you catch them?

This is how you should pray.

Jesus never meant for us to simply repeat these words mindlessly. How do I know that? Jesus has several of His prayers recorded in the Bible. All of them are different. Each of them sound more like a conversation than a recitation.

He starts in Luke 11:2 by celebrating the holiness of God and asking for His reign to come soon. He has spent time in worship and instructs us to do the same. In Luke 11:3, Jesus instructs us to simply ask God for what we need. We don’t have to make a big show about it or even apologize or feel guilty for asking. We really don’t like to talk about Luke 11:4. Here, Jesus points out we should ask God to forgive us in the same way we forgive others. I’m not even close to as good as God is with grace and forgiveness. But that is who I am supposed to be imitating. Finally, at the end of that verse, Jesus tells us to ask God to help us not give in to temptation. It sees like Jesus was simply trying to tell us to keep it normal. Yes, respect God when you talk with Him. But just be yourself and have a conversation. Nothing is too crazy or too boring when it comes to prayer.

PERSONAL CHALLENGE

Talking with God should be part of your everyday life.

It’s not bad to set aside specific times to pray or to have places you like to go to pray. After all, we just found Jesus in a specific place praying by Himself. But, we need to be finding time in our everyday lives to talk to God. But sometimes knowing what to pray about can still be confusing. Well, to put it simply, here are three big general topics you can use when you pray.

1. You should think about the last day, week, or month, and thank God for how He has helped you, cared for you, or just reminded you of His presence in your situation.

2. Since God knows everything, it’s okay for us to let down our guard a bit and humbly ask Him questions. Ask God to help you, whatever that looks like. When Jesus faced important or hard decisions, He went to God in prayer. We should really do a better job of imitating Jesus on this!

3. Ask God to forgive your sins. Be specific. Tell God where you missed the mark. If you follow and believe in Jesus, your sins are paid for. But being a believer also means that you are striving to live a holy life. Not perfect, but holy!

We don’t need to make prayer a complicated, arduous ritual, but instead we can make it just a simple conversation with our Saviour who loves us. I want to encourage you right now to take 5 minutes to pray, and comment any prayer requests down below so that we can pray for you too.

Grumbling and complaining is all around us; at home, at work, in the grocery store, on the news, and all over social media. It can feel good to be grumpy about the things that are not going our way and making ourselves the centre of our cranky universe. Sometimes we just want to embrace the misery and feel righteous in our discontentment, especially when we can give a list of reasons as to why we deserve to feel this way.

Let’s quickly break down grumbling and see if it can be just a moment of complaining and not that big of a deal or if it something more harmful and we need to be actively combating.

Firstly, kids and grownups grumble for the same reasons; we have an unmet expectation or desire and we are not happy about it. These expectations and desires can be; realistic or unrealistic, in or out out of our control, something we were supposed to get or something we think we deserve. We often grumble when we see someone get something we want or think we deserve, also when we have a plan and it gets changed without our permission.

Think about complaints that we hear in public, what are they about and when do they happen? A kid wants candy and a parent says no, someone wants to use an expired coupon and they can’t, the main road is closed and people have to take a detour, someone wanted an ice coffee and they’re out of ice, the library closes in 5 minutes and they aren’t ready to leave.

Cambridge Dictionary defines grumbling as “to complain about someone or something in an annoyed way” Thesaurus.com recommends synonyms or replacement words such as; ‘moan’, ‘wail’, ‘find fault’, and ’gripe’. The word and the action are not passive or in the grey area. To grumble is to take a negative stance in your attitude and in the posture of your heart.

Psalm 106 is a story that illustrates the consequences and road that grumbling leads us down. It looks back to the Israelites in the desert and how they allowed grumbling into their hearts and it created discontentment, distrust, and ultimately destroyed the promises that God was waiting to fulfill for them.

Psalm 106:24-25: “Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise. They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the Lord.” God gives them the choice to praise Him, to follow His direction, to choose to see the goodness in their lives and have a posture of thanksgiving. The Israelites didn’t choose God, they chose to grumble and see their lives through the lens of unmet expectations and unfulfilled desires. God gives them over to their choice and the Israelites destroy their relationship with God, they leave Him behind and chase lives where they simply do whatever they want to try to meet those expectations and desires.

