Homeschool Mom's Bible {Review}

Years ago for my 21st birthday I was given an NIV Student Study Bible which I absolutely loved.  Sadly it was stolen in 1997. When I saw that Zondervan publishing were offering to bless us with a Homeschool Mothers Devotional Bible {NIV} I honestly couldn't wait for September to roll around. Needless to say once I knew this product was in the mail winging it's way to me I stalked my post box daily till it arrived. I was over whelmed with gratitude when it arrived.

The first thing that I noticed are the beautiful covers that Zondervan have made for these bibles. This bible has been made available in two translations: New International Version and The King James Version.  They are available in hardcover with jackets, Italian duo-tone and ePub.

Product Details

• NIV Homeschool Mom's Bible.
• Pages: 1536 pages.
• Cover: Hardcover, Jacketed
• ISBN 13: 9780310421054 
• Author of the Devotions: Janet Tatman
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Cost: Hardcover US $34.99
           Itailian DuoTone (Hot Pink) US $49.99
           Italian DuoTone (Turquoise) US $47.99
• Size: 8.75″ x 5.75″ x 1.75″ 
• Price: US $34.99 

A portion of the purchase of this bible is donated to Biblica to support and enable them in their mission of  Transforming lives through God's Word.

This bible contains 

• Table of Contents - one lists all contents and one is the alphabetical order of books in the bible.
• Foreword by Vickie Farris encourages us to spend time in the word no matter how busy our day.  "As we reorder our priorities by carving out time to enter into his holy presence, we'll find strength for what matters most. Trust me, the laundry can wait 15 min more ..." 
• About section.  In this section there is a write up on Alpha Omega Publications who have co-published this devotional bible. Janet Tatman the author of the devotional readings. She home educated her four children for over 25 years.  The devotionals contained in the bible were borne out of her experience writing the Daily Focus encouragement devotionals while working for Alpha Omega Publications.
• Preface. I was particularly interested in this part of the introductions. I enjoyed the insight and explanation on how this version of the WORD has been translated and updated over the years. Did you know the first NIV version was published in 1978?
• Entire updated NIV bible text, including footnotes.
• 365 daily devotions interspersed at regular intervals throughout the bible (there is no devotional page for leap year)
• Table of Weights and Measures containing biblical units, approximate American and Metric equivalents.
• Topical Index covering main biblical characters, teachings and devotional topics arranged in alphabetical order.
• 7 blank pages for your own notes
• Dust Jacket This is a standard paper dust jacket.  One of the crew suggested laminating to increase it's life but I am going to cover it with clear plastic film (Duraseal self adhesive covering).

The Devotionals
These are written by a veteran home school Mum Janet Tatum. She has over 25 years of home school experience and has been writing daily devotionals for home school Mom's for more than six years.  Janet writes from the heart, you can see in her devotions she has been there, felt what we as

home school Mom's feel: our frustrations, our fears, our struggles and our desperate hopes. She speaks to the very heart of our day to day struggles. I loved reading the daily devotion at morning tea time.

God's timing never fails to astound me.  I had been stalking my mailbox waiting for the devotional to arrive. I had been struggling with a self focused woe is me attitude.  Why doesn't anyone care for me! I am so tired of all of T*H*I*S ! Midday arrived and so did the Postie with my special delivery.  I excitedly opened my new devotional to the days reading.

September 6th
Homeschooling's Price ... Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me... 

I start reading ... yes that's me that's how I am feeling. Yes today I want to have all the wonderful benefits without any of the responsibilities. Yes I am feeling trapped ...  Yes please I want a break from this constant house work ...   

Janet challenged me: "Sorry, but it doesn't work that way. If you want your children to achieve both academic and spiritual success, you have to give 100 percent and commit to homeschooling... Yes, God knows  when you need to rest and will show you how to catch your breath, but He also asks His disciples to carry their cross. So who will you follow today, yourself or the Lord? Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23 " Then she led me in a small prayer. 

It was as though a home school Mum had sat there with me and spoken directly into my personal circumstance and feelings. She didn't lecture or shame me. She shared her struggle with me.  Challenged me to my calling. Encouraged me to look to the one from Whom all life flows. Pointed me to the plum line of His word and then prayed with me. Blessed and Refreshed is how I felt. 

