Have you ever been doing something one way for so long and then all of the sudden realized that you were missing out on some important things all because you had locked yourself into a simple routine? A while back I had an “aha” moment about our children’s devotional time. We had been doing things one way for so long that I never thought about there even being a need to change anything. In today’s post, I would like to share with you this change we made in our household and what this change has meant for us as a family.
Change in routine
As I have shared with you in the past, we home school our three children. We have always been faithful about having a time of family devotions each morning, especially during the school months, but we have not been as diligent at translating that need for our children to foster their own personal devotional time with the Lord. So, this year we have been very purposeful in scheduling time for our children to have their own time to read their Bibles each day. We have been faithfully using the “Our Daily Bread” for our morning devotional time for years. This devotional has a special place in our hearts because it is the same devotional that my husband's grandparents used with their children and grandchildren and so we find if very befitting to carry on this precious tradition. However, lately we have found ourselves veering off the routine of simply reading the given scriptures and the short story provided with each daily devotional. The change in our devotional structure has to do with our decision to set time aside for our children to read their Bibles on their own. Let me explain. In each “Our Daily Bread” devotional there is a section that says “Bible in a year. “ They have broken down the Bible into small chunks of reading each day to make it easy to read through the entire Bible in one year provided that you remain faithful each day. They usually give you about three or four chapters each day and sometimes if the chapters are long they will break it apart into smaller portions. Several months ago I realized that this section was part of our devotional each day. My husband and I discussed the idea of having the children read through the Bible this year, partly for school, and partly because we wanted to foster independent devotional time.
A pleasant surprise
So on the first day of school we did our devotional time like normal and I assigned their first three chapters. I shared with them why we were making these changes. I told them that when we came back the next morning I wanted them to share at least one thing they learned, found interesting, or they liked about those three chapters. I released them to their assignment and was blown away the next morning by what happened. I had been a little concerned that my seven year old would find the reading too difficult or too long, but the complete opposite happened. She excitedly read the three chapters on her own and came to devotional time with so many new and interesting things to share about what the Word of God was teaching her little heart. I have to tell you it made my heart just melt to hear my children talking about the Word of God as if they were having an adult discussion. They were sharing verses that spoke to their spirit like they had been doing it for years. And to think I had been worried that they wouldn’t understand what they were reading, or that it would be like pulling teeth to get them to read. I have found that they are genuinely excited, and months later, they still continue to be diligent about reading. Most of the time I don’t even have to remind them to get it done. I simply write down the chapters on our whiteboard in the morning and they have no trouble getting it done.
One side note that I think you all should know is that when we invested in our children’s first full sized Bibles we specifically sought out a version that would be easier for them to read and understand on their own. Each of my children have their own copy of an “International Children’s Bible.” This particular version is published by Tommy Nelson, a common household name in Christian children’s ministries. We encourage our children to write notes, underline and highlight anything that speaks to them right in their Bibles. We want their interactions with their children’s Bible to be similar to the interactions we as parents have with our own Bibles each morning. We wanted them to explore God’s word for themselves. The “International Children’s Bible” simplifies the reading but doesn’t water the word of God down. Please note, that as I am sharing this product with you all, I am in no way affiliated with these companies. They don’t even know I exist and I surely don’t mind keeping it that way. My blog is not here to become a marketing scheme. The links to these sights are merely there for your reference. My only intentions is for you all to know what we personally use and how helpful we have found this resource to be for our children. (Sorry for the short rant but I just want to make that clear.) At some point we will graduate them to a different version, but for now we are enjoying the fact that they are writing God’s word on their little hearts and understanding it!
Our devotional time
I can not stress enough the importance of getting into the word of God on a daily bases! I know for me personally, I need that alone time with the Lord so desperately and when I don’t get it, it throws my whole day into a tailspin. I get short tempered, easily agitated, and my peace seems to be non existent. Let’s be real here, sometimes I can get that way even when I have had my time with the Lord in the morning, but it somehow seems to rear it’s ugly head faster and with more fervency when I don’t. I’m no saint here! The Lord’s still working on me! I can only figure that if I need the quiet time with the Lord just to keep my day balanced, how much more do our children need to learn at a young age the importance of having their quiet time with the Lord? Moreover, God longs to have intimate time with each one of us. What kind of a best friend would we be if ignore our friend, never call, or text and never want to spend any time with them. God is the same way. He desires for us to spend time with Him, to know Him on a heart to heart level. And this always starts with spending time in His word!
This is the basis for our family making the decision to read through the Bible this year. It gives my children direction in their devotional time and because we are all doing it together we have set up a platform of accountability one to another. Let’s be real, we can all use a network of accountability. It is so much easier to do things when you know someone else doing it right alongside you. Think about how much easier it is to go to the gym when you are meeting a friend there as opposed to just going by yourself. We can easily make excuses when no one is relying on us to show up, but when someone is counting on us being there it’s a whole lot harder to come up with excuses. If you are having difficulty with your daily devotional time may I suggest to you get find an accountability partner, someone who is willing to talk with you every day about what you have been reading and learning, someone who is willing to share with you the things that the Lord has been teaching their heart. This person could be your spouse, your best friend, someone from your church like a Sunday school teacher or classmate, an elder or deacon, it could be a parent or sibling, or even a neighbor. Spend some time praying about whom the Lord would desire for you to partner with in this venture. I do realize this can be a vulnerable position to be in, but it is well worth your effort to get yourself established in the word of God! Finding such a person will be such a valuable investment in your spiritual journey!
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