This Saturday morning I took my family to the International House of Carbohydrates for a special feast. By tradition, Saturday is “feast day” at the Phillips home.

Sometimes we will kill the fatted pizza but usually I just make breakfast for the family. And not just any breakfast, but fried matzoh with sides of maple sausage and sometimes grits. I learned how to make fried matzoh from my father, who made it for me on Saturday mornings, even as his father did the same for him.

Happy Saturday mornings! —- Long, slow, glorious hours spent with the children helping Dad in the kitchen, Beall and I leisurely reading newspapers (instead of the frantic “skim and destroy” method I normally employ due to time constraints), wrestling with the two-year-old Sumo toddler, and having little girls in flower dresses dance around with their daddy.

The other week we instituted a new family tradition: Each child age four to eleven is required to take ten minutes sometime out of the day to sit with my two year old (Honor) and talk to him about the Gospel. They can share a pre-approved Bible story or Scripture lesson, but they must encourage him in the Lord. We have a special designated spot where they are to do this, and we require that they stay focused for the whole ten minutes.

This new tradition was born out of my daily admonitions to the children to model Christianity for the littlest members of our household. In my view, parents either involve their children with in-home Gospel evangelism and discipleship, or parents will end up with double duty, including spending far too much time addressing unnecessary sibling rivalry. Children that are witnessing one to another are less inclined to compete against one another, or to act in dereliction of their Christian duties. Most importantly, however, I want my boys and girls to know that the way they talk and interact with their little brother will either point him to Heaven or to Hell.

By the way, I was really impressed with the book Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends, which explains (with great humor) the practical ways to build commitment and unity between siblings. You can check out this book by clicking here.