helping children find faith
The pause. Then the scream
Ed Drew
Date posted: 1 Nov 2022
It might be at school drop-off. The sweet little boy, with a mop of wild hair, runs excitedly along. His legs are moving too fast for his body, then comes that awful moment when you know he’s about to fall.
The sound of knees hitting concrete. The pause. Then the scream. Every parent steps towards him, hands out, gasps of sympathy, longing to fix it, wipe the tears and take away the pain.
helping children find faith
Why won’t you just change?
Ed Drew
Date posted: 1 Sep 2022
There is a corporate mantra, ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast’.
It warns against trumpeting the five-year plan, putting up workplace posters and rolling out a training scheme for every employee without changing the culture of the team. No amount of resolutions, colourful charts and snappy sentences will bring about change unless accompanied by shared convictions and habits.
helping children find faith
Parenting for the day when you’re not there
Ed Drew
Date posted: 1 Jul 2022
Jake is Sarah’s eldest child. I saw Sarah on the first Sunday after she dropped Jake off at university for his first term.
She said to me: ‘It’s pathetic. I want to get into the car and drive four hours to take him to church! When I left him, I had plastered his desk with Post-it notes telling him the address of his local good church. It’s so close to him. He needs to walk out of his door, turn right, go 300 yards and walk through that door. It couldn’t be easier. But it’s up to him now.’
helping children find faith
Raising toddlers
Ed Drew
Date posted: 1 May 2022
In the middle of the bright lights and confused tourists in Piccadilly Circus is the statue of Eros. Except it isn’t.
Everyone thinks it’s Eros, but that’s because they’ve got the wrong brother. They look very similar. Even their mum probably got them mixed up. The statue is Anteros, the brother of Eros, the Greek god of love and sex. Anteros is the Greek god of selfless love. This matters. The statue of Anteros was paid for by the people of London to remember the life of the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, who died in 1885. Please don’t give up on me. I know I have moved from obscure Greek mythology to obscure dead aristocracy, but I am going somewhere wonderful.
helping children find faith
Families reaching families
Ed Drew
Date posted: 1 Mar 2022
Evangelism always takes courage. The awkwardness can be real. The goal is worth it: whole families turning to Christ. Those families are best reached by Christian families.
I was in the first month of working for a church. I was young. I had no children. I was sat in the home of a couple from church (who I had only just met). That week their five-year-old had told them a story from school. She had got together with her best friend from church and had cornered a boy from their class. With their prey unable to leave, she told him: ‘You’re going to hell if you don’t become a Christian.’
helping children find faith
Give your family a Ugandan New Year!
Ed Drew
Date posted: 1 Jan 2022
In Uganda, for Christmas, most city dwellers head to the countryside where their families live.
Traffic jams are worse than normal. Cars are loaded up with treats that can’t be bought in the rural areas. Once they arrive, families sit together and tell their stories; they laugh, they eat and they celebrate. We heard about a Ugandan Christmas on our recent Faith in Parents podcast, ‘Christmas elsewhere’. What struck me most was that families reflect on the past year and they plan the next year – together. There is celebration in the discussion. They are not remembering their country’s progress or their team’s season or their school’s achievements. It is a celebration of their own special family. Theirs is a unique conversation.