Each and every devotion is this way. I would love to spend hours studying and researching the word.  The reality is that during this season of homeschooling my young one I do not have the time available to do this. Janet has done the work for me. She daily lays out a minimum of two to three scriptures pertaining to an aspect directly associated with my home school journey. Shares her experience and encourages me to look to Him. Model my life on Him and pray. At the end of each devotional page there is a little note telling me where to find the next day's devotional.

Some days the need is different to what is being spoken about and on those days all I need to do is open up the topical index and search through an alphabetical listing of the devotional topics to find something to encourage me or point me in the direction I need to take.

Each day at morning tea time I am learning to turn back to His Word and refocus.  I am so grateful to have this devotional and will continue reading it for years to come.  

Final thoughts
I am really happy with this bible.  If you are looking for a study bible this is not the bible for you.  It is as it's name says a Devotional bible. 

If there was one thing I would add it would be a presentation page. A group of us purchased an Italian Duo-Tone™, Hot Pink leather copy for a friends special birthday and it would have been lovely to have been able to write her name and a note about the occasion along with our names and the special date/occasion before giving it to her. 

If you have a special wish list somewhere I would encourage you to add this one to the top of the list you will not be disappointed.

Blessings
Chareen

Seed Sowers a gospel planting adventure {Review}

This past month Sir N and I have had the privilege of meeting some of today's modern heroes in the biographical book Seed Sowers: Gospel Planting Adventures published by Grace and Truth books. This book was compiled and written by a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew Gwen Toliver.

When Gwen and her family relocated to Wycliffe's Linguistics Center in Dallas, Texas they began meeting dozens of 'retired' missionaries who were still actively serving in many supportive rolls. The thing that struck her was that most of them had never recorded their own incredible stories.

Gwen thought "What a shame! Most of them possess this amazing wealth of spiritual knowledge and mission field experience that will be lost if it's not recorded for future generations. Only a few had written or told their stories."  Little did she know that over the next two years she would begin a remarkable journey of discovery (or mining gold as Gwen calls it) as she spent time interviewing these 'retired' missionaries. Out of this experience a book was birthed.

 Seed Sowers

• Format: Paper back / Hardback / Kindle
• Number of Pages: 180
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Publication Date: 2012
• ISBN: 978-1-4497-7130-0
• Author: Gwen Toliver

This is a beautiful book written for children and is a pleasure to read out loud.  Sir N has begged me to keep reading each day as we have spent time together reading Seed Sowers.  This book is written at around a sixth grade independent reading level, however children as young as six will enjoy the adventures of the missionaries and bible translators in the book.

Seed Sowers introduces us to the stories of 21 inspiring missionary heroes and the adventures they experienced serving our God in different parts of the world.  At the conclusion of each chapter Gwen has included a short note detailing when the particular translation of the bible was completed and what the missionary is doing now. The book concludes with a comprehensive bibliography sharing when the interviews took place and any extra resources used in compiling the stories.

The only complaint Sir N has had is that he wished that there were pictures in the book. This is one thing that Gwen wishes she could add to this wonderful book the photographs of the missionaries. Sadly the publisher has said that due to poor quality they can not be added. She has been collecting beautiful photographs and sharing them on the Seed Sowers Website.

Upon reflection I think it would be a wonderful addition if a world map with an indication of where the stories took place were added to the stories along with present day photographs. It would be amazing to see who these wonderful people are and it would help younger children to appreciate that these are real life hero's who are sharing their stories with us.

Purchase the book

• Paper back $12.50
• Hard Cover   $27.95
• Kindle  $3.99

Connect

• Gwen shares her families full time missionary adventures living and serving with Wycliffe Associates in Texas over at Tolivers to Texas. 
• Seed Sowers blog. Here Gwen shares more insights from the book, introduces some of the heros from the book and photographs.
• Pinterest
• Facebook

This book gets a 5 star rating and would be an asset on any bookshelf.  It's a wonderful twaddle free read aloud sharing living stories of modern hero's for your children to look up to. 

All that is good reflects God's Glory. It has been said that the full joyousness of childhood can only be experienced by those who are allowed by their elders to mix heaven freely with earth, and to see angels and heroes where commonplace sinners actually stand. - Karen Andreola

I agree with this statement and reading about heavens modern hero's in Seed Sowers is just one way to inspire and encourage our children to do great things for the Kingdom.

