When my husband reads bedtime stories to my son, he usually picks between two books, God Loves Me More Than That or The Big Red Tractor and the Little Village. Sometimes its because they are both are short and have great modern illustrations. Or it might be because they are both focused on boys. But really, it’s because of the message.
{read my full post at the MOB Society…}
photo by bidari
We have read The Jesus Storybook Bible
This week I got the The Beginning Reader’s Bible
It’s actually a real-life Bible with scriptures not stories. The difference is each “story” is told in just a handful of actual scriptures. We chose to read Nehemiah (which the kids didn’t know!) and the story was a collection of about 30 scriptures taken directly from the book of Nehemiah. The kids got the basic gist of the story and heard the actual words of scripture, too. (The scriptures are taken from the International Children’s Bible which I don’t know a lot about because I usually use the New International Reader’s Version. But so far, so good.)
We’ve begun reading this as Asa’s bedtime story. Then the next day we’ll do an activity based on the story. This is super easy because each story comes with a scripture to memorize, a scripture to pray (LOVE THIS) and an activity labeled, “Do God’s Word”. (LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!)
For Nehemiah, the activity was to make a wall out of pillows and then get inside and pray–thanking God for protecting and surrounding us like a wall. So, we collected some every single pillow in our house and made a wall.
After we read the story again, we decided to get out our swords and build the wall with one hand on our weapons! (4:17-18)
We hopped inside our wall again and held hands. I had the kids repeat a prayer (which is like the cutest thing ever when a 2.5 year old is repeating things like “Nehemiah” and “protection”). They stayed inside the wall for at least an hour–they played with animals, pretended to go night-night and even played doctor.
I loved that they felt comfortable in their little wall. I pray they always feel the protection and comfort of God their Father!
Wanna win this gorgeous new book for yourself? Tommy Nelson is giving 1 away today!
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Contest ends Friday March 4.
Disclosure: I received this book as part of the Tommy Mommy Club. As always opinions are my own.
It’s Valentine’s Day. The day to show love to others. The best example of true love is when God gave his Son, Jesus to us. John 3:16 says that God loved the whole WORLD so he GAVE His Son. The whole world includes every person from all time. Every tribe. Every tongue. Every race. Every gender. Every age.
Are you sure? Are you sure a relationship with God isn’t on hold until you’re “old enough”? Isn’t something as big as following Jesus reserved for someone who understands the magnitude of the decision? Well, let’s see what the Bible has to say about it:
Deuteronomy 6:5-9
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
This blog is based on the above scripture. I do crafts and teach Bible verses not because I want to homeschool my kids’ education but because GOD COMMANDED ME TO DO SO. God’s first directive is to tell the people to love Him with all their heart and soul and strength. His next command is to tell their children. And I think the next three sentences are specific instructions on how to impress kids with Gods Words—talking about them all the time, everywhere; keeping them forefront of actions and thoughts and having them before your eyes at all times.
And why would God command this? Why would He want us to be so specific and tactile with our children? So they can become followers of Him as adults? I think not. He wants a relationship with them as soon as possible!
source: dame music
Picture three candles…one short, one medium and one tall. Just like a little candle family–the Daddy Candle, the Young Adult Candle and the Kid Candle.
Each one gives light–but really which one is the most important? Well, anyone would say the tall one. Because it will give light the longest, right? But is that candle the Daddy Candle? No. The tall candle is the child. A child has over 70 years to burn and shine for God. You and I are the shorter candles…we are into the second half of our life. Relatively speaking, we have a short time to burn for God.
Don’t you think He wants our children’s candle lit for a lifetime?
Just because a child doesn’t intellectually understand sacrifice, redemption, justification and love it doesn’t mean he can’t have a relationship with God. In fact, God used children all throughout the Bible. He will use your children, too. Not because they understand Jesus and their relationship but because their hearts are turned toward Him.
This is our job. To turn our children’s hearts to God. It is not an activity done in vain, either. Here’s another verse to look at, probably one of the most famous child-rearing scriptures in the Bible:
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (KJV)
However, I don’t think this version actually has the right emphasis. Read this one:
Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. (NIV)
source: steve webel
Do you see the difference? It’s a picture of a child set on the right track and never leaving it. Not a train being derailed and then coming back after being wrecked.
As a parent, it is our job to couple, to partner, to join and to follow God in starting our children off on the right track. When we do we will see them follow Him for their entire lives. We will see them place their trust in Him because it is the path they are on. We will hear them pray The Prayer because they have been praying prayers their entire life. We will watch them submit their life to God because it’s the journey they’ve been on since birth.
God commanded us to IMPRESS God’s Word on our kids’ hearts. He told us to SET OUR KIDS on the right path. Not so they would eventually discover Him as adults, but so they could cultivate that relationship for a lifetime.
