To be fair, we also notice plenty of moments when we catch the kids mimicking our good behavior, often with other people and outside the home. There are countless examples of how my attitudes, preferences, beliefs, virtues, vices and personality quirks impact and shape our children. For example, as a University of Michigan fan, I hardly ever wear red because of my deep-seated disdain for Ohio State football, and if you asked Donovan (9 years old) his least favorite color, I can guarantee he’d say red. All the time spent together influences (both intentionally and unintentionally) these precious souls and it’s worth considering how that relates to their walk as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Discipleship done well could also be called apprenticeship. It's not just a series of intellectual teachings or slight behavior modifications, but a deep and intimate relationship that expresses itself in an ongoing process of the disciple becoming like the master. The Church teaches that the parents are the primary educators of their children, but what are we educating them in? It’s not just the moral teachings or standard behaviors of the Church, but the patterns, habits, mindsets and beliefs of Jesus applied to our individual lives.

My favorite definition of Christian discipleship is to live as Jesus would live if he were you. We learn to live like Jesus by watching someone more experienced in faith showing us the way. Parents, we have a sacred responsibility to not only provide for and raise our children, but to disciple them, to model for them, both in word and deed, the lifestyle of a follower of Jesus. The burning fire of our love for the Lord should be experienced by our children. Since so much of what they learn comes from observation … ask yourself, as it pertains to faith, what are your children observing?

Please don’t assume that your inner life with God is obvious to the people who live with you. Continue to strengthen your relationship with Jesus, but invite your children into that process. If Regina now knows how to correct Zeke when he’s being annoying, I pray she’ll also know how to worship the Lord, cry out to him for help, and run to him for mercy since her father claims to do all those things! Let’s make our homes a school of love and remember, to love your children, is also to disciple them!