You are Jewish; your husband, a lapsed Catholic. Neither of you believes, much, in God, although occasionally you like to meditate and you both would go hiking more if you could. You’ve had those moments — who hasn’t? — on mountaintops or in art museums or even in prayer when you’ve felt that overwhelming sense of bigness and smallness all at once, the awesomeness of existence, the miracle and fragility of being human. But it’s easy to switch the channel. Life — work, TV, an alluring new bar — intervenes and all that reverence dissipates.
And then you have kids. And that existential shoulder shrug becomes a way of life because … What are you going to do? Entrust an unknown priest or rabbi to teach your children things you’re not sure you believe yourself? Besides, there’s soccer and birthday parties and brunch. But this spiritual apathy nags at you. This isn’t how you (or your parents and grandparents) were raised. And a tiny voice inside you insists on wondering whether you shouldn’t be teaching your kids something about the importance of holiness.
Taken from: Why Kids Need Spirituality
By Lisa Miller
So, what do we believe at Narnia Early Learning Centres?
As a Christian Childcare Centre, we believe that human beings have an intricate design making us highly complex beings and only a living God could have created us as we are. One way to view our make-up is that we have a material part, our body, and an immaterial part, our soul and spirit.
It is by our body we function. Our soul gives us our personality and through our soul we live out relationships with God, others and our self. It gives us our mind, will and emotions.
It is in our spirit that we have meaning and purpose in life. Our spirit allows us to love others, love God and love ourselves.
Finding meaning and one’s sense of place in the world is essentially a spiritual journey and requires children to develop self-respect and respect for others who may hold a different view to them.
In nurturing a child’s spirituality, we help them to build relationships with others through an understanding of how loved and accepted they are by God; their creator and Heavenly Father.
Healthy relationships with others support the development of a healthy relationship with and understanding of God and a deep understanding of the transcendent.
At Narnia, we agree with Lisa Miller who commands that parents ‘heed that little voice’ telling them to nurture their child’s spiritual development. Young children are incredibly vulnerable with an insatiable desire for knowledge and amazing curiosity from birth. We cherish each child as a special miracle and aim to create an environment which enables them to experience the joy and wonder of our world. We aim to provide a warm and loving atmosphere that supports the awakening and nurturing of spirituality in the child bringing them to an awareness of God, Biblical values and their place in the world.
We believe there is no other single factor to prepare and protect your child as they move through life than the awareness that they are loved unconditionally by the Creator God and that He has a plan and purpose for their life.
Lea Rule
2020.