Blessings
Chareen

Master Books Free Book Friday - {365 Fascinating Facts about Jesus}

Welcome to Free Book Friday from Master Books a division of the New Leaf Publishing Group.  I have a love affair with the beautiful books published by Master Books and when I saw a shout out on their Facebook page for people to host their FREE book Friday I put my hand up.

My love affair with their books started when Sonlight introduced them to me when I was doing Science F with my children and read The History of Medicine.   This book was the kind of living book you do not want to put down until you have read it till the very end.

Today Master Books has generously donated a digital copy of 365 Fascinating Facts about Jesus by Robert Strand for one person to win. Simply use the Rafflecopter widget at the bottom of this post to enter.

365 Fascinating Facts about Jesus

• Imprint New Leaf Press
• Title 365 Fascinating Facts about Jesus
• ISBN 13 9780892214884
• Author Robert Strand
• Binding Paperback
• Page Count 224
• Publisher New Leaf Publishing Group, Inc.
• Dimensions (in inches) 5 3/8 x 8 3/8 x 1/2

Sample

Connect with Master Books

• Facebook
• Pinterest
• YouTube
• Twitter
• Blog

You can purchase this book from

1. New Leaf Publishing
2. Amazon
3. Barnes & Noble
4. For you Kindle via Amazon

Please be sure to read the Terms and Conditions of this give away BEFORE entering.

Blessings
Chareen

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Terms and Conditions

• The prize is ONE Digital copy of 365 Fascinating Facts about Jesus
• This giveaway is offered to  Australia (QLD, NT, TAS, VIC ) and the rest of the world. 
• Sorry if you are living in ACT & NSW  Or Quebec Canada  you are ineligible to enter via my blog. Please read this article to see why.
• The give away will commence at 6 AM USA EST time on Friday 15 June  and be open until Midnight Sunday 16 June 2013.
• ONE  winner will be announced on Monday 17 June.
• Master Books will contact the winner .
• Prize can not be exchanged for money.
• No purchase necessary to win.
• Giveaways are held with Rafflebox; commenting will not enter you.
• Must be 18 years of age or older at time of entry.
• If prize winner forfeits or does not claim the prize, prize will be re-awarded via Rafflebox.
• Void where prohibited by law.
• This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.
• By entering this contest, you agree to release Every Bed of Roses and all associated parties/sponsors of any liability.
• It is your responsibility to check the current price of any items before purchasing any of the products described in this blog post.
• There are NO affiliate links contained in this post. 
• Family members are not eligible to enter via my blog post.  
• Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of this product through the Master Books  I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. 

Christianity Cove {Review}

One of the things I have enjoyed about being on the Schoolhouse Review Crew this year is discovering new vendors.  When the chance to review Christianity Cove came up I was really excited. Christianity Cove is a web based resource created by Mary-Kate Warner who is a Sunday School Director.  Her mission is to provide FREE ideas via her blog and PDF resources in her purchase product range to support Sunday school teachers in their ministry.  Prices vary between $1 - $29. The hardest part was deciding which two products I would like to use with Sir N.  I finally settled on The Ten Commandments and The Lord's Prayer.


The Ten Commandments

• The Ten Commandments pack comes as a 26.7 MB PDF download upon purchase.  
• Is is a 52 page resource 
• Aimed for use with children in the age bracket of 4-11 years.
• A comprehensive table of contents.
• All the needed graphics are supplied and easy to print.
• A materials list is provided at the beginning of each lesson, project etc
• Ten Commandments - Currently $27 (Normally $47)

 Contents

• 3 games
• 3 craft projects
• 2 Song options
• 2 snack ideas
• 3 worksheets 
• A Science project

I started off by loading the PDF booklet onto my Galaxy Tab and reading through each lesson and craft suggestion.  Once I had a good overview and had decided which crafts we would do I printed those off.  They were all in black and white and all the instructions were easy to follow.  There were also excellent pictures of each craft making it easy to understand what to do with Sir N.  Now it was time to learn the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20).

We started by reading the story of how Moses was given the 10 Commandments by the Lord at Mount Sinai in his children's bible.  Each day we tackled a different project which reinforced his learning.  The games, songs, snacks, crafts and worksheets all focused us in the right direction.  The object lessons were well presented and helped us see that the Ten Commandments are just as relevant today as they were for the Israelite people in the days of Moses.

We really enjoyed using this resource.  It was well presented and required very little work to implement each lesson. For all the lessons and craft pages we had all the items on hand at home and for the food ideas we had most of the items too. All the instructions are comprehensively written and have photographs illustrating the steps or the completed project which made them easy to do as you had a visual clue to aim towards.

All in all Sir N and I enjoyed our adventure with the Ten Commandments.

The Lord's Prayer

• The The Lord's Prayer pack comes as a 16.1 MB PDF download upon purchase.  
• Is is a 35 page resource 
• Aimed for use with children in the age bracket of 5-14 years.
• A comprehensive table of contents.
• All the needed graphics are supplied and easy to print.
•  Lord's Prayer - Currently $19.99 (Normally $39.99)

Contents

• 2 Object lessons
• 2 games
• 3 crafts
• Songs
• 2 Worksheets
• 2 Snack options

I saved the PDF to my Galaxy Tab and spent time reading and gaining an understanding of the principles being aimed at through each lesson. We started this section of learning by reading the story of how Jesus shared the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13)with His disciples. We had one of the recommended resources for memorising The Lord's Prayer and played this CD regularly as we learnt the words (we are still in the process).

For the projects we are working our way through them.  Sir N loves hands on things to do.  All of the projects are easily completed with items on hand at home.  One of them needed dowel sticks and I simply replaced them with wooden skewers. Their are comprehensive instructions for all the crafts and activities. They are well written out but being a visual learner I found some a little bit hard to follow. This can easily be remedied with a couple of photographs illustrating the point in the same way as they were done for The Ten Commandments craft instructions.

Each of the lessons/crafts/activities illustrated an aspect of prayer in a practical way helping Sir N to understand it better.  Prayer is something that we have always done with him but struggle to get him to partake in.  This series is helping him come to a deeper understanding of prayer and that God hears us even when we don't think that He does and all of this regardless of the outcome that we see.

Connect with Christianity Cove

• Facebook
• Pinterest- 17 Boards
• Blog - here you will find over 700 FREE Sunday School Articles.
• Read their Statement of Faith and Mission Statement on their About Page.
• Contact

The thing I enjoyed about teaching through these lesson packs was that they were short and easy to implement.  On average it took 10-15 min a lesson.  It was fun and did not meander to make a point. We have taken slightly longer to work through the lessons than we thought but are enjoying them.

Each pack is specifically designed for Sunday School use but can be very minimally modified for home use to equip you to use all your child's senses to teach the topic at hand.  You do not need to do all the lessons you can pick and choose mix and match at your leisure and according to your need.

At present Christianity Cove have 26 resources in their Sunday School Product Range. The crew were given the opportunity to review 15 of these products. Don't forget to pop on over and read the reviews from the rest of the crew on how they used the following products.

1. Outstanding Object Lessons
2. Bible Science Experiments
3. 100 Simple Service Projects
4. Daily Dilemmas: 26 True-to-Life Devotions for Kids
5. Freedom Ride: 12 Lessons of Faith for Today's Teens
6. "Tween a Rock and a Hard Place" Lesson Blueprints
7. Bullying & the Bible Lesson Plans
8. KidMin Power Pack
9. Bible Memory Games
10. The Divine Dozen: 12 Parables of Jesus Every Child Should Know
11. Make & Take Bible Crafts
12. New Testament Life Lessons
13. Fruits of the Spirit Activity Kit

Blessings
Chareen

30 Days of Praying for our Children

My friend Marcy from Ben and Me has been sharing about the book Lead Your Family Like Jesus and has invited us to join her for the month of April in seriously praying for our children every day. Prayer is not something I find easy to do while in the trenches of parenting and school and home duties. I prayed through Stormie's book The Power of a Praying Parent years ago and was amazed (yes I know I shouldn't be . . .) at the changes I saw in them and more importantly the changes in in me and my attitude over that dedicated month.

Marcy shared a quote by Tricia Goyer from the book which really spoke to me this morning.

Prayer is an essential act of will that demonstrates whether we're really serious about living and leading our families like Jesus. Without it we'll never be able to connect our plans and efforts with God's plan for His kingdom, or engage the spiritual resources Jesus promised in the work of the Holy Spirit.

Marcy shared a how Tricia broke down prayer into four main areas in our children's lives: head, shoulders, knees and toes.

Heads: Psalm 3:3
But you, O Lord, are a shield around me;
you are my glory, the one who holds my head high.

Shoulders Psalm 55:22
Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you;
He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail).

