We are an active family.
We love to be outdoors enjoying God's beautiful creations, and that works well for us, because my little men have quite a bit of energy.
But, lately I have been feeling a bit pricked in my heart about how my little ones spend their wee hours of the morning. With all of their energy, they want to just get up and GO. Busy play and much to-do, right from the start.
Although we have devotional time together as a family in the evenings, perhaps now is the time to inspire our six-year-old to pause in the mornings and pray, to read the Word, to spend quiet time with THE Creator of all these beautiful places we enjoy.
So this morning, when my sleepy-eyed little man bounded into the living room just shy of 6 a.m., this mama prompted him to sit with his children's bible and peruse. As his reading improves, we'll become more disciplined in blocks of time for specific passage readings and study.
Are your children spending morning-time in prayer and the Word? At what age did you begin to encourage it? I'd love to hear from you in the comments section.
Warmly,
{Also shared at Finer Things Friday}
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This is what we are working on as well. I have my 8 year old sit quietly in her room & read "her" Bible. We even made her a reading spot in her room to do this. In, her Bible she can read it and color the pictures, so she will read a few pages color them & come to me and show and tell. So far she seems to like this and can remember what she has done. (I think the coloring helps)
ReplyDeleteS. Allums
Oh! I love the idea of coloring a Bible picture during that time!
ReplyDeleteFor little ones that can sit still and that can not read, we play one chapter each morning on the cd player--or they sit in with Mommy or Daddy's devotional time. When our children are able to read on their own we start them with a picture bible. After they have worked through that one, they get their very own bible to read. We all read the same bible plan for our personal quiet time working through the bible (this is my husband's desire for our family). It does help so I can ask more specific questions later on in the day to see what they are getting from their reading. It also helps when they come and ask questions or what a word means, as I already have the context on my mind so I can be more helpful. We also have our children memorize a few Psalms to sing, so I will often hear them pick one of those to sing all on their own.
ReplyDeleteI like some practical suggestions I received from a woman at my church awhile back on getting kids to just sit and listen to tapes/now cds and even just page through Bible books. I would suggest starting with just a few days a week, then moving up from there even with a 2 year old. It's good quiet time practice.
ReplyDeleteAlso, here's some great theology and some other practical advice on the subject that I like: http://desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/the-family-together-in-gods-presence