As I read the Bible with the kids a few weeks ago, my four-year-old gasped when we read about God sending the Israelites food from heaven. My grandfather passed away and Teddy was just sure that he was going to starve in heaven because God was sending the Israelites all the food. It was so funny to think about how he pieced that together, but it also showed me…the kids are listening, even the little ones, and what we talk about matters.
Are you looking for additional resources as you try to stir faith as a family? Maybe this is a goal of yours during Lent or perhaps you are just looking for something new.
We fell off the boat with this for a while. The Children’s Bibles left my older kids wanting more detail, but we still needed something short enough to engage our youngest. We needed some fresh resources. We are two months into our new plan, so I feel like I can say out loud that it’s working. We started the One Year Bible For Kids Challenge Addition in January. Challenge Addition simply means they are “challenging you” to do it month by month. Inside the front cover, you get to color each month you complete. I also regretfully told them we could get an Alexa if we completed the year because we had so many starts and stops with other plans that I figured there was no way we would make it and I was feeling some mommy desperation!
This is working for us. I like the length and how it’s written. It may be one to try if you are looking for purely Bible reading. You could make a goal to do it from this Lent to next Lent, etc.
Another great option would be the book Ruth and Troy Simons released this month called Foundations. It is for families with kids who are from around second grade to college-aged. It’s short, but also gives room for a “small group” type discussion, with a couple of simple questions, a memory verse if you wanted to incorporate that, and devotional-style readings. I think my husband and I could do this together and get great things from it as well. There are ten foundations and five days of devotions each week; it could last you ten weeks, or you could work through it at your own pace. It’s beautiful, has terrific content, and is worth checking out.
For those of you with younger kids, I still love The Jesus Storybook Bible, as well as Indescribable, which is for kids in elementary school.
I don’t think we give our kids credit for what they are processing through sometimes. I long to give them things to chew on where God can speak truth into their lives. These years click steadily by and I don’t want to regret letting years pass without pouring in a solid foundation. I don’t believe this is going to make your everyday pure bliss. There will be a fight to get everyone’s attention at times…it was in my car this morning as we read. But I do believe that over time, little by little, it will be time you won’t regret fighting for.
Make the space, give them a little more than you might think they are ready for…I bet God will surprise you with what He speaks to their hearts.
HLLF,
