3 little Miracles

3 little Miracles

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

ONE of my favorite moments in the day

One of my favorite moments of the day is the end, HA.  I will have to admit it is partially due to the fact that soon my little noise makers will be tucked into bed and quiet will fall upon our home, but it mostly has to do with the last thirty minutes before they are tucked away.  Each evening around 7:30 my husband and I curl up on the sofa with the boys (and soon with little Rachel when she is ready for story time) and we read a book of their choice, sometimes two, followed by a devotional designed for young kids.  Now I will be honest and tell you that these moments are not always perfect, often these moments are filled with J bouncing off the sofa and us hollering for him to sit still, get back on the sofa, or stop talking and listen to the story.  D isn't always quiet through our book time, but for the most part he sits quietly and listens and answers questions related to the story.  But, we know that in spite of the frustrating moments of trying to keep a three year old still, that God is using those moments to bless our family and hopefully begin to plant the seed in the hearts of 3 little Miracles. 

So with that in mind, I just had to share with you our current devotional book because I love it. 
Five-Minute Devotions for Children, is designed to give factual information about God's beautiful creatures, and through this information we learn about the character traits that God would like for us to have (this ties in nicely with a devotional my husband and I are doing).  Each story about an animal is followed by some simple questions about the images on the page and the character trait that God would have us to learn from that animals behavior.  For instance, last night's animal was the Wild Cat, and from the wild cat we are supposed to learn how to manage our anger (this will be a great devotional for us to recover with J because he really has some anger management issues right now).  "Some people are like wildcats.  They seem to be friendly; but when they become angry, they say and do things that are hurtful.  God wants his children to be kind to one another and to control their anger.  When we are angry we need to talk about how we feel instead of punching or hitting other people or calling them names.  We can even tell God about being angry and ask him to help us control ourselves." 

During the question portion of the devotional our little ones were given the chance to tell us what makes them angry.  For D, he said he gets angry when we tell him time is up on the Wii game (this is current on his mind because it was a Christmas present) and for J it was us telling him what to do (HA, he has a life time of that ahead).  Other questions were; "Why are wildcats dangerous? and Why do you think God wants us to control ourselves when we are angry?"  Each devotional is ended with What does God say?  The answers you will get from your children will sometimes surprise you, delight you, make you want to run to your mom journal and jot them down, and sometimes you wish you knew what really made them say that, but at least you will know they are thinking.  Last night God's words at the end of our devotional were from Ephesians 4:26-27  "And don't sin by letting anger gain control over you.  Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a mighty foothold to the Devil."  I love this time with our kids, and I will cherish it always and often it speaks to me as a parent on how I handled something with the kids that day, so it isn't just for your child its for you to.

Another devotional my husband and I are doing together is While They Were Sleeping:  12 Character Traits for Moms to Pray
I know it says for "moms" but I really wanted something to share with my husband, to strengthen us as parents and to be focused toward our children.  This sweet little devotional books goes through 12 Character traits, such as Kindness, Humility, Obedience, Purity, etc.  My husband and I make time just before we literally turn off the lights to read this devotional together and pray for our children.  Each character trait is covered in 5 days, so you can either do it in  60 days OR spread it out over 12 weeks (which is the way we are doing it Monday-Friday). 

The concept of this devotional is to literally claim God's promises in His word and apply them in prayer for your child by name.  For instance on Day 2 of Kindness the scripture given is "...remembering the words of the Lord Jesus himself said: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35b (NIV).  The Prayer Focus that follows says: "Lord Jesus, may (David, Jonathan, and Rachel) recognize the value of being kind.  I pray that (David , Jonathan, and Rachel) will experience the blessing that comes with giving".  Each day has 2-3 scriptures and prayer focus for you to plug in your child's name.  This really is a great devotional for mom alone, or together as a couple, to claim God's words and truth and pray for your children.

I am truly enjoying our time as a family and as a couple in God's word, I pray that it has a lasting impact on my children and on us as parents.  I am continually looking for ways to improve how I handle directing my children's behavior in a positive way, I know I do not always do that.  By claiming God's word for my children and myself, I am placing God's word in my heart to flash as a reminder each day.  Sometimes in the middle of a moment that I would typically flash out in anger, the character traits we studied the night before will come to mind, and in that moment I will remember to slow down and handle with love, care, and tender words of re-direction.  It doesn't always happen that way, and I fully believe that there are moments that call for a spanking, but I am trying to not correct in anger. 

I don't really want to get off on a tangent of how I correct my children, because I know that can be a can of worms topic with many people.  I did this post simple to say, that we find value in spending time with our children at the end of each day, talking, reading books they like, reading God's word, and praying together. I hope one day these moments will turn into honest moments with our children, talking about their school day or feelings about something happening in their lives.  We try not to let this time be inerupted by anything, we don't answer the phone, we ask my parents and niece to not come down during this time, and we try not to let TV programs keep us from this set apart time.  These two books have been great for starting our 2011 year and I pray they will bless your family as well. 

3 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for sharing! This post really encourages me and I appreciate the devotional recommendations. I love that you have set aside time each evening to have a family devotion.

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  2. I just wanted to
    1. say hi! I have been reading blog for several months now and want to thank you for being the Godly women you are.
    2. Let you know the 5 minute devotionals for children is a favorite of ours too. We picked it up from Target several years ago and started out reading it to our little man while still in the womb.
    God Bless.

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  3. Dear Laura Ann,

    I'm quite new to blogging and I just stumbled on your blog by accident. I like how you write. It exudes sincerity.

    I would like to share with you one of my blog posts. Hope you like it.
    http://isainspired.blogspot.com/2010/12/to-world-you-might-just-be-one-person.html

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