Connecting Kids to God on Summer Break

As a mom of five children who span from elementary to college age, and a husband who teaches high school choir, it can be challenging to live a peace-filled life.

Each family member has different daily plans and school schedules throughout the year, so coordinating all of that activity keeps me busy. Summertime is our family’s chance to have a break and spend more time together. We keep a much less structured schedule with plenty of downtime.

One thing that doesn’t change for our family in the summer is how we follow God. We still attend church regularly, honor Him in our daily activities, and spend time pursuing spiritual disciplines like prayer, Bible reading, giving, and serving others.

As the kids have grown, they’ve moved from following along with mom and dad in our walk with God to owning their own relationship with Him. It encourages me as a mom to see them spending time with Him without me reminding them or initiating it.

Specific ways we keep God as the focus during the summer

• Reading a book of the Bible every month as a family.
• The kids attend VBS, summer camp, and youth group.
• We pray at meals.
• We play Christian music at home.
• We love playing Christian games together. Our favorite is the hilarious “Christian Life Game.”

It’s the simple, ordinary moments that mean the most to kids as they grow. Incorporating God’s truth makes it that much more meaningful to them.

We use the summer to genuinely enjoy being together. We plan our weeks to include beach trips, hiking, local park visits and lots of downtime at home. There, the kids can ride their scooters and bikes, take walks in the evenings, help me pull weeds and garden, play card and board games, dance to our favorite K-pop videos and cook meals together.

I also enjoy seeing my older children serve God and their community by volunteering for Vacation Bible School and being part of the youth group worship and children’s ministry teams.

As a mom, I’ve learned that developing friendships with other Christian moms is important during the summer.

When my kids were younger, I planned weekly park days with my church mom friends and our children. Now I make sure to invite other moms to my home and to attend women’s church events when I can. My prayer time is more relaxed, but I regularly think of other moms I can share my Moms in Prayer experience with, so I can get to know them better and invite them to join a group when school starts again.

Spending time with other moms of various ages and stages allows us to share our lives, to hear about prayer needs, and to listen to others who have been through some of the same things as me. I’ve learned so much from them about being a godly wife and mother, that my struggles are common, that God really is my help, and that prayer is powerful. 

I hope that we all recognize this summer, that whether we’re busy with activities or home relaxing and enjoying each other’s company, God still wants to spend time with us and we can lean into His help and direction at any moment.

We take a vacation from school and work, but our relationship with God is different. It’s continuous, ongoing, and enjoyable.

My prayer for you and your family

I pray that you could spend time as a family enjoying each other’s company this summer. I pray that you would set aside any feelings of being overwhelmed or inadequate as a mom and remember that God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). I ask the Lord to show you simple ways to include Him in the daily life of your family and that in everything you do, it would bring God glory. Amen.

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Stephanie Park is a mother of five children: four daughters and a son. Her twin daughters are in college; she also has a high schooler, middle schooler and elementary age son. Her husband of 21 years is a high school choir teacher. She works as a copyeditor for a local newspaper. The family has been a member of a local church for many years and Stephanie has participated in several Moms in Prayer groups over the past 5-6 years.