All of us want our kids to be healthy & well-rounded. A lot of us have the bases pretty well covered when it comes to academics, talents (like sports/arts, etc), and social engagement. Where many of us feel inadequate in the spiritual arena. How exactly do we lead our children to maturity there? How do we help our children understand the story of the Bible? Where do we start & what does this look like day-by-day? If this wasn’t modeled for you, it can feel daunting.
Well, today’s guest not only has experience doing this with his own family, he also helps other families all across the US engage their kids in God’s big story.
Jason Houser is a songwriter, worship leader, and the founder of Seeds Family Worship ministry, where he leads their creative team in writing and recording Word-for-Word scripture worship songs. The ministry has created 10 themed albums and 4 inspiring worship DVD’s to help families worship the Lord and learn His Word together.Houser has been married to his wife Heidi for 25 years, and together they are raising their three children, Ben, Brandon, and Abby..
He also recently co-wrote a parenting book called “Dedicated: Training Children To Trust and Follow Jesus” with Bobby and Chad Harrington that was released by Zondervan Publishing last year. He teaches and leads worship at churches and conferences across the country, including the D6 Family Conference.
Houser draws from his background as a songwriter and music publisher. He has co-written many influential songs, including the 2010 Grammy Nominated Christian song “The Motions” by Matthew West. He also co-wrote West’s Dove Award Nominated song #1 song “More,” and Joy William’s #1 single “Hide.”
Houser loves to make music that challenges and inspires people to seek the Lord more deeply. He is passionate about helping families get into God’s Word and is committed to teaching children how to have an authentic walk with Jesus.
Jason and I met this fall at a conference in Nashville… From talking to you, I heard that the beginning of Seeds actually began at your church’s Vacation Bible School in 2002. Is that right? Can you tell the story?
I love that you committed to having a family devotional time with your kids. How did you pull that off? What were your obstacles? Successes?
What would you say to dads and moms who feel intimated or unprepared to do this? How can we combat the weight of feeling like this is “one more thing” to put on our endless lists? Did this change format/content/time span by age of child? A devotional time with 2nd graders will surely look different than with middle schoolers or teenagers.
How did you engage everyone? (rotate leaders? Rotate who says the prayer–like Linda Goodwyn mentioned–). Is it better to have a scheduled time for this (every morning before school) vs. sprinkling such observations thru the day (Deut 6:7…talk about such things as you go along the road…)
Is there a Scripture that governs how you approached sharing your faith with your children? How can families integrate this everyday? As parents, should we wait to be asked? What do you say about the approach of letting kids figure out their faith on their own?
How do you recommend using Seeds songs or how have you seen families use them?
What are some success stories of doing family worship/family time?
We’ve all heard a catchy song on the radio and been able to sing along to the lyrics after listening to it a handful of times. It had me wondering if there was perhaps a scientific basis to this link between music and memory. It turns out, there is.
University of Melbourne article:
Music helps us remember things better because of a process called “chunking”. Chunking is when we
take individual pieces of information and group them together into larger units (i.e. “chunks”). Our short term memory can only hold about 7 units of information at a time. So if we cram more material
into each unit by putting them into big chunks, then we can store more content overall. Music allows
us to chunk lyrics together by linking words and phrases in a tune. The melody and rhythm act as a
great framework that we can attach the text to, making it easier to recall later. In this way, the
musical structures enhance our ability to learn and retrieve the text of the song.
A Stanford study shows that music engages areas of the brain which are involved with paying attention, making predictions and updating events in our memory (Baker, Mitzi. “Music moves brain to pay attention, Stanford study finds.” Stanford Medicine. Accessed February 24, 2015). https://www.nammfoundation.org/articles/2014-06-01/benefits-learning-and-playing-music-adults?gclid=Cj0KCQiA5OuNBhCRARIsACgaiqUUXtYbZe5Bs4DGPlhRgpqy97q0lkhDGy0uexV24yva8yD9kMHpjVMaAj14EALw_wcB
Teachers recognize this already! Very young children memorize the ABC’s, can finish phrases of nursery rhymes… My kids memorized all 50 states with a song from elementary school they can still sing today in their 20’s.
“There are few things that stimulate the brain the way music does,” says one Johns Hopkins otolaryngologist. “If you want to keep your brain engaged throughout the aging process, listening to or playing music is a great tool. It provides a total brain workout.”
Research has shown that listening to music can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and pain as well as improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, and memory. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/keep-your-brain-young-with-music
Stats on memory and song. # of songs memorized by age 18-20? Something like 3000!