We have a lot of birthdays in our family in August—this year a couple of big milestone birthdays. And whether your family is celebrating birthdays this month or not, there are many ways faith talks can happen surrounding birthday celebrations and traditions to keep in mind throughout the year.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the way, when you lie down and when you get up.”

Here’s some ideas to start your faith talks on birthdays…

• Cake-Most birthdays have cake or a treat of some sort with candles that we blow out. The tradition started because people believed that the smoke would lift their wishes to the Greek god Artemis sort of like prayers. Thankfully, the One True God allows us to approach Him with our prayers all the time. As you think about your birthday wishes or watch others make wishes, talk to God about your big and little wishes not because He’s like a genie granting whatever we want, but because He’s a God who cares about what we care about, and He welcomes us to come to Him with anything.
• Balloons-What makes a balloon a balloon that we know and enjoy is the helium inside it, leading it in a set direction; upward. Similarly, God the Holy Spirit living in us is what makes us who we are. He leads us in the ways we should go and points us toward God. When you see a balloon being guided upward by helium, think about the Holy Spirit in you, guiding you upward toward your heavenly home.
• Presents-Anytime gifts are exchanged, we can practice gratitude not simply toward the giver of the gift to us, but also toward the Ultimate Giver of all good gifts, God. What are some of your favorite birthday gifts that God gave you through the people around you? Have you thanked God for those things and the joy they brought to your life? Take some time to do that now.
• Getting Older­-Each time we age another year, we get to see what God has done in our lives to that point. It’s a good time to reflect on the blessings and lessons God gave through the previous year(s) and talk about how He has given us everything we needed to support our bodies and lives. Try to think of everything you need for a minute, hour, day, week, month, year. Wonder together at just how big of a job God has in taking care of just one of us and the whole world and everything in it! What an awesome God He is!

God is in the midst of all the fun celebrations we have too! How can you talk about faith as you go along celebrating birthdays this year?