To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord —1 TIMOTHY 1:2

We had just finished eating dinner when the doorbell rang. I had a pretty good guess who it was. Sure enough, as I opened our front door, I saw four kids from our neighborhood eagerly waiting for our children to be done with dinner.

Since we moved in to our new neighborhood, our home has become the gathering place for basketball, capture the flag, football, and every- thing in between. I could feel the kids’ disappointment when I said, “Our kids can’t come out yet. We’re just finishing up dinner, and we’re getting ready to do our devotions.”

That’s when I felt God nudge me to invite them in. So I did. Before I knew it, we were having not just family devotions; we were having extended-family devotions. I realized that God was using us not only to influence our kids, but to plant seeds of His life-changing truth in the lives of their friends.

God has placed our children in our lives for a purpose, and through them He has placed other kids in our lives too. They might be kids in our neighborhood. Our kids’ friends and classmates. Kids in our church. These children, while not our own biological children, can be children of ours “in the faith,” just as Timothy was to Paul.

Timothy was a younger Christian and a pastor, and Paul described him as “my true son in the faith.” The fact is, God’s family is bigger than our own family by blood.

So prayerfully consider what influence you might have not only on your own kids, but also on the friends who come over to play, join you for dinner, or just hang out at your house. God wants to use your family to extend His.

Lord, Your family is so much bigger than just my own. Help me intentionally connect with my kids’ friends and those friends’ moms. Give me opportunities to influence them by speaking truth, encouraging them, praying for them, and loving them for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Outside of your own family, which people were most influential in your faith while you were growing up?

What are one or two things you can do to begin to extend your family?

Trusted author Ruth Schwenk of Pressing Pause and The Better Mom blog will help you learn to give yourself grace as you grow in wisdom with The Better Mom Devotional. As a busy mom of four kids, Ruth understands the stress of raising a family and trying to do it all perfectly, but she has uncovered a secret: becoming a better mom starts not with what you are doing but with who God is inviting you to become.

With 100 devotions, The Better Mom Devotional offers you a calm way to start your day, deepening your faith on this lifelong journey towards becoming more like Jesus. If you are ready to discover what God wants to do in you, you can grab your copy of The Better Mom Devotional today at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBook.com or anywhere books are sold.

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