Friday, September 10, 2010

Family D-E-V-O'-S

When Jason and I first got married, I had this vision in my head that we would do devotionals together every day. I was quickly dissapointed becuase it just didn't happen, and I thought that meant we were failing as a couple in growing close to the Lord together. I was so silly beause that just simply was not true.
One day, about four years into our marriage, Jason and I were talking about our daily lives, and we started talking about scripture. We also happened to be talking about my role as a mom, some things that were going on in the lives around us, and Jason's desires for me as his wife and the mother to his children. It was such a relaxed, joyful, natural conversation and I had one of those moments where I was hit over the head. I realized that THIS was what it meant to "talk of the Lord's commandments in your haouse, and when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise." (paraphrased from Deut. 6:7). Growing together as a couple/family towards the Lord didn't have to be a forced session following a devotional for a stronger marriage, yet it was growing individually towards the Lord, and then sharing it as a couple and/or family. It was a beautiful thing and I was so thankful for the freedom the God was showing me. I realized in that moment the my husband was leading me as the spiritual leader of our family in such a beautiful, gracious way.
With that being said, I still had this picture and desire for us to learn God's word together. We had tried a few things and it always was a source of frustration.
Insert Pine Cove 2008. At Pine Cove, they set aside a time for families to do family devo's together. They hype it up and make it this fun, exciting thing. We did it everyday at Pine Cove for a week and something happened. It became something that we looked forward to and I believe Jason got more excited and confident about it also.
Fast forward to now. We have had several different childrens' bibles that we read from, but we recently found our favorite. It's called The Jesus Storybook Bible. It is a high-level narrative, meaning that it explains at the end of each story, how each individual story fits into the larger love story that God has written for us. It's fantastic!
Here's what we do...We leave the bible sitting in the middle of our table at all times. This way it is always accesible and visible. Somedays we do it at breakfast, somedays at lunch, and somedays at dinner. Sometimes we don't get to it, but it's ok. It's not a law that we are obligated to follow and our family will be struck down if we didn't get to do it that day, but rather it's something we enjoy doing, we look forward to doing it, and we do it as often as we can. No matter what meal or time of the day it is, when we find ourselves sitting together, it's right there, so easy to grab. Jason typically reads, and then we ask ourselves a few questions about what it means, what God might be saying to us, and how we could apply t to our lives. Some days, Jason isn't around to eat with us, so we do it without him, no biggie.
Here is a picture of our bible on our table.


(Sorry, crummy picture :))

Anyways, check out the bible, I think you will really like it, even if it's just for your own personal use. It really is helpful in understanding the big picture of the bible.

One more thing, if you just can't imagine your husband ever agreeing to this, or if he works a lot, or if you don't have a husband, don't let that stop you from reaping the fruit from doing this with your kids! God's word is alive and it will penetrate the hearts of your kiddo's. Even when it seems like they aren't listening, and even if you have to ask them to be quiet a hundred times during one story, they are listening, and it's amazing when they quote it back to you at some random time.

Love,


1 comment:

  1. I just heard about that book! I'm going to have to go get it!

    ReplyDelete

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