family worship

hi friends! i pray your thursday is blessed! i wanted to share what our family worship times look like. above are the books we use each morning/night. 1. truth & grace memory book 2. thoughts that make your heart sing 3. foundation verses 4. operation world 5. the big picture story Bible 6. Jesus storybook Bible

now listen... we are not by any means pros at this. it has taken 4+ years to get where we are & i rejoice that the Lord has graciously taught us & i'm sure it will be ever changing as our kids grow. but for now here's what our times look like...

am:

*while the boys are eating breakfast i read through a story in the big picture story bible (daddy is usually already at school or on his way out the door). the boys REALLY like this Bible because the stories are shorter & there's less text on each page so the pictures are always changing. 

*then we read through a short story about our character or God's character in a book like thoughts that make your heart sing. i LOVE the way sally lloyd jones writes! this book really is more appropriate for older kids, so jude doesn't always get it, but they are learning a lot more than we realize... even if we "think" they're not getting it. 

*then we go through jude's catechism in the truth & grace memory book. we've worked on these with him since he was 2 1/2-3 so he has about 16 of the questions/answers memorized. praise the Lord! a note about catechism... many may think, "aren't we just teaching them words?" "don't we want them to really learn these truths on their own when they are old enough instead of just teaching them words to memorize?" (i actually thought all this before we started. ;) ) i believe it is the same as teaching them how to eat their food or ride a bike or tie their shoes... we are teaching them foundational truths that will stick with them for THE REST OF THEIR LIVES! we take time to teach them what these things mean & we will do so for the rest of our lives, but when they are 12, 14, 16 years old & maybe questioning our world & our God, they will have these truths hidden in their hearts. & just because they know these truths does not mean that we are somehow guaranteeing their salvation... by no means!

*then we go through our memory verses using foundation verses. there's a simple picture that represents the verse on the front of the card & the verse is on the back of the card. again, we have been working on these with jude since he was about 2 1/2-3 & he knows about 13 verses... more than his mommy ever knew at that age. this is a great way for mommies & daddies to memorize scripture as we're teaching our children! ;) 

i have always wanted to be consistent with morning family worship times & i always felt so overwhelmed like i didn't know where to start or how to stay consistent. so i've figured out... if i get the boys settled with their breakfast & i've already eaten something before hand & i keep all the books close by... there's really no reason not to. :)

pm:

*we get the boys all ready for bed & get in bed with them & daddy reads through a story in the big picture story Bible. we love love LOVE the Jesus storybook Bible & believe that every Christian home should own it! ;) but we had been reading through it since jude was born & we decided we needed a change. ;) 

*then daddy tells us about a country or 2 using operation world. the boys have a huge world map on their wall so we point out the countries & show them pictures of what the children that live there look like. then we pray for the people in those countries. 

*then we turn out the lights & lay in bed & sing 2-3 songs together. lately jude's picks have been "Jesus loves me", "there's something about that name" & "we are changed" & he ends up picking those every night... haha. so sometimes we'll say we need to sing some other songs. we think it's so important to teach them the rich truths of hymns so we regularly sing some hymns.

*then mommy gives them kisses & hugs & cleans up the house & daddy tells them a story, prays with them & blesses them, "may the Lord bless you & keep you. may the Lord make His face to shine upon you & be gracious unto you. may the Lord lift up His countenance upon you &..." (the boys chime in) "give you peace".

please don't read all this & be overwhelmed or discouraged. please see this as a resource & i'd love to hear what your family does! 

al