Sometimes the thing on the forefront of people’s minds is the safety of their kids. They want to know how to insure their children will be safe from harm from unwelcome influences, etc. We’d say the very best way to keep them safe is to give them a mission worth living for! And the best way to give them a mission worth living for is to give them space to join you on mission.

One practical idea on how to do this is to simply make your house the most fun house in the neighborhood. Make your house the one that all the other kids want to go to. Make the life of your family so inviting, so magnetic that all the other kids want to be part of it as well. As they begin to orbit your family, then, you train your own kids to make disciples of their friends.

If you make your house a place where your kids can create their own extended family and you resource and empower them to do it, you’ll rarely have to worry about what your kids might be up to, because oftentimes they’ll be up to mission right in your own house! And when they’re away from your house they’ll probably be up to mission as well.

For example, one family on our team invested in a nice TV awhile back, but they don’t actually watch that much TV. They bought it so they could have folks over to watch football (and soccer) games and create an environment where their kids could invite friends over as well.

Sometimes being a family on mission is actually simpler than we think it’s going to be. A great start is to simply cultivate a fun, respectful family environment and then open up that environment to others.

What other ways have you seen families make their house the most fun house in the neighborhood?