Bible Journaling as a Family

So what do you use for a Bible curriculum?

Well. We don’t. In fact, if a combined curriculum has a Bible segment, I usually leave it out completely.

But I love God’s word. And I want my kids to love God’s word too.

“Seek first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you …” Growing up, if you ever asked “what time it was” in our house – and it just happened to be close to 6:33 (either AM or PM), my dad would respond, “it’s Matthew 6:33”. In the beginning, we didn’t know what Dad was saying or referring to, but eventually, as he repeated this phrase over and over throughout our lives, I came to understand (even before being a Christian), that there was something right about putting God first. And my dad lived it out too. If you were an early riser and happened to tip-toe out to the living room at 5 or 6 in the morning, there was Dad, in his armchair, with a light shining over the Bible, and a handful of colored pencils, as he poured over the word of God. I didn’t discover the Lord personally until many years later, but those images of seeing my dad reading the word (and sitting on his lap as he read the word – because I was one of the early risers), impressed my heart with one fact: if you put him first, He will take care of everything else.

And so when I had my own children years later, this was one of the things most in my heart to pass down. We began when my oldest was just two. For several years, we poured over The Read Aloud Bible Stories by Ella Lindvall. The pictures were simple, and the words easy to read. But the messages often left me in tears as I was reading to the kids. This was our first introduction to “putting God first” as we snuggled up together in our cozy chair after breakfast. Eventually, new babies came. The oldest seemed like he needed something more.

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We looked through many Bible stories over the next year or two – something that would keep the attention of my now 4-year-old and his 2-year-old sister. Some we tried, and had to get rid of after a few stories. Others I just didn’t like. Sometimes the pictures looked too cheesy. I had picked up The Jesus Storybook Bible a few years earlier and set it down again. But this time, I picked it up again and we started reading. Again, my kids would snuggle up close. (I miss those days, they don’t really “snuggle” much anymore). I loved this book of Bible stories. The author does take a few liberties to insert words into people’s mouths, and some dislike this Bible because of that. But. I have read many children’s Bibles, and this one especially expresses the heart of God in a way that I haven’t touched in many (any?) others. We read a story a day until the book fell apart and we had to buy another one, then we started over again. When the oldest was 6, the middle one, 4, and a 2-year-old now in tow, I stumbled upon “The Complete Illustrated Children’s Bible“.

What’s amazing about this Bible, is that it covers stories like, Ezra and Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Revelation. What children’s Bible covers Ezra??  Truly, as an adult who has read through the whole Bible close to 20 times, I didn’t know what was happening in Jeremiah until I read this Bible.  In fact, if you are an adult and just want to get a quick overview of what is happening in the Bible, this Bible, with its beautiful illustrations and quick summaries – is wonderful for that. As my children were getting older, and needing something more, this was the perfect Bible for us. Again, we read through 1 or 2 stories a day. I’d stop to explain along the way. And we cozied up on the couch to read and fellowship together.  Again, we read through, until the binding fell off, and the first pages fell out. Then we ordered another and read it again. And then, we needed something more.

“Can my almost 8-year-old handle the Bible? And what about his 5-year-old sister? And the Baby, is he going to be lost?”

The Bible. What if we just read the Bible? What if we just gathered around the couch, and I read the word, straight from the Bible, to our kiddos? Would they understand? Would they sit still? What about the baby?

A year ago, we started reading through the Bible.

We started with Jonah. A story they were familiar with, but didn’t know all the details.

We went on to Ruth, then Daniel (though I think we left out the last few chapters).

Then Esther. Genesis. Exodus (the first 16 chapters).

When we started Matthew at the beginning of the year, we moved our morning devos to the kitchen table. I gave each of the kids a composition book. We gathered around the table, crayons, and markers stacked in the middle, and I asked them to draw what stood out to them or write a word or a sentence to remind them of what the chapter was about.

I lost the cozy snuggles on the couch but gained a beautiful keepsake of our times together in the word. We began to discuss what we were reading more.  “Mommy, you’re crying,” they say sometimes, as my voice cracks, reading certain passages. Somehow they know by now, that when Mommy’s voice cracks, something a little bit special happened in the Bible, and they pay attention just a little more closely.

