Last week, there was about 50 of us from Heartland Vineyard that traveled to a conference at the Vineyard Church in Urbana, Illinois. We had a fantastic time, but more importantly, we were able to come home with fresh eyes and hearts that are ready to do the work ahead of our church.

The theme of the conference was “The Family of the Future.” Over the course of the 4-5 days we were there, one of the words that stuck out to me continually was the word “intentional.”

Though it was never used specifically, I listened as pastors, speakers & teachers talked about the ways God has moved and is going to move in families and in churches, and the intentionality was overwhelming to me.

Of course, we are never in charge of how God moves, but I do believe that when we are intentional about taking back ground that the enemy has stolen, we place ourselves in a position for God to do the work HE so longs to do in us and in our family.

The first step is to be intentional about your relationship with the Lord. The biggest gift we can give to our family is our own walk with Jesus. Your personal investment in Jesus will reap the biggest return for your family. Pursue Him, know Him, love Him. It will change you and in return, will change your family.

Secondly, honoring and nurturing your relationship with your spouse is not only great for your marriage, but it sets the tone for how your kids will view relationships. You are teaching them how relationships work.

And third, our intentionality in parenting sets the tone for how kids will walk through life and will influence their relationship with the Lord. We are not in charge of their relationship with the Lord, but we are instrumental in giving lenses to how our kids view and experience Him (why our relationship with Him is SO important).

As Marriage Coaching has launched, our hearts and minds have started to think about parenting. Parent Coaching and classes are on the horizon and we are thrilled. We are living in a time where being a parent is hard (has it ever been easy?) and yet, a time where more parents are leaning into Him for understanding. What the enemy wants to use for evil — God can absolutely redeem for the good of His people.

We are ready to be intentional about Family here at HVC, we hope you are too. When Carolyn Yoder was here a few months ago she gave this word to our church at the Saturday Worship Night, “before your church hits the streets you will begin to see revival in your families”. We are
standing on that ground and expectant that the Lord will move.