Yesterday we added a new piece to our Armor of God. Shoes!
I told you Lydia has been asking me about our next armor activity. So, they were uber excited to do this one. We sat down, read the whole passage from Ephesians 6 (with them quoting that first verse) and then I made their armor as we went through the pieces one by one.
Honestly, if you’ve never tried your hand at these kind of balloons. You should. My kids think I’m a magician or something! And I swear, all I’m doing is twisting and tying them around them with absolutely zero plan in my head.
They loved wearing their “good news shoes” yesterday and as they jumped around we shouted, “I’m ready to tell the good news! I’m ready to tell the good news!”
We talked about how we don’t consider ourselves ready to go outside until we have our shoes on our feet. We need to be ready to tell everyone the good news of Jesus every day, too. We’ll keep talking about these good news shoes this week and do a little Scripture memory, too.
Some of you are probably thinking, “Amanda. This is kind of lame. I mean, you’re just dressing up and reading the verse.” You’re right. It is kinda lame. There is nothing super creative about this. There’s no big take-it-home-come-to-Jesus point to this. But guess what? It doesn’t matter. This is a purposeful, talk-along-the-road moment with my kids. We cleaned the house yesterday, ate lunch together, read books and did this activity. It’s just a spot in our day to focus on God and His Word.
You don’t have to be crazy creative and super spiritual to teach your kids about God. Just be purposeful. Just make it a part of your daily life and activity. You can be lame and it still makes a lasting and profound impact on your kids’ hearts. Guess what? It’s really not you making the difference–it’s God Word. It never returns void. I just read a novel by Jerry B. Jenkins’ and one of the characters said something that I so believe, “You need to be in the Word. Just like exercise, where anything is better than nothing, the same is true with the Bible… the Scripture will not return void.”
Get your kids in the Word however and whenever you can. Don’t worry about it being perfect or creative or even super meaningful. Just get it in your house, your words and your everyday life!
How do you keep God’s Word a focus in your house?
Too cute! My kids, who have done balloon twisting themselves, were very impressed with your work. They said, “Wow! She’s good.” It’s great to see how intentional you are about teaching God’s Word to your children. And you’re right, it will not return void.
You are dead on right! Being intentional and purposeful doesn’t have to be fancy or extravagant. It is simply getting our kids into the Word. Adding any kind of activity – no matter how simple, just amplifies the walking and talking even more.
“amplifies the walking and talking even more”. YES. I love the word “amplifies”. That’s all I wanna do.
a
I get so inspired when I ready your posts!!! What a Godly mother you are!
I love this post and the foundation you lay here to let the word be heard in our homes. It helps me (who’s not naturally crafty) see that being creative can be simple sometimes. Kids really learn and understand things when they have a visual – this encourages me to think of more ways that Bible stories, ideas or actual lessons can be explained with a hands on activity.
I love the simple creativity! It’s so true that it doesn’t have to be a fancy shmancy lesson or activity for the kids to remember a biblical truth, but it’s really fun to do various activities to “enhance” God’s Word. One way I try to help my children (ages 3 and 4) remember Scripture verses is by doing motions. I like to make up motions to go with the main words of the verses, and it really helps them stick! Music is another powerful way….putting Scripture to music does wonders. We also role play situations where the verses can be understood better. Yet I think one of the biggest ways where I notice God’s Word moving from my kids’ heads to their hearts is by taking advantage of teachable moments. There’s nothing like real-life scenarios to put Scripture into practice.
Yes, Amy! Real life is the best teacher, right? And it’s exactly what Deuteronomy says–to put Scripture into every day life. Thanks!
a