I'm over at Catholic Mom, talking about fostering spiritual growth in the family...

My latest at Catholic Mom is somewhat a retrospective look back on 25 years of parenting. Spiritual Growth Within a Catholic Family, Part One gives the context for Catholic family life in the Gohn home. Part Two, coming next month, will talk about some of the family practices and attitudes that have worked to build up the spiritual life in each of our children.

Here's a snippet from the current article:

The spiritual milestones of our children’s lives began with their baptism. It slowly advanced with each of the sacraments that they made. In between those sacramental milestones, there’s a world of spiritual territory that we’ve traversed. And while we don’t make pencil marks on a door, or keep report cards, my husband and I were privileged to watch souls take shape and grow in our home. As parents, we spent a lot of time doing what we could to influence that growth both directly and indirectly. 

But every now and then, we see a shining moment -- a defining moment – when one of our children chooses Christ – growing as Catholic Christians – by yielding more and more to Him. These are the moments you pray for. Very few can be scheduled. Most are unpredictable, surprising, and happen as the Holy Spirit wills. But almost all of them can be prepared for. 

We’ve prepared our children as best as we can for such times, often deliberately. Just as we’ve been called to be role models for them, we’re called to educate them in three areas: daily life, academic life, and spiritual life. We often know what to do with the first two areas, but the spiritual life sometimes seems a little harder to articulate. This is the life of grace, of sanctity, of holiness. It is training a child not only in the basic knowledge of the faith, but calling them toward an interior life with Christ.

The rest is here.