Skip to main content

a kick

Last night I was reading the Bible to my children before they go to bed...

I would like to be able to say on this blog that this is a regular occurrence in this house, but it hasn't been. We, like so many families read the Bible in spurts. We will do it really regularly for awhile, but then it will taper off. I confessed to my sons the other day that this was my fault. As the dad, I view it as ultimately my responsibility whether or not this happens. My sons graciously volunteered to help me in this, which they have... hence the Bible reading last night. Back to the story...

So, I was reading the Bible to my children before they went to bed last night. I had taken a few days to read some proverbs to them and talk about what those things mean, but the last couple of days I shifted into the Old Testament to read some of the stories. Well, I got a little boost (or maybe a kick in the butt) to continue on in this daily endeavor when I stopped reading.

You see, I had just been reading a little bit at a time each night. So, when I came to a stopping place (or so I thought) and said, "We'll have to see what happens tomorrow..." I was met with a stereo "No!" Then a calmer, "Just a little bit more... Pleeeease."

What a motivation to keep reading! That freshness of perspective and experience renewed that sense of awe within me. "What a great story this is!"

[In fact, while I was typing this, my youngest came up and asked what I thought was going to happen next.]

Comments

  1. Hi Matt,

    That is so cool. I feel pangs of guilt when reading this because it so long since we've had our family devotions, and that squarely lies in my camp (as family spiritual head).

    My curiosity is peaked--what story was so captivating, and what Bible version were you reading?

    (The bible version question is purely out of curiosity, not because I have a theological issue with any bible version, other than personal preference.)

    Thanks, Craig

    ReplyDelete
  2. The story was the story of Moses. I was right in the middle of the plagues. I think that my kids have heard the Sunday School version, but maybe because they were hearing the whole thing being read?

    We were reading out of the NIV. But I have to say, I was reading it the way I would read The Hobbit or one of the Chronicles of Narnia. I was doing voices and pausing for dramatic affect, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I totally relate to your post. I have recently experienced the same thing when reading to my kids. We have been reading through the One Year Bible. It's the Living Translation I believe. Not my first choice for serious Bible study or memorization, but in reading to the family it has been fantastic! I really have been enjoying it in a whole new way. I too tend to use the voices and dramatic pauses which is what I do even when reading to myself, (and why I'm such a slow reader). We are just finishing up Esther and this One Year Bible takes your through a section of the OT, a passage in Psalms, a passage in the NT, and one or two versus in Proverbs–every day. And it surprisingly doesn't take that long at all to read. We have really been enjoying it! Thanks for your post!

    Matt Smith

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Leave a thought of your own.

Popular posts from this blog

The Seed and The Soil of Education (New Learning Project Part 1)

(This is my entry for the first part of my project for my New Learning course that I am taking.) Introduction Corn Fields in Illinois I have lived the majority of my life in the Midwest: mid-state Illinois to be specific. Where I live, farming is everywhere. My grandparents and great-grandparents on both sides of my family were farmers. My dad grew up on a farm and owned farmland, well into my own adulthood. But, even if it wasn’t in the family, I still would have been surrounded by farming. You can’t go more than a mile outside of my city’s limits without encountering miles and miles of fields. Most of our highways, and even interstates, are located between acres of farmland.

This too shall pass...

Gam zeh ya'avor (Hebrew) "This Too Shall Pass" Welcome!  According to Google Analytics, this is by far the most visited post that I have ever written.  If someone comes here from a search engine, most of the time they are looking for " this too shall pass quote " or simply " this too shall pass " on Google or one of the other search engines. I am sure that most of the time visitors are looking for the originations of this quote, but I have to wonder, why is this quote on people's minds? Why are they pondering the passing of events?   Here is my thought: It is probably because most of us have realized that the adult life is much harder than we ever imagined it to be. There is more pain and more sorrow than we had ever imagined as children, but we have learned that time keeps ticking. And as time continues to flow things pass. In fact, even the really big things and the really hard things will still pass. If you are here because you are thinking ...

The Minnesota Crime Commission wrote:

Every baby starts life as a little savage. He is completely selfish and self-centered. He wants what he wants when he wants it: his bottle, his mother's attention, his playmate's toys, his uncle's watch, or whatever. Deny him these and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness which would be murderous were he not so helpless. He's dirty, he has no morals, no knowledge, no developed skills. This means that all children, not just certain children but all children, are born delinquent. If permitted to continue in their self-centered world of infancy, given free reign to their impulsive actions to satisfy each want, every child would grow up a criminal, a thief, a killer, a rapist.