Family Traditions, Part Two

A couple of posts back, I mentioned that I would start a series on family traditions. This will be the second in that series that I will intersperse among other posts.

In this post, I would like to tell about another family tradition we have, and that is of reading aloud stories of Church history during the last part of our family worship. This all started last summer, but has become something that we really enjoy.

Last summer, a few weeks after my second daughter was born, my father and his wife came to visit. During their visit, we continued with our family worship as usual. One night, we were reading from Trial and Triumph: Stories from Church History. My Dad asked if he could look through the book. Suddenly he exclaimed, "Gustavus Adolphus!... My great grandfather's name was Gustavus Adolphus! I never knew that he was named after someone!" After this revelation, my father began to read the story of Gustavus Adolphus aloud to us and in the process, taught my children all about an important church hero and tied family ties that I know my children (especially the oldest) will not soon forget.

We decided then and there that this was a tradition that was worth pursuing. Especially when the grandparents are around, Jim Bob will give them their choice of hymns and/or stories from which to pick during our family worship. We enjoy it all the more when the grandparents are the ones to tell a story, or pick a hymn. I love to see the multi-generational faithfulness of the Lord being passed down to my children from their extended family!