Grumbling isn’t simply the words that we use when we are unhappy with the situation, but rather it’s a heart posture which tells God that we are willing to trust in His plan and aren’t content with how He’s doing things. The good thing is that both the Bible and Thesaurus.com have an answer as to what the opposite of grumbling is and what positive actions are required to counter the grumbling; ‘compliment’ and ‘praise’.

Later in Psalm 106, the Israelites turn back to God, they praise Him, they compliment Him, and they give Him thanks for the things that He did for them. These actions of trust and the changing of their hearts’ posture brings healing to their relationship with God and sets them on a path to trusting in God’s plan and reaping the benefits of being aligned with God’s will.

Since we know the story of the Israelites, we know that this did not all happen in a weekend or even within the same year. This story happened over years and generations, there were time periods where grumbling overwhelmed and their relationships with God were fractured and consequences were harsh. There were also time periods where individuals or the entire nation chose praise and thanksgiving, which created strong relationships with God and the benefits of His fulfilled promises.

So grumbling is not simply complaining, it is a slippery slope that harms our relationship with God and leads us into distrust of God’s plan. Here are two practical ways that we can counter grumbling by choosing a positive reaction to unmet expectations or desires.

Default Gratitude
It takes time to make gratitude your default; to make your first reaction to everything thanksgiving. It is possible, but it requires time and help. Work together as a family to come up with phrases or a routine that you can use to reinforce gratitude when grumbling begins. This could be a gratitude jar or journal, thank-you notes on items that cause grumbling (for example on the t.v. as a reminder to be grateful to God for the time that they got to watch their show and not grumbling for more time), a song to sing together when feeling discontent with an outcome, or anything that works for you and your family. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always,  pray continually,  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Practice Praise
A habit of praise takes time to develop and for children they will follow your lead. Praise can be as simple as when you step outside and aloud exclaim “God, look at the leaves, you made today so beautiful!” It can also be more structured where you sit down with your kids and pray with the focus on praising God, or worshiping as a family. The more you praise the Lord in your heart, the more you will praise Him in front our your children, and then the more that they will praise Him. Psalm 9:1: “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.”

Gratitude and praise do not get rid of disappointment or frustration when things don’t go the way that we wanted, but choosing these positive actions instead of the negative actions will change our hearts and lead us into a deeper relationship with God. They are active choices that will take work in our hearts and habits.
Lastly, as you work on your grumbling, not only will you be reaping these benefits but you will also be more prepared to help your children through their grumbling. You will be able to lead them into a better heart posture and point them in the direction of a deeper relationship with their Lord.

Examples
Sometimes it can feel difficult to know how to start changing our habits and helping our kids, here are a few phrases that can be used and adapted as needed.

I understand that you are feeling disappointed about ______. How can we thank God for all the good things that just happened?

It is okay that we are upset that ____ is over, can we take a minute and tell God all the amazing things we can see around us right now?

God I am amazed at the world around me, I want to praise and thank you for _____.

Thank you God for allowing us to do this fun thing _____, please help us to remember the good parts and not be disappointed that it is over.

Think about all of the great things that God has given you, do you need anything else, or just want it? Can we list 12 things that God has blessed us with and thank Him for His love.

One of our staff members here at ANC is Ian Davidson. Ian has lived in Sudbury for most of his life. He has been attending All Nations for 22 years and joined the board of Elders about two and a half years ago. Ian’s love for ANC started when a friend invited him to a Sunday service. He attended once and never left. Ian then became good friends with Jeremy and Eileen Mahood. The people, the sense of family and the quality of the pastoral services kept him at the church. Ian is an elder and also serves as the ANC executive director. He belongs to the human resource and finance committee and acts as a volunteer in his responsibilities. Ian has always been motivated to make a difference in the world where it is possible. He says, “Serving the Lord makes service to others very rewarding.” Outside of work, Ian loves to spend time with his family. He has been married to his high-school sweetheart for 39 years. Ian and his wife have two boys and three grandchildren. He is from a family of 5 kids, and his grandfather was a devoted Christian and lay baptist pastor. Ian knew from an early age that God put him on earth to be a peacemaker, Shepherd, and, ultimately, a police officer.

