Becoming a D6 Family

It was Easter of last year when I was handed a communication card after one of our services. I looked at this card and I noticed my then seven year old son Trevor’s name was on the card. I saw that little box checked when someone had accepted Christ. As a father, I was so proud and excited!!! I found Trevor and I just about tackled him. My wife, Sarah and I were both blown away and so happy.


I started to ask him questions about what happened and how did he feel and just like every typical 7yr old, after the third question, this is the response I get…“Daddy… I’m bored…can I go play the Wii?"

On that day…something really awesome happened…there was a heart change moment, because from that moment on Trevor has been our little prayer warrior. He makes sure we pray when we have a family meal, he makes sure nobody goes to bed without us all praying as a family…seriously…if Sarah and I are both home, Trevor will make sure we are all upstairs to pray together.

Fast forward a little more to Thanksgiving…Sarah and I started to notice my younger son Travis who at age five is starting to get curious. Starting to ask questions…But he also has the attention span of a “Gnat”!!!….I am not sure where he gets that from... Curious, but no attention span? That is NOT a good combination. Travis will hear something from Trevor or at church and boy it sticks...he doesn’t forget much. The question for us was, does he understand what he is hearing.

Which got Sarah and I were talking… Sarah said to me “If there was just a class I could take to help me with what to say to the boys…because I just don’t feel confident that I am going to say the right thing.”

So me being the “PASTOR” :)…DADADADAAAH!!! I said well let me help you with that problem :)…

But I soon realized that when it came to my Boys I was just as intimidated…I didn’t want to mess this up…I wasn’t sure I had all the right answers or how was I going to explain it in a way that they will understand. Well, it just so happens that in a previous devotion I had read Deuteronomy 6. There was a particular set of scriptures that came to mind. I want to share it with you…

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (New Living Translation)


“4Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

As I read this again…it hit me…like a ton of bricks…Let’s take a closer look at this scripture together…I want to unpack this for you…
“Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.”

This scripture begins with a connecting point. An undeniable understanding that there is one God and he is God alone. This is the first step of Faith!!! It is the most foundational truth to pass on to the next generation.

“And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.”

The second phase of this scripture tells us as adults and parents to love God with everything we got!! Commit ourselves first to God’s ways…

Authenticity is the key here... God is asking people to first have these commands on their hearts…

Sarah and I both love God with all we have, but because of the busyness of life there are times were the Vertical Element with God is not always where it should be…If Sarah and I are not consistently working on growing closer to Him…how are we going to be able to do the same thing with Trevor and Travis.

We realized that we need to the primary spiritual leaders for our boys. And that starts with our own relationship with God.

“Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.”

God gives us direction. Now that were committed we have the unique opportunity to share with our kids. With God in first place we should take every opportunity we can to share Gods love. God gives mothers and fathers the unique gift and incredible responsibility of telling their children all about God and the Teachings of Jesus

“Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

You are creating a household that honors God. What is your family DNA? To me this simply means, families should consider creating a family road map. Each family should feel compelled to find their core values, Family goals, and an identity specific to them. And don’t be afraid to let other people know about it. Our house is a revolving door of neighborhood kids and we love it!! But each of them know what our family is all about they tend to act a little different when they step into our home.

I think I can speak for the majority of parents out there when I say; we all want the responsibility of introducing spiritual truth into the life of our children. In our culture, As Parents, many times we feel that our best chance is to bring our children to church. But God’s Word directs parents to take the spiritual training of their children pretty serious. Now Trevor and Travis spend hours at church, maybe more than many because that is the perks of dad being on staff, but they are home with Sarah and me ten times as many hours. God has laid the ground work for Parents to be the primary influence.

I thought I might share with you on how we became a Deuteronomy 6 “D6” family. We are in no way the perfect family and we battle the busyness of life everyday with work and family, but my hope and prayer is that these words will encourage you and that God’s Word will challenge you.

Stay tuned for my next post “Becoming a D6 Parent”. I was hoping to share with you some practical steps that helped Sarah and I walk alongside our sons on their own spiritual journeys.


Brett Gray
Pastor of Children/Student Ministries
The Cove Church