Heart Reflections Live
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Christian Products For Children- What's worked for us!!!
As a Christian mother, one of my greatest desires is that our children grow up with a passion for God, and a deep, ever growing knowledge of His Word.
There is a saying that faith is caught and not taught, and while there is an element of truth in this- AND WE MUST LEAD BY EXAMPLE- it won't happen by accident either, and you can't rely on your church's Sunday School, or even on a Christian school to do the groundwork for you.Training in Godliness and learning the Bible must be done by the parents in the home, whether they choose to Christian School, Homeschool or Public School their children.
That said, only God the Father can draw a sinner through His Love to the foot of the cross, by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, still God's Word commands us to train our children in the way that they should go.
Here are some of the Christian products we have used and loved so far:
- Our absolute favourites have been "The Bible Story" series by Arthur Maxwell, "Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories" (We have 8 volumes from the 1964 edition) and "My Bible Friends"set by Etta Degering for toddlers. I think we also have an old copy of Bible ABCs from the same publishers.
These books are all printed by The 7th Day Adventists- We are NOT SDA, but I can tell you they have little to no SDA doctrine in their children's material, and what little there may be can be easily tweaked.
I am a stickler for reverent, realistic artwork in children's Biblestory books and these books have some of the best Bible art I've ever seen- our children love them, and we've incorparated some into our homeschool. Arthur Maxwell has a wonderful devotional style aimed at children.
2. King James Bible. Our children like The Seaside Edition for Children.
3.Because I Love You- by Max Lucado. Is one of my personal favourites, but he has written other good books for children as well as creating the Hermie the caterpillar DVD series for little ones.
4. Little Jewel Books from Rod and Staff
5. The Princess and the Kiss- A Story of God's Gift of Purity- by Jennie Bishop
6.What Happens When Children Pray by Evelyn Christenson
7.The Candle in the Window- A Christmas Legend by Grace Johnson- a powerful message about seeing Christ in others.
8. Just Like Mama by Beverly Lewis- An Amish story- Great for girls.
9. The Donut Man DVD
10. DVD The Story of Jesus for Children- personally recommended by Zara!
11. DVD The Torchlighters Series- half hour animations on reknowned Christians for children with a free documentary for grownups plus software- BONUS- personally recommended by Talitha
12. Ben HUR- Children's Animation with Charlton Heston
13. Hymns for a Kid's Heart books and CD's
14. We have just discovered the original Elsie Dinsmore series- The girls and I are eagerly devouring the first book of the series: a wonderful taste of Southern Life. Many scriptures are not only quoted, but lived out by the characters. I'll have to post more on this series another time!!
Do you have any children's Christian products to recommend?
Friday, July 02, 2010
Living In The Moment
Do you Ever feel DRIVEN.. Pushed to hurry... I do a lot, I admit. It's a besetting sin of mine. Pushing mindlessly through the current task, even those involving my loved ones, just to get to the next item on my mental to -do list. I catch myself doing this all to often lately, and I've realised what an idol my mental clutter and to-do lists can be. I'm challenged- In these moments, whose agenda am I following? God's and His richness, or miine and its shallowness?Now don't get me wrong, I'm more often than not the type to stop and smell the roses, to let the sunsets seep into my soul- my thoughts are at once lifted to behold the Majesty of our Creator, when my eyes meet His wonders. When I'm working alone, I meditate on His precepts, I'm abiding in Him... but once everyone is up, I seem to switch gears, and obsess on my to-do list. How many precious moments must I miss as I get caught in a flurry and try to HURRY???
Every so often I visit Ann Voskamp's beautiful and inspiring blog, Holy Experience. It's like streams of water flowing over one's soul. A place of beauty, inspiration, humility and conviction.Something usually connects and ministers to my spirit.Especially this recent post:"3 Ways To Rest Today (and Stop the Push) The Practice of Rest Pt 1"
LINK http://www.aholyexperience.com/2010/06/why-your-daily-push-practice-of-rest-pt.-html
This has deeply challenged my tendency to "be in a hurry". Slow my thoughts down, Lord, and when our household is at its noisiest, help me not to miss YOUR still small voice saying "This is the Way- walk ye in it" Amen.
PS There is a minor problem with the link. Just click on Holy Experience, and it is currently the second article in.
Labels: everyday life lessons, recommended sites