Ian’s favourite scripture is Psalm 23; he says it has so much meaning and relevance. “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” – Psalm 23

For a faith with such a simple message of salvation, our selection of Bibles is quite complex! If you’ve ever struggled to know which Bible to read from, then you’re in the right place. In this article, we will give you a detailed explanation of the world of Bible translation and of individual Bibles. If you’d like, bookmark this post for future reference!

When looking at how translating the Bible got started, we go all the way back to the beginning. The Bible was originally written in a combination of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. This meant that only those who learned those languages had any access to the Bible, leading to a major disparity between the educated and the uneducated. Around 382 AD the Pope commissioned his secretary, Jerome, to produce a new translation in Latin. Jerome set about the task with reported trepidation, but also with great seriousness. The remark, attributed to him, that ‘ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ’ reveals something of his passion. The resulting translation, produced in the Latin of the people, is known to us as the Vulgate.

As the years went on, different groups of people have translated the Bible into their own languages and have also translated them differently. One of the reasons we see different versions of the Bible is because of the number of manuscripts available. There are over 5,800 Greek New Testament manuscripts known to date, along with over 10,000 Hebrew Old Testament manuscripts and over 19,000 copies in Syriac, Coptic, Latin, and Aramaic languages. Most Bible translations are done with teams of scholars in various languages who can ensure that the content is properly translated.

Once the manuscripts have been assembled, this team of scholars begin to determine what translation philosophy they will use. There are 3 main philosophies: formal equivalence, functional equivalence, and paraphrased.

Literal translations are often the closest English form of the Hebrew or Greek word. In this process, translators painstakingly review every single word to ensure they are as accurate as possible, called formal equivalence. This form of translation is extremely helpful for academic study. However, the biggest drawback to word-for-word translations is that modern readers might misunderstand figures of speech, literary devices, and cultural references.
English Standard Version (ESV): To achieve the greatest possible accuracy in an English translation of the original Hebrew & Greek texts, the translators of this readable, modern Bible version attempted to write, as much as possible, a “word for word” rendering of the text while modernizing archaic language and correcting certain errors in key portions of text.
New King James Version (NKJV): Commissioned in 1975 by Thomas Nelson Publishers, 130 respected Bible scholars, church leaders, and lay Christians worked for seven years to create a completely new, modern translation of Scripture, yet one that would retain the purity and stylistic beauty of the original King James. With unyielding faithfulness to the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic texts, the translation applies the most recent research in archaeology, linguistics, and textual studies.

Need more context? Looking for an easier read? Dynamic translations place a higher emphasis on summing up the biblical authors’ thoughts while still respecting the text. These thought-for-thought translations balance accuracy with approachability, perfect for light reading or a devotion. After all, the Bible is for the common fellow. The drawback though is that every tweak in the name of understandability is a step toward someone else’s textual interpretation. But if you want to draw your own conclusions about every matter, stick with the ‘literal’ category.
New International Version (NIV): Striving for faithfulness to the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts of the Bible, scholars from five English speaking countries labored to make this contemporary version of the Scriptures readable in style and international in scope. Begun in 1965, published in 1978, and revised in 1983 and 2011, the NIV, has become one of the most popular English Bible translations. The translators’ goal was to produce a work of clarity and literary quality that would be well-suited to private and public reading, memorization, teaching, and preaching. This is the version used by All Nations Church.
New Living Translation (NLT): The New Living Translation is an authoritative Bible translation rendered faithfully into today’s English from the ancient texts by 90 leading Bible scholars. The NLT’s scholarship and clarity breathe life into even the most difficult-to-understand Bible passages—but even more powerful are stories of how people’s lives are changing as the words speak directly to their hearts.

In your mind, paraphrased translations might already have a bad reputation; we would argue that there is a time and place for every type of Bible out there. Paraphrased Bibles focus on getting the general idea across with clear language, useful for those new to the Faith or new to reading. Sometimes, a paraphrase is nice because it’s an interpretation; you can use it to gain a fresh perspective on a passage you’re reading. Typically, Bible paraphrases aren’t necessarily meant to stand alone, so keep that in mind.
The Message (MSG): This translation is a unique Bible-reading experience, a paraphrase by author Eugene Peterson of the traditional Bible text. With no formal language, The Message reads like a letter from an old friend. Because it’s easier to understand, you can better connect what you’re reading with what it means for your everyday life. The Message is not meant to replace your current version of choice. Rather, it is designed as a reading Bible that can give you a fresh perspective on a familiar phrase or passage.

