Lately I've noticed my daughter's conversations becoming continual… all day is one great, big conversation between the two of us. It is the greatest joy and entertainment to hear her express herself now that she is becoming more vocal. She totally cracks me up, sometimes we are both cracking up. Toddlers are truly so cute! Her silliness brings my husband and I countless smiles and consumes much of our conversation in the evenings after the house is quiet and it's just the two of us. When we get on a roll talking about all of their cuteness, we usually end up sneaking into their room and watching them sleep… I know that might sound weird, but is so sweet to us! If you have children or even a special niece, nephew or sweet little one in your life, I'm sure you can relate.
It is amazing how they pick up on things… and a little scary, too. My daughter has even became increasingly better at memorizing books and singing songs. I feel that with this developmental growth spurt God is urging me to begin teaching her to memorize scripture. So this is my new adventure and first chance since becoming a mom to get into my "teacher mode" from back in the day. I know I have been the role of "teacher" to her all through her life, but this is getting serious… like get out the markers, card stock, scissors, and glue to make a bulletin board kind-of-serious! It all started this morning when I was catching up on one of my favorite blogs. It was so clear… God is leading me to further how I am sowing the seeds of his Word into her heart! I am so excited! So I immediately stopped and said, "Nella, it's time to get the Bible out!" She set off for hers in one direction and I went for mine in the other. When we met back in the living room she asked, "We read the Bible, mommy?" And I said, "We are going to speak the Bible." Before you could snap a finger, I was thumbing through my textbook (The Bible) looking for the right verse to start with. The verse I chose for this week is:
"I love the Lord, for he heard my voice." Psalm 116:1a
I wrestled between this one and a few others, but I felt it was clear why God led me here. First, I want my children to love the Lord. It is something Ken and I pray for them fervently. Second, I want them to know He hears us! What a great truth for a little one to grasp. We have been modeling and teaching Nella to pray for several months now. It has been such a joy to hear her prayers grow! We both want her to speak to the Lord from her heart and love hearing what she comes up with… from, "thank you for my taco" to "I love you Jesus". It is endearing! But, now I want her to know that those are not words she is throwing into thin air. God hears her gratitude and heart.
I hope you can use this mess of a plan I have devised to join me in teaching our children Truth. My goal is to teach her (and myself) one verse from scripture every week. Being a little more "teacher-y" I color coded the words, in attempt for her to learn "concept of a word". I put them on card stock and taped on a door in the kitchen where it is BIG and visible throughout the day. I also put the verse on a notecard and taped it to my dash so that while we are in the car we can talk about it and practice saying it. And… I came up with a song. My husband will looove this detail! I will only sing it for her, but she really got into it when I started singing. She was a little aloof while I was asking her to repeat each word after me, but when I starting singing it was as if a trance came over her and she became interested. Since I have been slack about my blog lately, I am going to try to form a habit of posting our weekly verse. I'm excited to teach my children God's word and hope you are encouraged to do this with your little one(s), too!
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil…Therefore take up the whole armor of God… fasten on the belt of truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith… and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." ---Ephesians 6: 10, 13-17
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