Faith Like a Child: Embracing Our Lives as Children of God
Ebook
Embrace the invitation of childlike faith. A well-known challenge of Jesus to his followers is to become like little children. But it's often difficult to remember the natural patterns of our childhood selves that enabled us to live freely in God's wonder-filled presence. Is childlike faith simply an unquestioning faith, or is it being present with ourselves in a way that invites healing and wholeness?
Faith Like a Child considers Jesus' invitation to childlike faith and explores seven distinct ways of welcoming the child within. Offering wisdom from years of experience as a spiritual director with both adults and children, Lacy Finn Borgo explores practices to welcome and enliven your childhood self. Offering examples of what becoming like children could look like, Borgo invites you to take Jesus up on his offer to live more deeply into a relationship with God.
As we welcome our childhood selves, we allow God to heal our wounds so we can live in freedom with Jesus as our companion.
Introduction: Welcoming the Child Within
1. Knowing God, Accepting Self
2. Remembering Wonder, Redeeming Wounds
3. Reattaching to Our Divine Parent
4. All God's Children Got Bodies
5. The Spirituality of Play
6. Fountain Flowing Deep and Wide
7. Imaginate
8. Humor and the Holy Fool
9. Freedom to Learn
10. Pay Attention
Conclusion: Born a Mystic
Acknowledgments
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
Notes
"Lacy Finn Borgo has thought more deeply and practiced more fully Jesus' words inviting us to 'become like little children' than just about anyone I know. And now with Faith Like a Child she has brought this vast reservoir of wisdom to us. In helping us 're-member our childhood selves' Lacy gently guides us into a more joy-filled life . . . indeed, into a life more like Jesus. I am delighted."
"With a delightful sense of humor, which often brought tears to my eyes, and a profound wisdom of the heart shaped by the wonders and wounds of her own pilgrimage through life, Lacy Finn Borgo invites readers to welcome their own childhood self. As we follow her carefully crafted suggested practices, she helps us to discover what it may mean to live with the faith of a child. We realize afresh that we can never ever be separate from the Great Love who knitted us together in our mother's womb and who hasn't put down those knitting needles ever since. Most especially, Lacy Borgo's words help us to know ever more deeply the truth of Jesus' words that, unless we become like children, we will not experience the joyful realities of God's presence within our everyday lives."
"My friend Lacy Borgo writes with wit, wisdom, and a wonderful Texas drawl. Her latest book, Faith Like a Child, explores childhood as a wisdom way for stepping inside the here-and-now kingdom of eternal friendship with God. I hope you will read this book with the openness of a child, playfully try on each of the welcoming practices she suggests, and be attentive to the Spirit's healing of any childhood wounds that might hinder your ability to hear Jesus' welcoming invitation to play."
"Lacy Finn Borgo explodes the myth that spiritual growth is stuffy. With her trademark wit, sly observation, and earthy humor, Lacy invites us to go deeper with God by remembering all the strengths children bring to exploring the with-God life. Who knows? Maybe you'll start encountering God again, laughing and playing with him instead of just thinking about him!"
"In my lifetime I have never witnessed a moment when the virtue of humility was more needed for the Christian community. Lacy Borgo's Faith Like a Child wisely and beautifully invites us to rediscover this lost virtue by recapturing wonder and reclaiming our identity as God's beloved children. I highly recommend this timely and significant contribution to the spiritual formation movement by my friend and doctoral professor."
"Who would have known that formation into Christlikeness could be so fun? In Faith Like a Child, author and spiritual director Lacy Borgo uses Scripture, poetry, and personal stories to invite us to see ourselves as the light-hearted children we were created to be. A helpful framework for understanding Christian spiritual formation, this book is one I recommend to anyone seeking to grow in embracing God as our Mothering Father."
"Reading Faith Like a Child is like sitting with Lacy Finn Borgo at her kitchen table, drinking iced tea, and watching beloved children play—not just our own children and the neighbors' kids but also the little ones we used to be. She reminds us of what we once knew about the world and the Holy. She reminds us of wonder, safety, freedom, and delight—and then she helps us enter those moments in our lives today. This book is a gift from a mother who sees the world through a lens of grace and gives us a new vision for our lives."
"Faith Like a Child is the most practical examination of a childlike faith I have ever encountered. Lacy Finn Borgo's words are grounded and honest as she paints a beautiful picture of a dynamic faith even in the midst of a chaotic world. I found in these pages a profoundly winsome, tender-hearted invitation to let go of my desire for control and be free to roll in the mud and fully embrace the One who calls me beloved."
"Lacy Borgo doesn't write about children from the sterile sidelines of observation; she has immersed herself in relationships with little ones. From this intimate and humble posture, she has formed a cohesive answer to an essential question disciples of Jesus must wrestle with: What does Jesus mean when he says we must 'become like little children'? Borgo explores the natural ways of childhood as clues for a flourishing life with God, and she offers practical exercises that help us grown-ups grow young in spirit."
- Title: Faith Like a Child: Embracing Our Lives as Children of God
- Author: Lacy Finn Borgo
- Publisher: IVP Formatio
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2022
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781514003992, 9781514003985, 1514003988, 1514003996
- Resource ID: LLS:9781514003992
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-12-12T02:49:43Z
Lacy Finn Borgo teaches and provides spiritual direction with adults and children through Renovaré, Mercy Center Burlingame, and the Companioning Center. She especially loves meeting with children at Haven House, a transitional facility for families without homes. She holds a doctor of ministry degree in leadership and spiritual formation and a certificate in spiritual direction from Portland Seminary. Borgo is also the author of Spiritual Conversations with Children.