If you were to ask me what the one thing we have done as a family that has made the biggest impact on them spiritually, it has been reading Bible stories to them before bedtime. They love it because it is part of their routine. We started when Caleb was about 1 and a half or 2 I think and have stuck with it since. We usually just read one story (2 pages) from their kids Bible each night. They love to look over the pictures and see what is happening. We've had to get a few new Bibles because Caleb has memorized the first few we had. That is a great problem to have. the first Bible we got that I would highly recommend is the NIV Read with Me Bible, and now we are using this one, which is a little more advanced and has many more stories. I'll be honest, we chose those more for the pictures than the text. We made sure that they just stuck to the text and didn't say anything heretical, but I wanted some pictures that would help grab their attention and just help me tell the story.
[Note: I usually don't read the text written in the Bible to them, but just tell them the stories and sometimes elaborate on how that story applies to us or what it teaches us about God. I try to keep it more casual. We'll switch to a strict reading someday I'm sure.]
1 comment:
What a wonderful family tradition! We have been wanting to start something like this with N & N, because I think they are old enough now... But didn't know where to start! I'll check out these two books today! Thanks for the advice and the godly example! We sure love your family!
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