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Resources for Family Bible Reading

Posted on January 14, 20194 Comments

It is January, the beginning of a new year, and a typical time for consideration of good intentions. For many, January is also a time to begin new devotional or Bible reading plans.

Although there are many wonderful plans available for reading through the Bible in a year, or even just a portion of it, I would like to challenge parents to resolve to read the Bible together as a family for one year. This is a habit easily implemented, and one that parents and children can grow together in through the years.

As beneficial as it is for a mom or dad to individually, or as a couple, develop a daily or weekly Bible reading habit, many overlook the importance of purposefully setting aside time to read through the Bible together as a family.

Reading scripture together in the evenings has been part of our children’s daily bedtime ritual since our oldest son (now 22) was an infant. Even when traveling or driving home late from an event, we still get in a Bible reading by listening to a passage through an app.

In an effort to encourage your family to consider and implement what our family has enjoyed and benefited from for most of our children’s lives, here are a few resources for your consideration. Click on the title to link for purchase or further information. These titles are also available on Amazon, or at your favorite Christian retail book seller.

For families with very young children (under age 5):

The Beginners Bible by Karyn Henley. This storybook Bible has engaging illustrations and simplistic language to effectively tell the stories of who God is and the things he has done. Reading through this book from beginning to end will take your family through the majority of the stories from Genesis to Revelation, giving you and your children a basic overview of the real-life characters and events in scripture. I highly recommend this resource to be read over and over again, and it is a book that young children greatly enjoy.

For families with elementary age children:

The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd Jones. This Bible does an excellent job of bringing out the one overarching story that threads through each individual story in scripture, the one that every other story points toward; the story of Jesus. The first time that I read these stories aloud to my boys, it was not uncommon for me to become choked up. The writing is poignant and this author has done an excellent job in each story of pointing forward to God’s ultimate goal, to save mankind. This is another storybook which covers events from Genesis to Revelation and is another highly recommended resource to be read multiple times.

For families with independent readers:

The Picture Bible by Iva Hoth. My parents first gifted this Bible to my brother and me when I was still in elementary school. It was a hardback version that we wore the cover off by reading it so frequently. The thoroughness of the text is such that our Sunday school class teachers were often amazed at how much detail we knew about the stories in scripture. Although this is an excellent book to hand a student to read on her own, it can still be used during family read aloud time as long as everyone gets a turn to look at the pictures.

Day By Day Kids Bible by Karyn Henley. These chronological daily Bible readings are geared toward younger readers (ages 6-10). The readings are dated to be read in one calendar year. This is a good transition book to use after Bible storybooks.

For families with children of all ages:

The One Year Bible for Kids. This one-year Bible has readings divided into 365 passages which are dated to correspond with the calendar. There is an application note as well as a question listed after each reading which can be used to spark discussion. Although a good choice for independent reading, this is also a great way to read aloud while following a Bible reading plan as a family. (The Challenge edition is what is currently available; I have a 1997 edition which does not include the challenges. The older version may still be available used.)

These resources have all been used and loved by my husband, me, and our four sons over the last 20+ years. If you have other recommendations to share, please comment with your favorite family Bible reading resources in the comments!

Living Water

Posted on December 31, 20184 Comments

Have you ever been through a traumatic experience? Trauma arrives as unexpectedly as a violent storm. It can wreak havoc on your life, creating disorientation, uncertainty, and doubt. Appearing without warning, and consequently, without preparation for how to navigate, it is not uncommon to overlook or ignore basic, even obvious, needs.

Several years ago, I experienced such an event. The subsequent effects were such that I sought counseling to help me process through the ordeal. After several sessions, the therapist told me that I was suffering from spiritual abuse. I had been betrayed by trusted partners in ministry. Although geographically removed from the situation today, I continue to work to heal from the after effects of that experience.

In my continual effort toward recovering full health, both physical and spiritual, I recently chose to attend a six week grief recovery class. I was astounded to learn in one session that it is not uncommon for the mechanism in our bodies that signals an urge to drink to become “broken” during periods of profound grief. Suddenly, a light bulb went off in my head! Over the past few years I have been periodically affected for brief periods of time with physical ailments tracing back to mild dehydration.

For those who know me intimately, dehydration is not something which I should be susceptible to. Water has always been my beverage of choice. I drink it will all meals and order it at restaurants. Proselytizing the merits of this clear elixir to others successfully converted my Dr. Pepper drinking husband. (Until his return to the Lone Star state where he now imbibes the occasional DP on celebratory occasions, etc.).

