While there is not a lot going on in the adoption arena, I still have some things I want to share with those who may be interested. The thing I want to put in the spot light today is Family Bible Time. It is simply making the effort to have a dedicated time every night to study the bible as a whole family. This particular time is focused on sharing God's word with your kids in many different fun ways. I'll be the first to admit ours didn't start out as the most exciting time. It mostly consisted of us reading a children's bible together, and my little one soon begin throwing a fit when we would mention bible time because he knew bed time immediately followed it. Not exactly the attitude I was aiming for... On the other hand I didn't have a lot of free time to plan all the activities and art projects I came across on pinterest (although I would have loved to) and soon became a little overwhelmed. But then.... I went to a seminar that Cindy Colley spoke at (who by the way is the person who introduced me to the idea of family bible time) and she told stories of her grandson and how they act out the bible stories and that he loves being Daniel in the lion's den and the lame man at the gate Beautiful. It seems obvious to me now that this is the best way to go when your children are toddlers but in the beginning I didn't know where to start. So we got back home and tried our "story time" that way and he loved it! Days later he could still recall that he (while playing Daniel) was telling those lions (played mostly by Daddy) to "Stop, you can't hurt me. God will protect me". Everyone got a turn being Daniel, the lion, and King Darius. It was a hit and he hasn't dreaded it since. We still pull out the children's bible to supplement the story or show him some pictures but it's a total different experience. You can make the stories into games, contests, or songs. The options are endless and we're still discovering ways to incorporate into bible time.
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| This is Goliath with his armor on |
We are not by any means experts in this area but just learning about and developing the habit ourselves. I wish we could say we do this every night, but I'll be the first to admit that time, energy, and creativity sometimes run out before we are able to get it done. However, we do make the effort regularly and daily is our end goal. We all have grown to love this time together and I know it's making a difference in all our lives.
I share all this to try to encourage other young parents to start having a bible time with their kiddos. No matter what they grow up to be in life, being a Christian is the most important. The world is changing so much, and we have to equip our little ones to have faith and know God to be able to get through it. It's the most important job we will ever have. So no matter how old they are get your kids involved in bible time. You can adapt how you present the information to any age. I hope you will be encouraged to give it a shot. I have attached some links to some wonderful resources to help you get started. I hope they help and don't let yourself get overwhelmed. You'll be so glad you started this!!
This is an awesome site that has lots of podcasts and links to helpful website. Be sure to check out their resources too!
http://thelightnetwork.tv/aiohs5e6/
Also check out the Colley's site with lots of info from family bible time to a ladies bible study group, "Digging Deep". This link is to the store where you can get CDs with bible verses in song form to help with learning.
http://thecolleyhouse.org/store#!/Children/c/3290300/offset=0&sort=normal
Last one is to apologetics press. This site is full of great information for all ages!
http://www.apcurriculum.com
Hope you enjoy these!! Feel free to leave comments if you have any other great resources or ideas.