Are you and your family connecting with God outside of church? As a family unit and as individuals on their own time? Are you checking the church box and calling it good? Are you, as parents or guardians expecting someone else to spiritually guide your children? Are you aware that your kids and youths’ Spiritual Practices are mostly taught by them watching you?

As Christians, we talk about being a steward, what it means and how when God gives us a gift, it comes with a responsibility. Children are the biggest gift that God can give, meaning the biggest responsibility that He can ask you to take on. As a steward of your kids, your job is to raise them up, to teach them how to know and connect with God.

Start children off in the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not run from it. Proverbs 22:6

Here are 5 Spiritual Practices that you can model and invite your children to participate in, together as a family.

1. Pray Together
As adults we try to have good prayer lives and incorporate prayer into our everyday but that is a skill or a Spiritual Practice that at one time, we knew nothing about and had to be taught. How you model prayer at home will have the single biggest impact on your kids’ prayer lives.

Try
-Setting aside some time to sit down as a family and talk about what you should pray about, then taking turns praying.
-Keeping a prayer list on the fridge or a little book or jar in living room.
-Adding prayer into their bedtime routine.
-Praising God in prayer when a good thing happens.
-Praying for your kids, in front of them and ask in return that they pray for you or their siblings.
-Using prayer prompts: “I am so grateful that it was sunny and . . .”, “Thank you Jesus for . . .”, “Lord I feel . . . and am asking for help with . . .”.

Try to not
-Make prayer a check-list item that you have to get through to do the next thing.
-Stop the silly, you’re the adult, you make the call, but kids thanking God for lasagna for dinner or asking God to help them not hit their brother because they keep getting in trouble teaches them to not properly honour God.

Remember
Sometimes children’s prayers seem inconsequential or odd, but the creator of the universe listens to them, the same as He listens to yours.

2. Read and Study the Bible Together
This is another Spiritual Practice that takes time and diligence. How as the spiritual leader in your kids and students lives can you guide them to love connecting with God through studying His word?

Try
-Being intentional; setting aside time where your family sits down, reads, and discusses the Bible together.
-Memorizing verses together.
-Doing crafts or activities that teach about a person or idea in the Bible.
-Incorporating scripture into prayer, decor, and routines.
-Combating conflict and bad behaviours by searching together for a story of how God does or doesn’t not want us to behave.

Try to not
Shy away from the harsh or bad. The world isn’t perfect, we are all broken and sinful, teaching kids that allows them to understand why Jesus lived, died and why we need him to.

Remember
Your kids don’t need a full 72 slide Powerpoint with footnotes and an appendix. They need to see and hear you living and learning from the Bible. Has everyone been fighting or calling each other names? Read a passage about how Christians are supposed to treat each other and come up with one actionable idea to implement that week that would help everyone not fight or call names.

3. Spend Time in Nature
Experiencing nature is a great way to teach kids and youth about God and study his character. Even the super hot and super cold, though maybe not the weather that we love, has something wonderful for us to experience.

Try
-Going for a walk and looking for the most intricate things you can find. Discuss their beauty, discuss how they are designed, how they are good and play a roll in the world.
-Planting a garden or flowers, work together to nurture God’s creation.
-Doing crafts, experiments, and activities involving different things from outside.
-Visiting a zoo, discussing how the animals are designed by God for a purpose
-Looking under rocks and between paving stones, seeing the insects and bugs and talking about why they are so important
-Taking your teenager for a drive out where you can check out some landscapes and talking about what you see, what you appreciate and model praising God for the wonders He has made.

Try to not
-Fight the play, being outside makes children want to run, play and experience nature. Guide them, discuss and teach, but also let them be.
-Say “get off the phone”, phones are often what youth experience the world through, instead use the phone. For example, have them take photos or videos, ask hard questions that require a Google search or let them look up and guide you to new locations.

Remember
-We don’t worship nature, we worship the Creator and when teaching children, it is important to remind them that we enjoy the trees, flowers, animals and weather, but we praise God for creating those things, not the actual things.
-This is one of those tiny moments kind of things, you don’t always need a big plan or any preparation, just start looking for everyday things that are incredible and appreciating them out loud to your children, model praising God and guide your kids to do the same.

