We used to try and have family devotions every morning before school, but this past year was a struggle as there never seemed to be enough time. I became increasingly frustrated with our busy schedules and the fact that the public school had 7 hours a day to instill my oldest with their values and I had maybe an hour. For me, it made the decision to homeschool a lot easier – though it still did not come with out much consternation. However, being able to reinstitute the practice of family devotions (I’ve never really liked that word “devotions”) is one of the things I am most looking forward to with the transition to homeschooling. So now with summer upon us we decided to get it going again this morning.
Our children are 7, 4, and 18 months. We have about 5 different children’s Bibles that we typically read from. Sometimes I enjoy the way they tell a story, but usually I am discontented with their selection of stories and over-simplification. Our oldest recently received the Adventure Bible which is a “real” NIV Bible with fun facts and questions geared toward children. So we used that this morning.
Justus (our 7 year old) read for us from Ephesians 4:1-6:
1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
It was one of the first times that we’ve read something other than a story from the Bible and it went really well. Justus has got all the Bible stories down and he is ready to be engaged on a deeper level. We had a really neat conversation about who wrote Ephesians, who it was written to and why. Then we talked pretty in-depth about the passage itself – about what “a life worthy of the calling” looks like. It was a great start to our family devotions and I am most excited to see the changes that will begin to result from the Word taking root in the hearts of our family members.
I’ve been trying to find a new word other than ‘devotions’ and I can’t. Maybe you need to redefine the word, rather than find a new one???
Um… are you flipping us off for a reason? (It was the first thing Mike noticed too… a;slkdjf;asldfja;sdlfj;asdkljf;asdljkf)
Yeah, isn’t that great? We were going to use that picture for our Christmas card…
Hey… I think that’s a great idea!!! You could have the picture on the outside with the inside caption…
“Merry F#*!ing Christmas!”
a;sldkfj;aslkdjf;aslkdjfa;lskdjf;aslkdjf;alskdjfa;sldkjf;asdlkj
(no one from church reads this do they?)
HA! You know me too well! Er, uh, I mean, I would never think of doing such a thing and I’m shocked that you would.
Trying to find time for that as a family can be so trying. I know that has really gotten to me from time to time.
I totally did not see that. Now it is so obvious.