Stories...on Repeat
When my children were little, they loved hearing about the day they were born. Their birth stories included anticipation, fear, excitement, joy, tears, celebration, happiness, and an abundance of love. I have never spoken to a more attentive audience than when I sat down and describe to my children all the details of the day they were born. When they first heard their birth story, they would ask me to tell it, again and again, every few days. After a while, we graduated to telling it only on their birthdays. Now that they are young adults, their earthly birth stories have been eclipsed by their testimony of a much bigger birth story.
In Philippians 3:1, Paul writes:
Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.
Paul is talking about telling the people of Philippi the same information again. First, Paul reminds the people of Philippi to find their joy in the Lord. He then writes, “It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.” Gosh, this is so beautiful. Paul is willing to repeat the protective word of God to the people of Philippi as many times as is needed and he does so because it keeps them safe from harm in this world.
Words are powerful like that. They have the power to make people feel protected. They have the power to convey identity and safety.
As parents, telling a child’s birth story is one of those powerful stories we tell over and over. A birth story gives a child identity into a family. It gives them a sense of protection from the world and it gives them a strong foundation of love where their purpose can be discovered and cultivated.
Just like Paul repeating the same things to the Philippians, as parents, we not only tell our children their birth stories again and again, we tell them many things over and over. We remind our children to pick up their shoes, put their dishes in the sink, clean their rooms, brush their teeth, change their clothes, and do their homework. In today’s world, our children are being told (on repeat) to keep their masks on and stay away from other people. These are some of the primary words that are being imprinted on their hearts and in their minds.
Today, I encourage you to think about the life-giving words that you speak on repeat to your children. Think about the things you repeat that allow them to feel the protection and safety of God in their lives. When they are little, we introduce them to being family members into our little earthly family by telling them the riveting story of their birth. As they grow we introduce them to being members of a much bigger family of Christian believers, by telling them the powerful story of Jesus.
As we kick off this new year, let’s make sure our stories on repeat not only include masks, shoes, toothpaste, and distance, but let’s also repeatedly tell our children an abundance of stories that include joy, love, membership, hope, meaning, purpose, and safety.
Some stories will be long and detailed, others might be simple comments like:
I know God smiled big the day he made you.
That’s a great question. We will have to ask God when we get there.
God delights in you.
You are one of the great joys God gave me.
I see Jesus when I look at you
As Paul reminds us, our words matter. As parents, let’s intentionally choose to repeat powerful and true words to our children that serve as a safeguard to their hearts and minds.
Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for coming to earth to be everyone’s birth story. Thank you for being willing to repeat what we need to hear over and over again for our safeguard. Thank you for giving us people in our lives who desire to protect us from harm, and thank you for giving us children who we desire to protect. Thank you, God, for being our great protector, for being our hope, and for giving us your word.
**Every child’s birth story is unique, whether it is based on a birth, an adoption, or any of the other ways children find their way into our care and protection. It is important to acknowledge that some children’s birth stories are difficult, hard, or even unknown, and may be difficult to tell because they don’t include joy or excitement. In these cases, think about the moment you fell in love with that child. It might be a conversation you had, the day you laid eyes on them, or something you watched them do. Let that beautiful moment be their birth story. I work with children every day, and I don’t have all the details to their physical birth stories, but I most certainly have a story about the very moment I began to love them, and I tell them about that moment as often as possible.