This fall, our family decided to uproot and move across the pond for a few months. Since the kids are missing the first semester of school but we’re not here long enough to enroll them anywhere, we’re trying out homeschooling.
The flexibility of the schedule is both freeing and a little daunting. Every morning the kids ask two questions:
What is for breakfast and what are we doing today?
One particular morning, we decided to hit the local public wildlife expanse. It’s hundreds of acres where horses and cows are presumably allowed to graze right next to walking paths. The nature version of Disneyland if I ever heard of one.
We needed to cross the canal but the only access point we could find involved a lot of stairs, and with five kids and a hefty stroller in tow, that wasn’t going to happen.
Then a delightful woman directed us on how to take some side streets and we were off. Passing through some neighborhoods, we popped out on the main street and walked by a coffee shop.
That is when my girls spotted her.
A beloved movie star from some of their favorite movies, sitting outside, scribbling away in a notebook in the early morning sun. She graciously spent a few minutes chatting with my girls, gave them all hugs, and sent them off on Cloud 9 for the rest of the day.
Add to that horses willing to be petted and a nature walk meandering through woods along the River Thames and it was pretty much the perfect, unplanned morning.
Later, as we were walking back to our home, I reminded the girls of Proverbs 16:9…
“A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs His steps.”
Proverbs 16:9
How to make the Bible come alive
We had made a plan for the day. But a bridge of stairs and a friendly stranger sent our steps in a different direction. The direction the Lord knew would take us to a welcome wink from Him.
It’s moments like this that help bridge the gap between what is read during morning devotions and real life.
Most likely my children will not gain a love for God’s Word based off of one solitary sermon or weekend conference. It will come from repeatedly seeing over and over how Scripture has something to say about what they experience in school, with friends, on the field, or at home.
I want those words on the page to come alive for them, to weave the Word of God into their thoughts and connect the highs and lows with the Anchor of our Soul.
So whenever possible, I point out where our real life is mirroring scripture. When the fool meets his folly. When kindness or generosity is its own reward. Why the rejection they experience from classmates is a pain Christ understands and more. The rejection He endured paved the way for our salvation. In the Cross, suffering finds purpose.
Faith compartmentalized will not serve our children, especially not in this culture. They need to understand and connect with Yahweh, the God who is big, powerful, relevant, and yet intimate, tender, and personal.
They need to see a hundred times a week why the Word of God is truth and why the ways of the World are just lies made of smoke and mirrors.
Read the Word together as regularly as you can, whether it’s just a verse or a whole passage. Discuss it so they can understand what it’s saying to them.
And then weave the word into your day by pointing out where God is in the good moments, and particularly, in the hard ones.