Hide it in Their Hearts

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Random.org selected #4 - Jennifer Evans - as the winner! Congrats, Jennifer! =) And thanks to everyone who entered!
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A friend introduced me to Susan Hunt's books for children. Hunt has written a two-part series entitled Discovering Jesus in Genesis and then Discovering Jesus in Exodus (Covenant Promises for Covenant Kids). The books are written and designed for children to "treasure hunt" in scripture. The key verse on the back of the Genesis book is as follows, and sums up her desire for these resources very well:

. . .that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:2-3

Hunt wrote a series of modern day stories which are supposed to help children apply the Bible to every day life - beginning at the beginning. Her express intent is to show how God has adopted us and made us His own and how He ordered this to be from the very start. She is setting children up to find application of scripture to their lives from Genesis all the way to Revelation. Although each separate book follows specific characters and flow together, they are broken into devotional bite-sized pieces for easy comprehension, not to mention short attention spans. Following each story is a set of questions to prompt further discussion and she also includes encouragement to pray over and solidify the stories in the family's heart and mind.

These devotionals are very unique and I'm glad they were pointed out to me so that I could know more about them!

Last in the line of books (for now) is My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God's Word in Little Hearts. I've seen this book highlighted on various people's blogs and now I can tell you that it is for a very good reason. Plain and simple: this book is goooood. This book is perfect for toddlers who are in the process of learning their alphabet and can learn scripture alongside the letters. This book is good for children (and adults!) who do know the alphabet but can learn verses in an order and in a manner that makes sense. This book is actually what prompted me to decided that my two and a half year old was ready to start learning some scripture and so we made an attempt with some success! He does like to memorize things and so I'm finding this book useful in that it gives me simple verses for him to learn.

Each scripture is also accompanied by a short devotional for you to do with your child, much like the Discovering books. Filled with colored illustrations, my two year old grabbed this book on his own the other day just to point out the letters he was looking at. It was a good opportunity for us to peruse this book and become familiar with it.

I think it's important to hide God's word in our hearts. Unfortunately I'm not very good about doing that for myself. In some ways, I suppose, I'm learning along just like a child myself. Little verses lead to passages, passages lead to a fuller understanding and comprehension. Baby steps. It's all about baby steps. It's about learning to do as much as you can with what you have and then expanded on it later when the opportunity offers itself. Right now my son can handle short scriptures - just a verse or two. But it's a beginning that will take us someplace. In the meantime, I'm baby stepping my way to more. Sure, I might be ahead of him in the game a bit, mentally and spiritually, but it does me good to hide the word in my own heart so that I can correctly live it out for him, in fellowship and in love. I'm excited for this opportunity.

Now, here's a way for you to be excited about it. I'd like to give away one copy of both the Discovering Jesus in Genesis and Discovering Jesus in Exodus books to one of you. If you think that these devotional books will prompt you to interact with your child about scriptures, then climb on board!

Leave a comment between now and Saturday, February 21st and I will select a winner via random.org. Contest open to U.S. Residents only, please.

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Also, be sure to check out the giveaway at 5 Minutes for Books for a set of The World's Greatest Stories by George Sarris. (This is an audio CD set of a dramatized reading of scripture specifically for children. It's a fantastic series.)