Knees James 4: 8-10
Come close to God, and God will come close to you.
Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts,
for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.
Let there be tears for what you have done.
Let there be sorrow and deep grief.
Let there be sadness instead of laughter,
and gloom instead of joy.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

Toes Hebrews 3:12-14
Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters.
Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving,
turning you away from the living God.
You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,”
so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.
For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed,
we will share in all that belongs to Christ.

If you are committing to pray for your children for the next 30 days, leave a comment below so we can pray for one another on this journey of praying for our children.

Blessings
Chareen

Graphics from Ben and Me Facebook Photo Stream

TT - In The BEGINNING

This week ...
I would like to share about a DVD we watched recently. This year we have started on our chronological history adventure and as part of this we started with creation.  A friend of mine knows we enjoy stage productions so she loaned me: In the BEGINNING from Sight & Sound Theaters. We loved it from the opening scene to the closing scene every single minute captured our imaginations and our hearts. This DVD was a visual and auditory feast and Sir N enjoyed it so much we watched it three times in one week.

In the BEGINNING

• Format: DVD filmed before a live audience
• Number of Pages: Nil
• Vendor: Sight & Sound Theatres
• Publication Date: 2007
• ISBN: DVD 
• Author   Sight & Sound
• Illustrator: N/A
• Duration: 115 min
• Format: Stage production
• Languages: English, Spanish and French
• Special Features: yes

You can find Sight & Sound Theatres on Facebook and YouTube.


Some other DVDs in the series that we have enjoyed

• Joseph  this rendition of Joseph inspired us to walk in integrity.(YouTube Trailer)
• Psalms of David is not a story it's a summary and overview of Psalms in song.
• Ruth was a delightful journey of God's story of redemption.
• and we are looking forward to watching Noah

Blessings

 Welcome to Tuesdays Treasures.  I started these posts as a way of sharing great books in honour of my friend in New Zealand who would arrive with the treasures she had unearthed at her weekly trip to the library!

There are so many wonderful books out there hiding on shelves so I invite you to blog about a book on your shelf, one you're reading or one you found at the library.

Be True to Yourself.

This weekend while spending time with my sister she encouraged me saying: “Be true to yourself.”   

I have really been struggling with feelings of insecurity, yes even after 14 years of homeschooling! 

As I went through my week my heart kept reaching for His.  “Lord why do I feel this way ?” 

and His reply kept echoing.  “Be True To YOURSELF”  

Click here to read the entire post at Princess Warrior Lessons  

While over at Jo's place take a look around.  Her blog is full of rich lessons learned from the King.  

Lessons that will inspire and encourage you.

Blessings

Scripture and our children.

How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.

I seek you with all my heart;

do not let me stray from your commands.

I have hidden your word in my heart

that I might not sin against you.

Psalm 119: 9 –11(NIV)

The above scripture got me thinking about how and why we should be hiding the word of God in our hearts and the training our children to hide His word in their hearts and thereby creating a life long store house of His goodness.

Who does God hold responsible for the training of our children ?

Parents Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord

So, what is the ultimate goal of parents in child-training ?

“To raise morally responsible children who reach adulthood knowing right from wrong, and make wise choices based on biblical knowledge. To accomplish this goal, we need to develop a moral conscience that comes from the Bible and to do this we must place it in the hearts of our children.” (Joey & Carla Link Mom’s Notes )

“We can raise our children to be successful by the worlds standards—but if their hearts are not turned toward God, we will miss the mark by God’s standards. While the world may judge our children against the standards of intelligence, appearance, money, power and fame, God will judge them by their hearts— “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” As their parents, we are raising our children for God’s approval.” (Clay & Sally Clarkson Educating the WholeHearted Child)

The Word of God says:

Matt 6:21 For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.
Matt 12: 35 The good man from his inner good treasure flings forth good things, and the evil man out of his inner evil storehouse flings forth evil things.

Psalm 119 : 11Thy word have I treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee.

Definitions:

Often times we take for granted that we understand the common words that we use every day and because of this I some times like to look up the meanings and that in itself is a tremendous encouragement as it opes up for me the depth of the word. Here are a few from the above scriptures:

• Treasure - riches accumulated, a treasure is a store of wealth
• Accumulate To become greater in quantity or number; increase
• Heart The vital or essential part, by memory, The centre of mans personal activities, the source whence the principles of his actions derive their origin.
• 
  

Why:

• Eph 6:11 Put on God’s whole armour—the armour of a heavy-armed soldier, which God supplies—that you may be able successfully to stand up against all the strategies and deceits of the devil.
• Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee.

