How do you tell where your priorities are? It’s pretty obvious isn’t it? Just look at the things that we spend our time on.
As a parent, naturally the bulk of my time is spent on all things kids-related, including home-learning activities and erm, blogging, which is all about the kids anyway.
Then there’s work, maintenance-related activities such as household chores, leisure activities (blogging can fall under this as well), and faith-related stuff like going to church, daily devotions, etc.
I recently read this post by Focus on the Family titled ‘Five minutes with the Bible’, and it struck me that while I’ve been diligent in scheduling nap times, bath times, meal times, and bedtime, I haven’t been quite as disciplined in scheduling bible time with Vera.
I recall that when she was between 18-24 months, she was really keen on us reading her kiddy bible together. It’s My Good Night Bible, a hand-me-down from one of her cousins. I actually quite like this bible, as the stories are well-illustrated and easy to read, and every story comes with a short prayer as well.
But a couple of months and some new books later, she stopped asking to read it. I guess she grew to love other books, and we too haven’t been nudging her back to it enough.
Then she saw her daddy doing devotion one morning, and she immediately ran to take her bible out, plonked herself down beside him, and started to read it (well, at least flip through the pages and do a running commentary about the pictures.)
That really drove home a point for me – that kids learn most quickly by watching our behaviour. Which means that whatever behavior / habit we want our kids to have, we gotta DO IT ourselves!
So…I’m going to work on some new habits for myself and my little ones:
- Set aside daily Bible time – mornings are a mad rush for me. I basically have time to brush my teeth, change my clothes, and grab a bun, oh and the toddler, on my way out. (That is, after feeding baby J, and throwing some ingredients into the crockpot for his lunch.) So I figured that the best time is before Vera’s afternoon nap time.
- Play songs from Seeds Family Worship when the kids are at play. The site features songs inspired by actual Bible passages.
- Model the behaviour ourselves – no shortcuts and no excuses yeah? Gotta walk the talk right?
I know it will take many months and even years to cultivate this Bible-reading habit, but the fruit of this labour will certainly be worth it.
Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. - Prov 22:6
How do you encourage your little ones along in their spiritual growth?
Read also: G for Jesus
We’re not there in terms of devotions yet, so it’s praying and singing songs from Sunday school for now. Which have you heard, she goes, Thank you for the world so big, thank you for the birds we eat (Gasp!), thank you God for everything!
And you’re so right, children model after our behavior. So if there’s anything that we want them to pick up, we gotta model it ourselves.
LOL, that’s so funny!
YOu have such a lovely and calming approach to parenting and even the way you are teaching faith reflects that.
Hello Stasha! Zen used to be my middle name, erm, until the babies came along that is… ;P
“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. – Prov 22:6
Thanks for this post – and for reminding me to be more diligent
It’s a reminder for myself too.
This is one area I’ve no clue how to go about doing it. But fortunately, sonshine enjoys (well at least one point in time), reading children’s bible stories & listening to cerdoment kids worship songs (he’s got us to repeat ‘I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever’ song track in the car which gets me in worship mode while driving!). And, I think it’s never too early to teach our kids the way of the Lord.
Cedarmont kids worship? I will check that out! Yes, agree, never too early to learn. Even for adults too, heh