Daily Devotions

This book was a gift to one of my girls on her birthday several years ago. It is a sweet little book of devotions with even sweeter illustrations. Mostly this book has been read before bed time, but I brought it back out for Lent and decided to read it in the mornings as me and the girls are having breakfast.

Aren't the pictures precious? The title says it's for the very young, but my six year old and (mentally challenged) 9 year old love it. We've started keeping the TV off in the mornings and read a passage from the book as we begin breakfast.

After telling them the date (which can start conversations about who's birthday it may be, or if it's a holiday) I explain to them about where the bible verse at the top of the page is from. After the short devotion, I read a little bit from this children's bible that I borrowed from church. I got the idea of reading the bible at breakfast here from Courtney at Women Living Well. I thought it was the perfect time (we're all at the table anyway!) and it gets the day started on the right foot.

We started at the beginning (Genesis 1:1) and each day we read a little bit at a time. This morning was interesting because we read about Adam and Eve eating from the tree that gives knowledge of good and evil and the curse that befell mankind and the earth because of it. "They were naked?" the Diva asked. "Yep," I replied. "Why were they naked?" I thought to myself: They were banished from paradise, made to sweat and work for their food, cursed with agony in childbearing and ultimately death and all the red-head can focus on is that they were without clothes. Oy vey! Seriously though, it's been wonderful to have conversations about the beginning of all things with my child no matter where the questions might (ahem) take us. I've always heard there's no such thing as a dumb question. Parenting definitely puts that theory to the test!

How do the rest of you teach the bible to your children? The responsibility is not the minister's, the Sunday school teacher's, or the private school's. If you don't have regular bible time with your children, perhaps you could start one over breakfast or another meal. And the bonus? You get your daily dose of the scriptures as well. Win-win, people!