However, in the past few years, I have allowed myself, more than once, to ignore specific demands and clues from my body to care for myself in a simple habit that I have practiced for a lifetime.

Even just mild dehydration can create pain and discomfort, placing a sudden brake on the forward momentum of life. Experiencing an inadequate supply of life-sustaining water, the body begins signaling the need for hydration, crying out in desperation for attention. If left untreated for long enough, this deprivation can lead to devastating consequences.

Since grief can mask, or numb, our natural inclination to provide a necessary resource for maintenance, purposeful intention becomes necessary. In this state, we must supply consistent doses of water to bypass the inevitable warning light. Deliberate steps must be taken to avoid a deficit, running dry, and creating additional health issues.

Just as we can overlook and fall out of a personal habit (even one we have practiced for a lifetime), it is possible to fall out of spiritual habits as well. And, much like physical dehydration can become hazardous to our physical health, spiritual dehydration can be detrimental to our spiritual health. If left untended, it may lead to further spiritual malaise.

The remedy for physical dehydration is a simple one: drink more water! In much the same way, there is a simple remedy to avoiding or combatting spiritual dehydration as well: drink more water…the living water!

John 4 introduces us to the phrase, “living water”. In this passage, Jesus is speaking with a woman at a well. Jesus, a Jew, asks the woman, a Samaritan, for a drink of water, surprising her because of a well known aversion that Jews had for Samaritans. Jesus informs this woman that he is capable of giving her living water that, once received, would eliminate her thirst for all time. He states in verses 13-14:

…Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.

I am learning through life’s hardships how essential the living water is to thrive. During periods of hardship, it is necessary to hydrate ourselves. Especially against our inclination to overlook or ignore the need to do so. Consistent exposure to and interaction with that life-giving spring will help to ease us through the storms.

In the coming year, I pray that you and I both will continually tap into that eternal spring. Sip from the scriptures. Moisten your lips in prayer. The water supplied will quench your spiritual thirst and support your spiritual health even during the traumas of life.

Everything is Hard Until it’s Easy

Posted on December 14, 20162 Comments

Each of our four sons played soccer their kindergarten year, and my husband was purposefully their first coach. He always taught them one important lesson in that first season: everything is hard until it’s easy. In other words, practice, practice, practice. This admonition to work at what does not necessarily come naturally (until it is no longer work) extends beyond the realm of sports, however.

When first married, it did not take long for us to realize that there were certain skills that my new husband was better at than me, and vice-versa. In the matter of spiritual practices it became quickly apparent that I was stronger in the area of prayer while he was more disciplined in his Bible reading.

Fast forward 26 years and I have to say that while he has grown in prayer, it has been a constant start and stop struggle for me to become a more consistent Bible reader. I finally realize that it is because I have not practiced the above mantra of keeping at it during the hard times. My problem is that I continually give up too quickly. But, I am learning something from one of our boys.

Our third son is an avid soccer player. One summer he spent an afternoon in the back yard practicing juggling a soccer ball in the air with his foot. When he started, he could only juggle the ball one or two times before it would hit the ground. Several minutes of effort later, he had increased his juggling to 3, 4, and then 6 times without it falling. But, as several more moments of effort went by, frustration began to set in. He was no longer seeing progress, and often fell back to only 2 or 3 juggles before losing control.

Here came the gentle reminder: “Everything is hard before it’s easy.” Over and over again, the ball was picked up, and the count would begin anew. Tears were shed. Tears of disappointment at his slow progress. Tears of anger as the ball was kicked savagely against the fence in frustration. All day long, and into the days and weeks ahead, he labored to improve his score; bouncing, and bouncing that ball on that foot, over and over and over again, ad naseum.

Gradually, his efforts were rewarded with incremental progress. Currently, his foot juggling record is at the impressive number of 20. The amount of effort required today to achieve this feat is minimal. The tears and sweat and agonizing periods of practice are but a faint memory. What once was hard, has now become easy.

So it is with spiritual disciplines as well. I realize now that in order to become more practiced in being a consistent Bible reader, I must have the same tenacity about it that my son did with his soccer juggling. When a habit becomes hard to maintain, rather than giving up, I must push through and do it with vigor and determination to stick with it rather than surrendering to complacency.

I encourage you to join me by choosing a spiritual discipline that you want to get better at (such as daily bible reading, or prayer) and begin to practice it today. But, don’t give up when it is hard to continue. Pick it up, and begin again. Remember, everything is hard until it’s easy.