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Seamless Faith: Simple Practices for Daily Family Life
Faith is learned when it is woven seamlessly into the fabric of everyday life. In Seamless Faith, author Traci Smith shares dozens of simple practices to equip families of all kinds with the tools they need for bringing faith home. Filled with easy-to-organize traditions, ceremonies, and spiritual practices for many of life's stressful and faith-filled moments, this is a resource parents will return to for years to come.
192 pages, Paperback
First published March 31, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 16, 2014
I loved these ideas for families to practice faith and follow the church calendar. The different activities are marked by age and offer variations. I will be picking up a physical copy to put on my shelf with To Dance With God by Gertrud Mueller Nelson and The Circle of Seasons by Kimberlee Conway Ireton. I love all three books, but this is the one that is the most activity-based. If you are familiar with the rhythms of the calendar year and are simply looking for ways to celebrate it, I highly recommend this as an option.
November 16, 2014
The Mothers of Young Children group at my church chose this book to read. I was glad to have the opportunity to read it because my 8-year-old had recently asked me how she could have a stronger relationship with God. This is not a book in the traditional sense. Rather, it is a collection of habits, traditions and ceremonies that you can incorporate into your life. The book is separated into sections. I read one section at a time; digesting the information and then deciding which ones I felt I wanted to try versus those I didn't feel as passionately about. Each tradition is about 2-3 pages long. It includes an appropriate age range for the activity and then how to instructions step by step. Then, there are several variations to help you tailor it to your family.
The first one I tried was saying a blessing over each of my children as the last thing before they went to sleep. Both of my girls have really enjoyed this. It helped settle them and often gave them a positive phrase to concentrate on rather than other issues that may be running through their heads.
I recommend this book for anyone looking for some simple ways to add spirituality to your days through easy to do rituals and traditions.
The first one I tried was saying a blessing over each of my children as the last thing before they went to sleep. Both of my girls have really enjoyed this. It helped settle them and often gave them a positive phrase to concentrate on rather than other issues that may be running through their heads.
I recommend this book for anyone looking for some simple ways to add spirituality to your days through easy to do rituals and traditions.
July 14, 2014
I love this book! Many great ideas for how parents can weave faith into their family's daily life. Accessible, non-judgmental, and EASY ideas - nothing that requires 12 hours of prep... Can't wait to share this with parents in my congregation.
April 20, 2019
Seamless Faith is a compilation of ideas to help families incorporate faith practices into their lives either in an everyday way, or through exercises to mark certain holidays or monumental occasions.
I saw this book on my to-read list and recognized the author's name as someone who I went to seminary with, but did not know. I was expecting the book to be more of a narrative and was surprised to see that it's set up to be more of a reference. The author separates out her ideas into chapters like everyday traditions, traditions for holidays, ceremonies for life's transitions and ceremonies for difficult times. She also includes many simplified versions of spiritual practices that can be understood by children and applied to the life of a family. I really appreciated the sensitivity the author has to different compositions of families and, although she writes from a certain Christian perspective, I think the book of ideas is delicate enough to be used by other traditions with modifications to their particular faith. For instance, she has a ceremony to bless a new driver. It involves making a heart window cling and presenting that to the new driver, telling the teen that you're proud and excited, but that there may be worry at times for the teen's safety but that you trust the teen to make good choices. The heart is to be a reminder for the teen of the love the parents and a God has for the teen. Then she has a prayer that is not specifically Christian in nature. Although we are far from this life event in our house, this ceremony seems to me to be a nice one to celebrate such a monumental occurrence in the family. There are a good variety of other thoughtful traditions, ceremonies and practices a family could elect to start. I like that the author gives variations and reminds the reader that not everything in her book will fit their family, and to use what seems right to your specific family. I also like that she includes an idea of at what age a certain practice would be appropriate for the child. I think this is a good reference to keep around.
I saw this book on my to-read list and recognized the author's name as someone who I went to seminary with, but did not know. I was expecting the book to be more of a narrative and was surprised to see that it's set up to be more of a reference. The author separates out her ideas into chapters like everyday traditions, traditions for holidays, ceremonies for life's transitions and ceremonies for difficult times. She also includes many simplified versions of spiritual practices that can be understood by children and applied to the life of a family. I really appreciated the sensitivity the author has to different compositions of families and, although she writes from a certain Christian perspective, I think the book of ideas is delicate enough to be used by other traditions with modifications to their particular faith. For instance, she has a ceremony to bless a new driver. It involves making a heart window cling and presenting that to the new driver, telling the teen that you're proud and excited, but that there may be worry at times for the teen's safety but that you trust the teen to make good choices. The heart is to be a reminder for the teen of the love the parents and a God has for the teen. Then she has a prayer that is not specifically Christian in nature. Although we are far from this life event in our house, this ceremony seems to me to be a nice one to celebrate such a monumental occurrence in the family. There are a good variety of other thoughtful traditions, ceremonies and practices a family could elect to start. I like that the author gives variations and reminds the reader that not everything in her book will fit their family, and to use what seems right to your specific family. I also like that she includes an idea of at what age a certain practice would be appropriate for the child. I think this is a good reference to keep around.
March 19, 2015
'Seamless Faith' is a lovely, well written book, packed with practical ideas to help nurture spirituality within the family. Easy to read, and divided into short, meaningful sections, Traci shares 50 simple practices to encourage the faith journey of children, young people, and parents. 'Seamless Faith' is bursting with easy ways to introduce a myriad of simple, but profound spiritual practices to even our littlest ones. It's a book that, over and over, left me thinking "what a great idea....I wish I'd thought of that." But I didn't...Traci Smith did. This is a wonderful, helpful and inspiring resource for families. 'Seamless Faith' belongs in every family's home.
April 23, 2015
You can read my review here-
http://teaandtheology.com/book-review...
http://teaandtheology.com/book-review...
February 7, 2015
Good guide for parents-- geared toward younger children with a few ideas for teens. Easy approach to living a God centered life.
April 17, 2017
Simple book showing different traditions and celebrations to bring faith to a place of more prominence in your family life.
The ideas are real -- they're the kinds of things that might work with real kids in real families, not ideal kids in TV perfect families.
From bedtime blessings (short, sweet, daily) to Christmas tree blessings (annual, a bit longer) to praying over a new driver (once per kid), these are things that can be used as-is or modified to fit your family and your situation.
No family will take on everything listed in the book, but I feel like every family could find at least one regular activity, a couple of annual ones, and plan for several of the milestone-type celebrations (or invent your own based on what you read here).
The author is Reformed and I'm United Methodist, but I didn't see anything that would be a problem theologically.
The ideas are real -- they're the kinds of things that might work with real kids in real families, not ideal kids in TV perfect families.
From bedtime blessings (short, sweet, daily) to Christmas tree blessings (annual, a bit longer) to praying over a new driver (once per kid), these are things that can be used as-is or modified to fit your family and your situation.
No family will take on everything listed in the book, but I feel like every family could find at least one regular activity, a couple of annual ones, and plan for several of the milestone-type celebrations (or invent your own based on what you read here).
The author is Reformed and I'm United Methodist, but I didn't see anything that would be a problem theologically.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews