“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” - James Clear

This quote, from the book Atomic Habits has stuck with me since I initially read it. To put it another way, will power alone isn’t enough for a person to reach their goals. Instead, a person will only succeed as much as their systems let them. So unless you have a system for how to attain your specific goals (a specific diet plan for losing weight for example), you most likely will not find the change you hope for. 

Last week, I wrote about how I’ve started to look at family ministry from a different perspective: one where we create more opportunities for parents and children to stay together while participating in our various ministries (you can read it again here). This is an important part of creating a welcoming environment for families with children. But simply creating opportunities is not enough for families to feel included in the life of our congregation. The physical spaces in which we invite families to participate also has to communicate that children belong. So, if we seriously look around our space, does it look like a space where children are encouraged to participate?

As a family minister and a parent to a young child, I’ve been thinking about how our church can better serve families in our community. But revitalizing a children’s ministry is a big task, and something that I don’t have all the solutions for. Believe it or not, pastors don’t have all the answers to life's big questions.