Morning Devotions with the Children

In the morning after breakfast, the children and I stay at the table or sit on the couch for a short time of devotions together. It's a nice way to start the morning, by hiding God's Word in our hearts!  We're currently reading Big Thoughts for Little People by Kenneth Taylor.  This book has such sweet illustrations and with so many details to hold their attention. It is in "A, B, C" format, so for example, the first page has :

"A is for Asking.  We ask when we pray.  God's happy to answer and help us each day."

Then there is a paragraph to read that discusses what is happening in the picture, some questions to answer, and a Bible verse to learn.  We have the older edition, pictured below, and I think it is so much sweeter than the new edition!

After our little devotion, we sing a hymn from Hymns for a Kid's Heart, volume 1, by Bobbie Wolgemuth and Joni Eareckson Tada.  I just love this series!  Though Dori (age 3) and Quinn (almost 2) are not learning all the words, they still know the tune and a few words as we repeat them often enough.  There's nothing sweeter than hearing my little ones sing, "Holy, holy, holy!" Davin (age 7) loves to sing with me and we work together to memorize the hymns one verse per day and also reviewing what we've learned so far.  The included CD is very well done and we enjoy listening to it any time of the day!

We love Hymns for a Kid's Heart!

Our family has been so very blessed by the book "Hymns for a Kid's Heart", volume one, by Bobbie Wolgemuth and Joni Eareckson Tada:

We also have "Christmas Carols for a Kid's Heart," which we thoroughly enjoyed throughout the Christmas season: 

I never would have guessed the impact these hymns would have on my children, and I am so thrilled that they are not only learning hymns, but love them!  Each book also comes with a cd and we play the music often in our home.  We started off the year learning "Holy, Holy, Holy" and even Dorian has learned some of the words and the tune.  It is so precious to hear your children singing, especially when the music is praising God!

Right now, Davin really likes the hymn "This is My Father's World," so much so that he copied it into one of his notebooks.  It was pretty cute one night a few weeks ago we were watching American Idol and Davin said that he thinks he could do pretty well on that show.  "Oh yeah?" I said, "What song would you audition with?"  "Oh, probably 'This is My Father's World'," he said.  How precious is that?

One night, instead of having the tv on, we were just enjoying spending time together as a family and I asked Davin if he wanted to sing a hymn with me.  Daddy had never heard Davin sing any hymns, so as we were singing I look over at my husband and see the tears start to roll down his cheeks.  It was such a moving moment, hearing our precious, innocent son singing such a beautiful song.  It's moments like these that I don't ever want to let go of; moments like these that I remember what I want to guard for as long as possible:  the innocence of our children.  I never want to see that twinkle fade from their eyes. 

Mark 10:14 "...." Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." 

Advent with the Jesus Storybook Bible

I came across this wonderful blog post about using the Jesus Storybook Bible for advent readings. We are huge fans of this book and I'm excited to use the readings each day leading up to Christmas!

Advent with the Jesus Storybook Bible

I printed out the schedule of readings and put them in our cute wooden Christmas Tree advent calendar (a gift from my mother-in-law!).  I also put two pieces of candy or chocolate inside each little door so the boys can enjoy a special treat while I read them the story each day.