“But that’s impossible” – my oldest exclaimed the other day. “Unless God did it”

“But how come…? And what does that mean….?”

Sometimes we save a question for Daddy, to send to him at work, or ask him when he comes home. Sometimes we pray when we’re done. Sometimes we go on our way, but in a quiet time at night, or when a moment of correction or encouragement is needed throughout the day, I’m able to reference something we read in the morning.

Oh, friends, I fail all the time. My kids will tell you that. I yell more than I’d like. I still explode sometimes. And then run back to apologize. I’m a broken Mommy, cast on the Lord to get us through these crazy days. But these times, with our kids, at the start of the day – they are so good. They give us a reference point. They give us a foundation. They give us a standard. They give us a place to have real discussions about hard things. They give Mommy the opportunity to say, “I may not always act like this, but this is God’s heart and his desire for all of us” – and then we can go to the Lord, and ask for help.

I often hear people say, “well, I don’t know the Bible well enough to do that.”

You know what? Revelation is probably the hardest book in the Bible to understand. There are so many confusing passages and even the best of the Bible experts have questions … but you know what the Lord says, right at the beginning of Revelation, “blessed is everyone who reads and who hears the words…”

God knows we’re not going to understand everything right away. But just in the reading, we are blessed. Just in opening his word – just in holding his word before our kids, as the source of life – we are blessed, and we give them a wonderful example.

And you know what? I can’t even tell you the number of times when I have been reading together with my children, sometimes having missed my own quiet time, sometimes beginning out of duty – but as I start to read the word, He comes, and washes me clean, refreshes my soul, and gives me strength – or even understanding on a passage I haven’t understood before. There is something precious about reading the word out loud, and reading it together with others.

So – why don’t we have a Bible curriculum?

Well – we have the Bible. We have the Holy Spirit.

“You search the scriptures, because you think in them, you have eternal life,” Jesus told the Pharisees in John 5:39 … “but it is these that testify about me“

And in the next verse, …”but you will not come to me…”

I’m not against Bible study. I think memorizing the Bible is wonderful and so, so useful. And in Acts, the Bereans were commended for their careful study of the word. **Actually, a brief update here: as I trod through the early days of motherhood, I came to so appreciate verses I’d memorized in years past that I actually created a systematic curriculum to help impress the word on my young children’s hearts. We do this alongside our Bible reading, and it has given me ways to reference the word often throughout the day. You can read more about this at my sister website, or view this 30-week curriculum on Amazon.

But as we come to the Lord, and as we point our children to the Lord, I don’t want them to see the Bible as an academic study. I don’t want them to categorize the learning of Jesus, as “school”, or something to check off their list. I want them to come to Him, the author of the Word, and to know that He is the source of all life. His word is life – if we read it with him, seeking him.

But if we read it like the Pharisees, seeking for the ‘right answer’ or the right ‘fill in the blank’, we miss the heart of God. We segment God into “this part of our life”, and miss his call for all of us. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem …, how I desire that they would come to me …”

If you’re thinking of beginning to read the word together with your children, can I just encourage you – go for it! Find a children’s Bible you love (all the ones I mentioned above, I recommend highly), and begin to read the stories. If your children are older, just get together and read the Bible. Maybe let them read a little. In the beginning, it may take time to build this habit. But as the days become weeks, and the habit of putting God first is established, you are sure to reap the rewards of these precious times.

“Blessed is everyone who reads and hears the words …”

with love in Christ,

Katherine

**Friends, this is a subject I’m passionate about. I shared more about it here and all over Instagram. If you’re curious to see more of how we read and memorize the word as a family, please come follow along.  If podcasts are more your thing, check out my page, Published Elsewhere, and scroll to the bottom where I list several places I’ve shared about how we’ve done this through various ages and stages.

P.S. And please, if you do have a children’s Bible you love, tell me! I’m always adding new ones to add to our collection.

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