When we talk about work and involve them in it as part of God’s good creation, and when we regularly lose it in the silliness and laughter of play, and when we regularly rest as a family endeavor, we weave them a fabric of memory that befits the kingdom God is bringing.

For now, suffice it to say that interviews and interrogations happen over empty tables. Conversations happen over messy ones. So the beginning of family devotions is just that—a crowded, messy table.

A vacation with young children is really just going somewhere scenic and working overtime shifts of parenting hours. Great memories for the kids, but hard work for you. This fit the description perfectly.

I often think about how the gospel posture of a parent is opening yourself up to be hurt by your children, while committing to loving them anyway. That’s what Jesus did for us, after all.

In a very real sense, parenting is one long process of revealing who you are. And usually that is not pretty.

If discipline were easy, we wouldn’t need to talk about practicing habits to guide us. We would just spontaneously respond with the right reaction.

To understand why a rhythm as simple as coming to the table could be so significant across so many areas, we have to understand the idea of a keystone habit. A keystone habit is one that supports a lot of other good habits.

And it’s true, of course. For all of us, someone has. His name is Jesus. And the idea of cultivating habits of the household is nothing more than cultivating rhythms of looking at the God who is always looking back at us. He is the one who smiles us into smiling and loves us all into loving.

The power of prayer is not proportionate to its length, for prayer works outside the physics of our intentions. And that is a good thing. No matter how short, prayer is the lever that can lift the heaviest of hearts.