Reflection 16: Bringing Our Children To Jesus

Our kids are watching everything we do.

They are watching how we speak to each other.
They are watching how we handle stress.
They are watching what we prioritize.
And they are watching how we seek Christ.

If we want them to seek Him, they have to see us seek Him.

I love watching our son grow up. He is full of energy and light. He runs everywhere. Climbs everything. Gets into whatever he possibly can. But more than anything, he wants to be near us. He wants to sit next to us. Talk with us. Follow us from room to room.

That desire to be close is something I hope never fades. And more than that, I hope it transfers. I hope that as he grows, that same instinct to draw near to Mom and Dad becomes an instinct to draw near to Christ.

Because our children will model their relationship with God based on what we model for them.

If we want them to bring their questions to the Lord, they need to see us bringing our questions to Him. If we want them to trust Him, they need to see us trusting Him. If we want them to pray, they need to see us pray.

One of the ways we try to live that out is through Adoration.

Every Friday at 4 in the morning, I go to Adoration. For Catholics, Adoration is time spent in prayer before the Eucharist, which we call the Blessed Sacrament. We believe this is not symbolic. We believe it is the real presence of Jesus Christ, His body, blood, soul, and divinity. When the host is placed in a monstrance on the altar, we are not gazing at a reminder. We are in the presence of Christ Himself.

And we simply sit with Him. We gaze upon Him. We speak to Him. We listen.

For a long time, that 4 AM hour was mine. It was quiet. Still. Undistracted.

After our daughter was born, Kierston suggested something that challenged me. She said we should start bringing the kids.

I hesitated.

I valued the silence. I valued the solitude. I valued the uninterrupted prayer.

But she reminded me of the words of Scripture to bring the children to Him.

So we did.

And yes, it can feel chaotic. Young kids are not built for prolonged silence. They color. They whisper. They ask for snacks. They shift in their seats. Sometimes it feels more like survival than serenity.

But something beautiful happens in that chaos.

When we walk into the chapel now, our son immediately says, “Jesus.” He looks toward the altar. He lays down at the foot of the pew with his coloring books. He glances up at the monstrance. He looks back at us praying.

He sees.

One morning, he looked at a statue of Jesus and said, “Jesus is hurt.” He pointed to the wounds in His hands and feet.

He noticed the wounds.

In that moment, I thought about Thomas touching the wounds of Christ. Our son had not sat through a theology lesson. He had not read Scripture on his own. But simply by being present before the Blessed Sacrament, by returning week after week, he understood something real. Jesus suffered. Jesus was wounded. Jesus loves.

Even when it feels like children are distracted, they are absorbing more than we realize.

Consistency matters.

When they see us kneel, they learn reverence.
When they see us pray, they learn dependence.
When they see us sacrifice sleep to be with Jesus at 4 in the morning, they learn priority.

Bringing young children to Adoration is not easy. It stretches patience. It humbles expectations. It disrupts the quiet.

But it also builds something eternal.

Our job as parents is not to create perfect prayer environments. Our job is to bring our children to Christ. To place them in His presence. To let them see us loving Him.

The foundation we lay now will shape how they understand God later. If we are distant from Christ, they will assume He is distant. If we are casual about faith, they will be casual. But if they see us seek Him intentionally, consistently, sacrificially, that image will stay with them.

They are watching.

So let them watch us choose Jesus.

Bring the children to Him.