Then and Now

These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up.  Deuteronomy 6: 6-7

Teaching my children God’s Word looks a lot different these days than it did when they were little.

When they were young, they went to Sunday School and after church we would discuss their lesson at lunch. On Wednesdays they would do AWANA and we would practice their memory verses at home. We homeschooled, and our most important subject, the one I never skipped, was Bible. We went through lots of different curriculums for this subject, but for years we practice a mastery model where the kids would read a story out of a story book for themselves, read the scripture verses from the Bible that it was based on, write out questions about the story, and then present the story and their questions to their siblings (learn-practice-teach=mastery). It was easy to be intentional about teaching God’s Word when they were young.

Some of my favorite memories surround holiday times, particularly Christmas, when we would read special stories. We had a series of three books we would alternate between for Advent that followed kids through the Christmas story, weaving in and out of all the classic characters and plot lines. We would read a chapter every night before bed. I miss that.

These days my kids are “all grown up” and less open to me teaching them Bible verses. Now it’s less of a natural rhythm and I have to be more vigilant for opportunities. When a situation comes up in our conversation I can say, “Remember the Bible story where…” Or on the rare occasion I am asked for advice I can share that, “I lean on the verse…” I have scripture posted in my house. I write about it several times a week on this blog that they may occasionally pop into.

Here's the Thing: Now, I have to be intentional about making God’s Word a regular part of my daily life so that as my kids interact with me they bump up against it.

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