Essential Supplies for Fall: Upcoming Read

The Essential Supplies for Fall series is coming to a close soon; there will be one more bonus post on the series next week.  I hope that it has enriched your library with supplies to help cultivate your child or children's faith.  The best supply that we can give our children for the new school year is knowledge about a God whose love never ends and whose presence never leaves us!

This week's category is Upcoming Read.  We have addressed our favorite children's Bibles, devotionals, and Christian movies, and now it's our turn!  This category applies to our own Christian parenting reading library.  It applies to books that will encourage us to be godly parents and help us cultivate what matters most. 

Lately, I've been chewing on books; I've been reading a few things broken down into daily bite-sized portions.  One of those books is The Power of a Positive Mom by Karol Ladd.  I encourage you to check it out.  It's full of practical tips and biblical wisdom to make motherhood enriching for everyone in the family!

I plan to read Trophy Child: Saving Parents from Performance, Preparing Children for Something Greater Than Themselves this fall.  It's written by Pastor Ted Cunningham.  As with all faith-based books, I am not expecting to agree with everything that I read, but I am excited to benefit from its biblical discussion and goal.  In our performance-based culture, children (and we parents, right?) need to be reminded about the meaning of true success - which is simply living the life that God has destined for each of us.  We experience freedom as we cast off societal pressures!  If this resonates with you, check out my prior devotion entitled Tiger Mom, as Cunningham explicitly labels his book as an Anti-Tiger Mom book.  I can't wait to read it.

So what are you reading??

Essential Supplies for Fall: Christian Children's Movie

This month, we are taking a break from weekly devotions and having a chance to exchange resources - just in time for a great start to the new school year!  In the August series, Essential Supplies for Fall, I am introducing a new category of Christian supplies each week.  I will share the best recommendations that I have found in that category, and I invite you to share yours too.  Devotions will begin again in September - please check out the archives to reread your favorites or check out ones that you might have missed in the meantime!

This series is a great way for us to learn from each other and share resources.  I have purchased The Jesus Storybook Bible that was recommended by several Moms the first week of our series.  I am loving it!  The stories are so beautiful; they have brought tears to my eyes.  I enjoy reading something that I am getting as much out of as my kids.  Thank you to those who wrote in or emailed me. 

The category this week is Christian Children's Movie.  Let's face it, movies can sometimes be a Mom's best friend when you have to do laundry, fix dinner, or get something accomplished around the house without little people that is!  What a great gift to be able to put on a movie that encourages positive values and teaches children about God.  With a four and two-year-old, I have found that Veggie Tale movies do that AND keep their attention - well, my older son's attention at least!  His favorites are The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything and The League of Incredible Vegetables.  Both include lots of adventure and snappy musical tunes that boys love!

Does your child or children have a favorite Christian movie?  If so, please tell us what it is and their ages!  Moms out there with girls, I could especially use your comments!

Essential Supplies for Fall: Children's Devotional

I just got back from vacation...time to get back in the swing of things!  I hope you are enjoying your summer too. 

This month, we are taking a break from weekly devotions and having a chance to exchange resources - just in time for a great start to the new school year!  Just as we work hard preparing our children for school by accruing supplies, attending orientations, or soaking up the remaining summer quality time with them, it's important to prepare for their faith journeys as well.  This year they will have the opportunity to get to know Christ better, be presented with good and bad choices, and be one step closer to becoming the person whom God made them to be - and we can assist in that process!

In the August series, Essential Supplies for Fall, I am introducing a new category of Christian supplies each week.  I will share the best recommendation that I have found in that category, and I invite you to share yours too.  This is a great way for us to learn from each other and share resources! 

The category this week is Children's Devotional.  I cannot stress the importance of a good kids' devotional enough.  It is something that can encourage your children, propel them to start thinking theologically, and serve as a springboard for family discussions.  Most importantly, it can allow them to know Christ better by enabling them to apply the bible to their everyday lives.  On that note, I like the devotional Grace for the Moment: 365 Devotions for Kids by Max Lucado.  Each one-page devotion includes scripture, an application, and prepared discussion questions.  And there's one for every day of the year, so it's not about us originating the material, but rather just engaging our kids.

My Mom read a devotion aloud every morning at breakfast before school growing up.  Those words of encouragement, coupled with a brief prayer, helped to set a positive tone for our day.  In a world where kids increasingly have varied after school commitments, family dinners can be spotty.  Breakfast time can offer meaningful connection and centering time with you.  It's a wonderful time to consider adding a devotion to the routine.  I look forward to trying this with my boys down the road once the food stops flying!

Do you have a kids' devotional that you enjoy?  Please let us know what it is and the age of your child or children.  Also, let us know when your favorite time to read it is!

Update:  I have recently learned of another devotional for kids that I plan to get.  It's Sarah Young's Jesus Calling: 365 Devotions for Kids.  I have Sarah Young's Jesus Calling for adults and love it!

Essential Supplies for Fall: Children's Bible

The kids are going back to school soon, which means school supplies!  With newly sharpened pencils, fresh notebooks, and big dreams, they prepare for a new year - perhaps with a butterfly or two in their stomachs.  Their preparation for school makes me think about our preparation for their Christian journeys, journeys that they will simultaneously be making too.  What supplies would be helpful for us to have on hand for a great year in faith? 

Enter the new series for August, Essential Supplies for Fall, where I will introduce a new category of Christian supplies each week.  I will share the best recommendation that I have found for that category, and I invite you to share yours too.  This is a great way for us to learn from each other and share resources!  So this month will be less formal without a weekly devotion, but I invite you to go back through the archives and reread some of your favorites.  And as I prepare for a great fall launch with new devotions, I hope to read comments from each of YOU!

This week, I wanted to talk about the category of Children's Bible.  My home church back in Indiana gave me our favorite one.  The church has a meaningful tradition of giving out kids' Bibles at each baptism as a gift from the congregation.  They gave us The Beginner's Bible: Timeless Children's Stories (Zonderkidz Publishing), which covers major Old and New Testament stories.  The stories are short and simple and filled with endearing pictures.  Both my preschooler and toddler love it, and we have already read it cover to cover at my preschooler's request! 

What about you?  Do your children have a favorite Bible?  If so, please share the one that you use and tell us your child or children's ages! 

Update:  You have overwhelmingly recommended Sally Lloyd-Jones' The Jesus Storybook Bible.  Add that one to your list for preschool-aged children on!