Much of my childhood was spent lost in a book. I read the library of my elementary school, worked in my high school library, and participated in summer reading programs after Mrs. Thompson opened the library world to me. As I grew older visits to the Birmingham Public Library were a treat. The architecture was beautiful and the books excited me!
I learned a lot in college but it did nothing for my love of reading. After I married and had my first child, Micah. I realized how much I missed reading. Winford Claiborne came to West Virginia to do a marriage workshop. He ignited my love for reading one again. Having a new born I knew finding reading time would be hard, I decided I could read one book a month.
This week I came across some reading lists of mine. I am sure I did not include all of the books I read. Still this was fun to find. My plan is to keep a list of the books I read and listen to this year. I have started the year off with a biography of George MacDonald my favorite author.
Here are some lists from years past.
2020
Ina May Gaskin’s book on Childbirth
The Doula Book
Captive in Iran
Kisses from Katie
The Historian
Glass Castle
Educated
Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World
2021
A Long Way Gone
The Fountainhead
A Moveable Feast
A Hero of France
Fascism: A Warning
12 Rules for Life
A Woman Makes a Plan
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Beyond Order
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Younger Next Year
Fish Out of Water
Permanent Record
Alexander Campbell children’s book – The Disciple from Bethany
I got up early this morning and Wanangwa was heating water outside in the cooking room over wood. Are we using too much propane? I’m not sure. I wash the dishes and then get my bath.
Donuts for Sunday Breakfast
Today is Sunday! For breakfast, every Sunday Rapha makes donuts for us. We enjoy the donuts with our tea with milk.
I clean my room and organize some of my stuff. It’s always a mess. Today is the school supply giveaway after church. I have all of the bags ready to go to the car.
We arrive at church early to sing as usual. They really like for Lawrence to lead singing before class. As we sing everyone arrives for class. This morning Lawrence is teaching the class and doing the Lord’s Supper message. The sermon is in Tumbuka and I am able to follow along with at least the Bible passages.
After the communion and contribution are over it is customary to write the contributed amount on the board. 24,850 K. This morning I notice that the board also has a count. I must have missed this before. M – 35, F-52, C- 60. (Male, Female, Children).
Sunday Board
School Supply Give-Away
After church one of the men comes forward with a list and they have me and Esther give out the school supply bags as they call the kids to the front. The kids are very excited and a bit shy about receiving their bags. It is customary for them to hold out two cupped hands to receive a gift. The children and parents are very appreciative. The school will resume this week after a break because of Covid.
School SuppliesGroup Picture at School Supply Give-AwayEsther giving school suppliesStudents receiving suppliesHappy StudentGroup picture
Esther Teaches Class
Esther usually has a class in the afternoon with the youth. While she does that we go to comfort another family who has lost a loved one. As a church, everyone goes together and has a devotional which lasts about an hour. Sometimes they pass a bowl for a collection for the family. Other times individuals just give the family some money. This is my second time visiting this family and it is heartwrenching.
Esther teaching about being salt and light
We go home for lunch and over lunch discuss the possibility of helping the task force get the jerseys for the soccer team. We eat kidneys, rice, and greens for dinner.
Today is my mother-in-law’s birthday. She is a wonderful Christian lady. She got us involved in this work about four years ago. One of the family members had organized a zoom Happy Birthday Song. It actually worked and we were able to see a lot of our big, crazy, happy family. Although it was almost bedtime here and a bit dark we were thankful for the internet tonight.
Being responsible and making decisions is hard work! Sometimes it is just easier to let someone else tell you what to do. Sometimes we ignore the fact that we at some point must make our own decisions.
It’s also easier to place blame on others when we make bad choices. This can apply to many areas of your life. When you make a decision and it doesn’t go well own up to the consequences of your choice. What good will it do to blame someone else for the troubles in your life anyway? At some point, you have to accept responsibility for your life. Make the next right choice. It’s on you!
High School
When I was 14 or 15 years old our guidance counselor talked with our class about making decisions about what we wanted to study. We had to choose whether we were going to do college prep or general studies. She probably didn’t hold out much hope for me as a future college student. I was a troubled teen, I was just an ok student, and no one in my family had ever graduated from college.
But a decision had to be made. I evaluated a few things and calculated the schedules and figured out that I could get out of high school one year early! I decided to do the college prep in 3 years and I did it! This was not because I was a great student or loved school but because I wanted out! This single decision gave me my path for the next three years.
