So the New Year is here! The children are back at school and some much needed routine is finally in place. Time seems to go so quickly when you are parenting. I’ve loved seeing lots of social media posts about entering a new decade, and the #10yearchallenge. Where were you 10 years ago? How has life changed?

But I’ve started to look forward too. How old will my children be in five or 10 years? The answer for me is simple yet frightening… I’m going to have teenagers! So I’ve started wondering, what sort of relationship do I want to have with them when they’re teenagers? I have lots of answers in my head, but ultimately I want us to love spending time together, having fun as a family.

I can’t expect this to magically materialise, I have to sit down and intentionally decide what I need to do in order to get there. If I don’t prioritise having fun together now, then my kids are unlikely to want that in five or ten years time. So I want to start making sure there’s time in the week just to have fun.

And then if I want to have boys who love God, how can I help them grow spiritually in the here and now? I’d like to make a renewed effort in praying for them daily and show them what my relationship with God looks like – telling them what God is speaking to me about more regularly.

So as we start a new year, what little changes can we make today to work towards the sort of relationship we want to have with our families in five and 10 years time?