4. Be Alone with God
This is a difficult one for kids, they are little social creatures, who can struggle to stay ‘on task’ without guidance, for teens it can be a struggle to turn away from the notifications and focus. Model this by reminding your kids about when you spend time with God, talk about how you read your bible after putting them to bed or how you spent 15 minutes praying in the morning before waking them up.

Try
-Adding alone time with God into the bedtime routine; give them their Bible, leave the room, this is the time where they get to try some of the previous skills, alone and in private.
-Having some alone time with God right after they wake up, either in their rooms or in the other room while you make breakfast or do your alone time.
-Carve out a few times a week where you set-up your child to have alone time with God.

Try to not
Discipline them; you want them to desire the alone time, if it becomes a fight or an opportunity to misbehave then it will not be something they seek once you stop instigating it.

Remember
It might not seem like it is fruitful or that your children are gaining anything from it but this is a Spiritual Practice, which means practicing it now, teaches them to practice it for the rest of their lives.

5. Live out God’s Forgiveness
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

We all mess up, we all sin against each other, just as we sin against God. You reaction to your own sin will teach your kids what their reaction to their sin should be.

Try
-Apologizing when you are wrong and ask for forgiveness; “Hey, I got pretty angry there and yelled, I’m sorry for yelling, can you forgive me?”
-Directing them to ask for forgiveness. “You weren’t listening and you threw that at me, do you understand why that was wrong? What should we do?”
-Practicing mutual apologizing. “I’m sorry I let myself get so angry that I yelled at you. Can you apologize to me for not putting the toys away like I asked?”
-Apologizing to your spouse and asking for their forgiveness in front of your children if you commit the offence in front of your children.

Try to not
-Make forgiveness be the ‘key’ to the situation being over. Consequences still exist.
-Say “It’s okay.” Use the phrase “I forgive you”, be intentional in your words and do not dismiss the offence, but offer forgiveness in the same way that God offers it to you.

Remember
Parents are still human, giving and seeking forgiveness models God’s relationship with us on both sides and is important for us as adults to be reminded of as much as it is for kids and youth.

Where are you already modelling these connections with God? Where would you like to improve? Did something jump out that you can start this week? I will leave you with an encouragement and some resources.

1 Peter 5:2-3 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve;  not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

Try: https://www.christianbook.com/page/bibles/study-bibles?navcat=Bibles|Study-Bibles
Study Bibles or Levelled Bibles. These often include introductions, Bible studies, extra information, activities, and other helpful resources that are geared towards the level and needs of the reader (ie. Grade 2 reading level, young women, life application).
Personal Fun Fact; I was 23 when I replaced my Grade 3 Max Lucado Study Bible with a fresh NIV because my father and mother had specifically picked it out for me.

Try: https://www.signupgenius.com/church/bible-games-activities-kids.cfm
Do crafts, activities, and experiments. You don’t need to be a biblical genius to incorporate scripture, praise, and prayer into your family’s life. Check out the link to get some ideas and head over to Google for colouring pages and other printables.

This is our first in a series of posts about our various staff members! Up first is our lead pastor Sean Morton

Sean grew up on a hobby farm outside of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He has also lived in Vancouver, on Vancouver Island in Comox in Winnipeg and Edmonton. Sean has been at ANC for 1.5 years and what brought him to ANC was that he felt God calling him into the lead pastor position; at the same time, ANC was looking for a new lead pastor. He applied and was offered the job.

What kept Sean at ANC was “Sensing God’s hand in our move as well as the good work we have been doing through the church in the community. Also feeling the privilege of working with a wonderful supportive congregation.” What Sean enjoys most about his job is being able to work with people and motivating them to follow Jesus their whole lives. Sean enjoys lots of outside sports and time at the gym. He has been married to his wife Tracey for 27 years, and they have two children together. His daughter is enrolled in graduate studies in gerontology at the University of Waterloo, and his son is working on his degree in supply chain management in Edmonton. A fun fact about Sean is that even though he mostly grew up a city boy, he can drive heavy-duty farming equipment! His favourite scripture is Phillippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”