By hiding His word in our hearts we will be successful to stand against the evil one and his ways and most importantly we will not sin against the Lord.

What:

• Eph 6:17 … and the sword the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God.
• Deuteronomy 6:6-9 These commandments that I give to you today are

We need to be teaching our children the whole word of God including the old testament which contains His commandments.

Who:

• Deuteronomy 6:6-9 ...to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children.

Firstly the word needs to be in my heart and then I am to impress them on the hearts of my children.

When

• Deuteronomy 6:6-9 ...Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up

By the standard of this verse its a daily everywhere you are.

How

• Deuteronomy 6:6-9 ...Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.
• I delight to do Thy will, O my God; Thy Law is within my heart. Psalm 40:8
• And that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:15

The Lord encouraged His people to have scripture everywhere before their eyes to help them remember.

Benefits of memorization:

• Memorization helps children learn what is right (wisdom) from what is wrong (foolishness)
• It encourages children not only to obey Mom and Dad but also to obey God (our highest and ultimate objective)
• It helps them realise it's not because Mom and Dad say to do this or that but ultimately it is the Lord we are in obedience to. It is His standard not ours.
• It helps them learn about our majestic God, His wonderful ways, and His unconditional love for them.

So what does this look like for us?

• 1. Start as soon as they begin to talk. Don’t underestimate your child! Before 2 years of age most children can memorize a whole verse, and before 3 most children can memorize a whole psalm such as Psalm 100.
  2. Do it consistently. Set aside time daily for new learning and for review of prior learning.
  3. We need to establish in the minds of our children the authority of the Bible, God’s written word.
  a. Teach them to respect the bible.
  b. Teach them to love the bible “ Oh how I love thy law! It is my meditation all the day” Psalm 119:97
  c. Teach them to like the bible, don’t use it as a form of punishment.
  4. We need to read the bible to our children on a consistent basis. “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17
  a) Take your toddler and say ‘Come it’s your special time with God’ and cuddle up and read a toddlers bible with them and on occasion a verse or two together from your bible.
  b) Don’t stop reading to your children when they can read for themselves.
  c) Have family devotions. It doesn’t have to be long say 10 min after a meal before everyone goes their separate ways. When using material to supplement your devotion use books that use the Bible as it’s guide. Ask questions get family discussion going for the older students. For the younger ones use stories to illustrate the point.
  d) Teach them to have their own devotions and to use a note book to record their journey.
  5. Time spent in the Word needs to be fun.
  a) The manner in which we present the Bible to our children shapes their attitude for life.
  b) Use age appropriate bibles
  6. Have a plan for practically incorporating scripture in your family.
  a) Target a topic per month eg honesty. Plan lessons around this
  b) Don’t push beyond their capacity to learn. Be realistic in your expectations but at the same time don’t underestimate their ability either.
  7. Identify goals of personal Christian growth which you hope your child will accomplish by the time they leave home
  a) Having a consistent quiet time on their own.
  b) Knowing how to lead some one to Christ on their own
  c) Knowing how the basics of mentoring a new Christian.
  8. Identify your doctrine/beliefs which you hope your child will learn as part of the Christian life view before he/she leaves home.
  9. Identify the character values you want your child to have in their lives.
  a) Galations 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
  10. Teach your children about the history of the Christian faith.

Memorization:

• Always teach the reference along with the verse.
• Consistency is the key.
• Review is critical. Use Meal times, traditional times, creative time, child initiated times, when he is getting dressed in the morning, getting ready for bed etc.
• Affirmation and reward is critical to your success.
• The process needs to be unique to your family. Try one of the following ideas:
• Use sign language as you say your verse.
• Repetition. Some children enjoy jumping so have them jump on the tramp or skip practicing their verse.
• Write up the verse on a white board and as you learn erase out a word till all the words are erased.
• Pictorial memorization. Write the verse and substitute words with pictures eg a heart with a heart !
• Or a scripture to song music CD. Find your family’s unique way and go for it!
• Jessica over at Our Family for His glory has a great post on scripture memory: Top 10 ways to memorize scripture

Source documents:

• Creative Family Times Practical activities for building character in your preschooler by A & C Hadidian and W & L Wilson
• Mom’s Notes by Joey and Carla Link Volume 4 Using the bible in the training & instruction of your children.
• Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay & Sally Clarkson.

