he's been having us read him this story once a night for the last week or two.
he has never done this before even a little bit with any of the other stories that he goes on kicks of reading every night.
jesse said he did it twice as long the first time before he called me in to witness/video.
holy farking bananas! now i know i might be getting ahead of myself thinking we have a little prophet or bible scholar on our hands (after all, it is the most exciting and kid-friendly story in the whole bible and it's understandable that a little boy would love this one).
it might seem cheesy, but since we were pregnant with judah we have prayed that we would have the word of god written on his heart. that he would know scripture and have it at his fingertips all the time. i didnt do a lot of bible study or reading as a kid and as a result, i dont have hardly any scripture memorized, and doing so as a crusty old-brained adult is HARD. jesse, however, did lots of scripture memorization as a kid and the man is an amazing reference. he just knows so much scripture word for word because it was laid down in his mind as a kid when those learning faculties were still sharp and active.
ever since seeing the FASCINATING jesus camp, i have been wary of the line between raising our kids up to be christ-like in age-appropriate ways, and indoctrinating them. we believe very strongly that the bible is the word of god, so we feel that instilling that in them (and not some of the scary extra-biblical [as in outside of the bible] conclusions some of the folks in that movie were drawing and teaching their kids) is not only our duty as parents, but is also something special and magical that will be honored and used by jesus for good no matter what.
since it is more than just memorizing words the way you would your favorite song or movie, and is instead taking the word of the almighty god into your mind, it has power beyond where jesse and i may fall short as christ-modelling parents, and even beyond the sins that our kids will inevitably commit and the ways they will stray from their savior.
the word was with god and the word was god from the beginning of time, soooooooo, we'd be dumb not to make it a huge part of their lives....right? if we say we want our kids to have the hearts and minds of jesus, then this seems like a foolproof way to start and something that cannot be left out.
that's my little aside. yes, we do plan to memorize scripture with the kids from a young age. no, this was not an instance of that. but it was proof that a young brain is amazing and that hopefully instilling a love of the bible from an early age is possible.
also it was mother flipping adorable and entertaining.
I like your perspective on this. If we REALLY believe this with our whole hearts, then of course we are going to teach it to our kids. Like you, though, I don't want to get it wrong and teach the wrong stuff, all the rules and conlusions people make based on scripture. I am happy with you because we've been there and seen what a young love for the Word can turn into. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! I love how you are so passionate about sharing Jesus with your kids! Have you heard of Seeds Family Worship? They create songs for kids that are Bible verses word-for-word in a song, so you can memorize verses while singing catchy songs. Call me a nerd if you want =), but I don't mind listening to them and still remember several of the songs/verses from 2 years ago by listening to one of the CDs for like a month. This might be a great way for you to help them memorize scripture, and maybe you'll remember some of it too =)
ReplyDeletewww.seedsfamilyworship.net (You can buy their CDs or just listen to the music online)
1) I love that his middle name is David. I wish I could understand more of his -isms... but you TOTALLY get the idea! He's such an animated love.
ReplyDelete2) I love the look of shock and awe and amazement on Jesse (and I imagine yourself's face as I hear you gasping and smiling in the video).
3) Most Important: Could you do a book review on good kid bible reads?? There are a million out there... and I bought a dinky one... I want more, but I want the good stuff. What are your favs? Or just email me some titles? :-)
The Jesus Storybook Bible as mentioned below! Also, we gave our superhero obsessed son The Action Bible. Basically the Bible turned into a graphic novel. It's not for everyone, but my husband and son really enjoy reading t together.
DeleteThe Jesus Story Book Bible is a great one! True to Scripture but easy to read!
ReplyDeleteThe Jesus Story Book Bible is a really good one. It has simple short stories that are true to scripture, and great descriptions of Gospel truths.
ReplyDeleteMy son has LOVED stories from the Bible and we have a CD set that has many of them from the Creation to Paul and his travels. He listens to them every night as he goes to sleep and I am so thankful. He already knows who Jesus was, why he died and what "sin" is. He will be 4 in May. We also have AWANA at our church where each week they learn and memorize a bible verse. As well as Steve Green songs that put verses to music. I was like you and hardly can recite all the books of the bible so I have found it to help me too!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone!
ReplyDeleteHere is a list of a bunch of good kids' Bibles and reviews of them. Hope it helps!
ReplyDeletehttp://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2011/11/28/the-new-gospel-story-bible-65-off/
this is amazing and so totally adorable. i could listen to it 20 times and not get tired of it. i LOVE it. his sweet little voice is just adorable. what a smart little bug!
ReplyDelete