After putting in hours, days, months of imparting knowledge to these little ones, I can't tell you how appreciative I was when parents went the extra mile to reinforce concepts at home. Conversely, it was so frustrating when parents left e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g up to me.
Now, Sunday School operates in a different system altogether. Unlike grade school, I feel as if I am/should be my child's primary teacher when it comes to our faith. I trust Kendall's teachers, but I don't drop her off on Sunday mornings expecting her to glean her spiritual lesson for the week and "close the book" until the following Sunday. I know far too many people- adults- that practice their Christian walk on a weekly-check-in basis. You'll see them at church, but you'll never hear Jesus' name uttered in conversation thoughout the week. (Well, you might...)
We want to model for our children what walking with Jesus daily looks like. And bringing that down to a three-year-old's level of understanding is sometimes a challenge. I try to make it a point to pray with her multiple times a day, not just at the dinner table, not just at bedtime. Some days, like today, I fail miserably. Lately, we've had problems with whining and moping, so quick prayers asking Jesus to "help change our attitude" have been teachable moments (ohhhh, Lawwwd...we've had a lot of these lately!). In this Christmas season, spending time in the Word has been natural. The Awana program at our church provides a more structured lesson midweek, and Kendall enjoys seeing her friends.
When we started attending Bethel, we noticed that Kendall's Sunday School lessons were always summarized in a coloring page which she proudly awarded to us after church. I began collecting them and assembled a binder full, which we read on a regular basis. Not only does it display Kendall's artwork, but it continually reinforces what she knows about God. We love it...and Kendall looks forward to adding a page in her book every week!
This mama is always looking for new ideas. How are you helping your kiddos walk with Jesus daily? Creative ideas?
7 comments:
This is a GREAT Bible we read with the boys most nights: http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Storybook-Bible-Read-Aloud-Edition/dp/0310726050/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354950677&sr=8-2&keywords=every+story+whispers+his+name
Doesn't have all the stories, but has an amazing way of sharing a lot of them and relating everything back to Jesus. We're on our second time through.
We also have a family night each week. We alternate. Every other week we've been going through a Veggie Tales family devotion book, and other weeks, Rachel has this character of the week thing where they learn a character trait like perseverance or patience and a verse to go along with it. I think she gets them from some other resource online. I'll have to ask her.
You know, since we've been planting in a very non-traditional manner over the past 2 years, we were slightly worried what it would do for the boys not having Sunday School really at all. We just have child care during our gatherings at our house. If anything, it's made me more of a believer that if you're living it and teaching it as parents, that's where the real learning happens. We talk about God and what he's doing in our lives pretty much daily and they pick up on that.
Thanks for sharing. I look forward to hearing what others share too!
Thanks for sharing this post. You are spot on! I don't have any original ideas of my own, but did come across this blog a while back that has some ongoing ideas for raising your kids to know the Lord: http://www.ourfamilyforhisglory.com/
Discipling our kiddos is so very important, love your creative idea! However, it might require a Starbucks coffee run to have a more thorough conversation on this topic ...
I agree! Great idea! Takes me back to the days of teaching kindergarten and gives me faith that the long hours of sorting curriculum were useful
I am so copying you! That's a great idea!
That book is an awesome idea. Apart from reading bible stories every night, its hard to know how to further reinforce faith concepts.
Sadly, Jamie, I think we all learned a lot more from your book idea than we have to offer in ideas for you. Keep up the good work!
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