"We're going to staying at my mother's house for several days. We haven't been to her house in probably 8 years. She comes up here to visit every year and a half or close. When she does we get together for the day but they don't stay overnight with us. So, we don't have many meals together. I think we're going to have an issue to address over saying grace at meals.
She and her husband are not Christians. Her husband is a lapsed Catholic. She is a sometimes practicing Jew. We (dh, the kids and I) say grace at every meal. I know praying is okay with mom and her husband but the "in Jesus's name" part will not go over well. Her husband won't care but I know even the word Jesus makes her uncomfortable. If we say grace at every meal as is our practice, she will be made uncomfortable at every meal we share together. "
A couple thoughts come to mind. Our sermon at church today was on Acts 3 when Peter healed the man who was crippled and that he was jailed and commanded not to teach in Jesus' name anymore. I went throught he chapter and circled how many times it refererred to "Jesus' name" or something similar. It really made an impact on me!
That said, you are probably not going to win your family members to Christ if you offend them in your own home and don't get invited back. Perhaps they will be so impressed by the strength of your convictions that they will be won to Christ, but I think it's probably unlikely.
OTOH it would be really hard to tell my kids...OK....we're going to say 'grace' and you can pray but you're not allowed to say the name of Jesus. That doesn't sit right with me.
What would grandma do if little Leah offered a sweet little prayer and ended it "in Jesus' name" as is her habit. When 5 year olds pray it doesn't come across quite so preachy. I think non-Christian adults think of it more as a 'now I lay me down to sleep' kind of thing.
Or, how about having the kids make the sign of the cross as a silent "in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit". I know that's a typically Catholic thing, but there's now law against it and maybe your mom would not find that offensive.
Another option and I like this one best, is to pray in another name for Jesus such as "the name above all names", "the shepherd", "the Way", "the Truth", "the Life", "the Vine", "the bread of life", "light of the world" or for fun...."the stone the builders rejected" (just kidding on that one) The possibilities are almost endless and you can challenge your older kids to find a new one each day. Maybe your parents will even be curious to see what will come next particularly if you use some with Jewish roots such as "the salvation of the daughter of zion" Here's a link I found with a quick google search
http://www.tentmaker.org/lists/names.html
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