5 Family Traditions That Help You Seek God Year-Round

There are many types of family traditions. They can be centered around holidays, annual, monthly, or even weekly. Some traditions have to do with specific milestones, countries, or family history. All types of traditions are valuable in developing a family culture, and the great thing about having your own family is that you can curate your own traditions to your preferences and goals.

Family traditions should, of course, be fun, but they also have the power to help us seek God as a family unit. If you want to keep your family’s faith vibrant and active all year long, consider these five traditions and then tailor them to your unique situation.

1. Family Worship Nights

Family worship nights can be done as a family unit or with friends! Hold them weekly or monthly but make them special. Creating this tradition as a more frequent rhythm keeps kids excited about connecting with Jesus as a family. Keep it simple and fun. There are a thousand ways to worship the Lord and learn about Him as a family. Consider what works best with your schedules and personalities, and let the whole family be part of the planning process. On one of our worship evenings, we let the girls dress up in their tutus and leotards, and they performed dance routines that incorporated classical music. Afterward, we gathered them into a circle, read scriptures about praising the Lord, and talked about the many ways to worship. We closed with a song. You can bet that the kids were excited for the next family worship time.

2. Family Service Project

Serving together as a family is an excellent way to show your kids how to love the way that Jesus did. While there are opportunities to serve all year long, try to pick something specific that you do every year as a family. This will allow you to plan for it and make it more impactful by talking about it and praying about it together as a family. Each year, our family buys animals or clean water supplies for other families in another country for Christmas. We typically purchase Christmas ornaments to represent this and add them to our tree. Each year, we can talk about this act of service and reflect on what giving really means. The kids have fun choosing the gift and the ornament, and they look at the collection of ornaments as they grow over the years. Their hearts begin to understand the gift of Jesus more deeply.

3. Family Retreat

While family vacations are common, family retreats are less so—no need to plan an expensive giveaway or start searching for spiritual retreat centers. You can take one day, a weekend, or even easily turn your normal family vacation into a retreat by adding in spiritual elements. Continue your family devotional habits while on vacation or plan some special ones. Worship music or missionary biographies in the car and listening to a sermon together on Sunday while you are traveling are simple ways to turn this tradition into a connection to the Lord.

You could also curate the experience based on the trip you are taking by selecting scriptures that apply to your adventure and reading them beforehand or even by choosing a scripture for the week that you plan to memorize together. Whether the entire time is focused on seeking God or whether you plan moments to seek God while on your adventure, they will be special moments that help to shape your family’s faith.

4. Family Year in Review

Each New Year’s Eve, our family sits around a bonfire and eats homemade cinnamon sugar donuts. We talk about the favorites and the hard memories of the year. We review how God has been faithful to us throughout the year. We then share our hopes for the future. This tradition is much looked forward to and helps everyone remember that our days are in God’s loving hands.

This type of tradition can be done at the new year, at the end of the school year, before the beginning of the school year, or even on the anniversary of your marriage every year. Choose a day for your family and plan a fun outing, experience, meal, or activity. You can keep notes or photos throughout the year to keep track of what happens. Be creative and use your personal skills. Make a video, slideshow, or scrapbook to help with this activity. You can even select a verse for the year that your family will focus on. Pray together and give your year to the Lord.

5. Family Hospitality

While hospitality can be organic, you can also make it a tradition. There is no one way to do hospitality, which is its beauty. Perhaps you use holidays for this opportunity, or maybe you invite people over weekly. Whatever you do, make it a family tradition by involving the entire family in the process. Our children became quickly accustomed to us having young couples and college kids in our home. They loved helping, so the table would often have fallen petals from bouquets made by toddler hands, hand-written place cards done by the elementary-aged child, and simple cookies baked by the pre-teen. The family effort was always obvious and a great icebreaker. Before we knew it, our children were asking for us to invite more people over, and our middle schooler began planning to have the whole youth group over for soup and bread. This provided so many opportunities for us to talk about Jesus and what He said about hospitality and service.

Whatever traditions you already have, evaluate them and see if they can be enhanced to help your family seek God through his Word, prayer, or worship. God is in everything, and therefore, we can invite Him into everything we do. What a blessing to be able to have meaningful and impactful fun with our families.