Thy word have I treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee.

Psalm 119 : 11

This post is being linked to:

Blessings

The perfect church service

"The perfect church service would be the one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God.
But every novelty prevents this. It fixes our attention on the service itself; and thinking about worship is a different thing than worshiping.....

'Tis mad idolatry that makes the service greater than the god"
C.S. Lewis (1898 - 1963)

Read this at church today and was quite impacted by these words.

Week 1 - Intro to The Ministry of Motherhood

I managed this week to read the introduction chapter in The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson as well as think over a scripture a day from the S.O.A.P sheet from Good Morning Girls.  I'm glad I did as it gave me something positive to sleep on and wake up and walk around with for the day. 

This caught my attention

They need the authentic strength that comes from the true foundation of a biblical world-view and a proper understanding of the real Christ who is worthy of their worship. They need an unwavering, internal moral and spiritual compass that will help them weather today's storms and tomorrow's and will guide them for the rest of their lives.
- Sally Clarkson (The Ministry of Motherhood)

Not only my children but I need this! I find that as each day passes I long to know Him more authentically. I need this true foundation how else will my children learn it ?  As Sally points out in Luke 6:40

"A pupil is not above his teacher;

but everyone, after he has been fully trained,

will be like his teacher."

That is a weight to carry! I am responsible for the position my children are in once they are fully trained.

Study & Discussion

We were encouraged to look at some verses and one of them was Psalm 127:1-3 (AMP) (I'm a wordy kinda girl and LOVE the Amplified Bible!)

Psalm 127
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
 1[a]EXCEPT THE Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; except the Lord keeps the city, the watchman wakes but in vain.
    2It is vain for you to rise up early, to take rest late, to eat the bread of [anxious] toil--for He gives [blessings] to His beloved in sleep.
    3Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

I enjoyed reading this but felt a little frustrated as I wanted more than the status quo.  My head thought straight away I can't do anything without the Lord but I wanted to dig deeper to know more of what the Lord means in this.

I have been blessed with a jewish friend who I emailed and asked for insight.  Chanah so blessed me, this is what she said (shared with her permission):

You need to remember that generally Jews do not take one specific verse out of scripture for insight-rather we look at the whole context of what was written, when and why.

So, the Jewish perspective on that verse is initially quite clear. If HaShem is not a part of your plans, don't bother cause it will be in vain.

The reality is that scripture is much deaper when you look at the context of 127.. David is instructing his son Solomon on the virtues of proper training for children.

An arrow shot with a strong hand bears within itself the strength of the bowman long after the arrow has left his hand and it follows unswervingly the direction given by the hand of the mighty man. So too, children raised by dedicated parents will remain unwaveringly and unhesitatingly true to the goal set for them by the guiding hands of parents, long after they have left the spehere of parental guidance.

So, if HaShem does not build a house-the hebrew word is home-and what is a home made up of??? children!!!!! So, if HaShem is not a part of building your house-home-if you are not raising your children in his ways, then more then likely you will have futility and do so in vain.

What are cities? They are heaps of homes-so if Hashem is not a part of building your city (or community) then all of the work could be being done in vain.

Bricks and morter are only the physical things used to protect the most spiritual things-children and family-there are beautiful houses and cities that are null and void as they have not been built in the ways of HaShem and there are homes of poverty-people who live in poverty but are protected by the ways of the L-rd....

Chanah gave me a fresh way of looking at the importance of what we are, and the choices we make do have an influence long after our children have left our sphere of influence.

• I loved her reminder that it's not about things it's about people. 
• She pointed me back to the eternal perspective. 
• I've always thought about the quiver part of the scripture and never given much head to the bowman. Of what use is a quiver without the bowman who carries it ? 

In verse two the word anxious jumped at me.  Anxious toil,  I was begining to feel anxious over the role I carry as mother in relation to this verse, but it is followed with,  He gives blessings. I thought about it.....  He gives blessings wow. I do not need to be greatly concerned, for He gives me blessing.

I was going to try keep up with the schedule of one section a week but didn't want to miss the depth of what I could be learning so this coming week I will be looking at some of the other scriptures Sally has on page 19 and thinking about some of the things she asks.  One of them being Proverbs 31 .......

Take courage my friends your daily walk will be echoing for eternity.  It is important