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This verse has been so important to Mike and I since we got married, and now we love sharing this verse with our little family! A couple months ago I was inspired by a friend's blog about doing quiet time with her girls in the morning. You can read her blog post here WORDSthatSING. I loved this idea of setting aside time each morning for my daughter to spend time with Jesus even at the young age of 18 months.
Inspired to action, I found some shakers, worship music, and all her books about Jesus. I gathered them together in a basket and added one of her favorite blankets that we use to sit on every morning. After only a few days of doing our Morning Worship together, she knew this basket was her "Jesus" basket! Before I go into the details, please know that I wanted to make this simple and fun...something Katie would look forward to each morning. By putting all of our Morning Worship items together in a basket, makes it super simple to use each day with no prep. And the books and resources I listed just happen to be the ones we already had. Again, simplicity is the key!!
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So what does this look like on a daily basis? We do our Morning Worship after breakfast. As soon as Katie gets done eating, she runs over and grabs her basket saying, "Hands or Boat!" ("He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" and "Arky Arky" are her current favorite songs.) I have been using the My First Bible Songs book. This book comes with a cd, and all the lyrics are included in the book with cute illustrations. Katie has names for all the songs and it is the cutest thing. My favorite song she has titled is "Let the Little Children Come." She calls it "hug" because there is a picture of Jesus giving a little child a hug. Somedays we sing songs, worship, and dance for 5 minutes, somedays we sing and worship for 20 minutes. When she is done, we are done.
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| Thank you, Hannah, for the most perfect Morning Worship quilt! |
Most days she is so excited to sing, but somedays she just wants to read. It works out so nicely having all her books about Jesus in one basket. We just cuddle up in her reading corner or on the couch, and we read her worship books together. It provides such a great opportunity to talk about prayer, the bible, Jesus, love, and the list goes on. Again, keeping all these books together makes it so easy to transition to this activity if she isn't into singing.
My other favorite thing I do with her during Morning Worship is read the Jesus Storybook Bible together. I am so thankful for the way Sally-Loyd Jones weaves together the story of Jesus from the Old Testament to the New Testament. The illustrations are beautiful and Katie loves looking at all the drawings. I have no rhyme or reason to what we read each day. We just start at the beginning and work our way through. I usually read to her while she is eating breakfast. It makes my heart soar when she says, "Mommy, bible!" She is only 22 months old right now, but she is already recognizing multiple stories from the bible. To help her remember, we have been illustrating the stories together and putting them up on the wall by her little table. Again, this is nothing I plan ahead of time. If it is a bible story that really seems to interest her, we draw it out and write a verse to go with it. Since I put them up on the wall above her table, she sees these drawings and verses multiple times a day. It makes it super easy to read the verses throughout the day and talk about the pictures. When she sees them she says, "Fish, rainbow, boat, cross...the list goes on." These are such simple words, but she is already starting to make connections to God's word. At her little table, I keep paper and crayons so there is no prep needed when we want to sit and illustrate a picture together. And let me emphasis that I am not an artist. This is why I taught 1st grade...6 year olds don't judge you based on your drawing skills :) Again, I like simple so it actually happens on a regular basis!
My hope for this post is not to overwhelm, but to inspire others the way I was inspired to incorporate Jesus throughout your day. As parents, one of the greatest gifts we can give our children is introducing them to God's love story and His plan of grace and redemption...even when they are still babies. But here is the best part and the part that makes my heart rest in His perfect peace, transforming our child's heart is not up to us. I think Jeannie Cunnion says it beautifully in her book Parenting the Wholehearted Child:
"Our children will not come to love Jesus because of us. In fact, I can say with great confidence that on many days my kids will fall in love with Jesus in spite of me. We are not responsible for transforming their hearts. We can give grace, and we can show grace. But our giving and showing are not what penetrate and transform our children's hearts. Take a long, deep breath of relief as you let these words of truth marinate in your soul: God, and God alone, transforms the human heart. His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, carries the grace you give and the grace you show like a renowned surgeon to the heart of your child. Yes, you can be a vessel of his grace and a reflection of his love, but you do not have to play God's role.
Our role as parents is to keep praying our children back into the palms of Jesus' nail-pierced hands. We can pray for wisdom from God as seek to be the vessel by which our children experience his unrelenting love and mercy. We can pray for obedience to the commission to disciple our children in the truth of Christ, and to teach them what really matters. We can pray that our children grow a heart that is tender to his voice and passionate about his Word. And we can proceed with hope, resting in his grace for us and trusting in the Holy Spirit to captivate their hearts with his love. Let us not forget that as much as we love our kids, Jesus loves them more. And as much as want for our kids, Jesus wants for them more."
This is best news for my heart! I get to be a vessel for my daughter to learn about Christ, but it is not up to me transform her heart. This makes things like Morning Worship such a joy to celebrate with her because it is a way I can give her a glimpse of Christ's love. I don't have to be perfect. I don't have to have all the answers. I just have to have a willing heart to share Christ's love with my little girl! Thank you, Lord that you love my daughter more than I could ever imagine!!
Please let me know if you have any questions or want more ideas to get started :) I would love to help!!
Happy Thursday!