College
Do I go to college or not? You have probably heard that story before! I explored the options. I wasn’t a great student so there were some limitations. In a strange twist of events and mail delays, my acceptance to my top choice school arrived the day after I chose another school. My choice proved perfect!
Work
Maybe you are one of those people who always knew what you wanted to do. My ideas changed a lot throughout my childhood years. I wanted to be the President of the United States, a mom, a teacher, a writer, etc. According to Career Statistics, you will likely change jobs 5-7 times during your working years. So you have the opportunity to explore any number of jobs.
Make a Pros and Cons list
Marriage
To marry or not? Who to marry? Now that is a big decision to make. Only you can truly decide. Do you have a list of qualities this “perfect man” would possess? How about evaluating what kind of person you should be to be compatible with this “perfect soul” you are going to marry? Hard life decisions are best made with your eyes open and the facts on the table.
Children
Will you have children? Childbirth or adoption? Is it easy to make decisions? No! What kind of birth? Will your baby be born at home, birth center, or the hospital?
Stay at home mom or working mom?
As a mom, one of the hardest choices you will have to make is whether to be a stay at home mom or a working mom. My husband and I discussed this before we got married and by doing so we avoided a lot of stress.
You will always have to make choices.
There are so many choices and decisions you have to make every day. This will not stop until the day you die. I’ve made some good decisions and some bad decisions in my life and do NOT consider myself an expert! However, I would like to share some suggestions that have helped me.
Suggestions
Having a guide has made all the difference in my life. I strive to build my life on Christian principles, on the Bible. So I already know that I am not going to steal, cheat, kill, etc. This keeps things simple.
Read more books! They give you so many perspectives on life! Study the pros and cons of different choices.
Study people, especially yourself. Be emotionally wise.
Spend time with people who have unique qualities that you would like to have or you would like for your children to emulate. Pay attention to character. Surround yourself with good people.
Find a mentor.
There are so many other things to be said about being responsible and making decisions, but that’s it for today! Thank you for making the choice to read my blog today! I appreciate that!
Learning new skills or perfecting old ones? Either is rewarding. I have shared I have been learning some new skills during the pandemic. Pickled eggs, a sourdough starter from scratch, homemade yogurt, and now I have been working on my sewing skills.
My mom did her best to teach me and my sister how to sew.
My mom was a good seamstress and made most of my clothes. She taught me so many things. She did her best to teach me and my sister how to sew. We joined 4-H and entered our sewing projects each year after much toiling and seam ripping and maybe a few tears. Our dresses usually won an award of some kind. I am a bit stubborn and I am sure I was not a great pupil. Sometimes I didn’t have a lot of interest and my mom would ask who was going to make my clothes when I grew up. I would reply she was. I sure wish I had learned more during those lessons!
Anyway, as you may have guessed by now I am not a great seamstress. I can sew a little. I like to sew but I do end up in frustration at times lacking the necessary skills to make something look really nice.
Small bags African Print
My friend Ida Mae is a creative genius! She makes the most amazing creations. Anyway, I have been wanting to make little bags to share with supporters of the Malawi mission work. Ida Mae gave me a quick lesson one afternoon and I have been making some cute bags. Thank you, Ida Mae!
Sewing
Ten years ago I bought an adorable pattern online from Samantha Caffee, The Handmade Dress. It was a peasant dress for sizes 5-10. You guessed it, I never used it until now! How sad! I love this cute little dress and my little girl grew up!
I wanted to make it for my granddaughter but it is too big for one and too small for the other. I’m sure I will find someone to give it to or take it as a gift to Malawi. Now I know how to do the sizes so I learned something else through this experience.
Learning new skills or perfecting old ones. Either way, you will feel a great sense of accomplishment.
Finding my way through grief. People may define the different stages of grief in a variety of ways but most of them go something like the following list.
Stages of Grief
Shock
Denial
Pain/Guilt
Depression
Acceptance/Hope
I’m not sure what order these things go in but they are there when you are dealing with the loss of a loved one, health, job, lifestyle, marriage, or the loss of what could have been. And as we go through the ups and downs which are a part of life we will surely experience all of these at some point and some more than once.
You may have an image of what grief looks like but it will take you by surprise and look different.
Losing My Dad
When I lost my dad unexpectedly after heart surgery the tears did not come for a while. I had to accept this. Some people can cry and let it all out and that’s ok. I couldn’t even verbalize my grief. Carrying on the motions of my day, on the outside looking normal yet in shock on the inside. Doing my shopping I would see something that reminded me of my dad and pain would come crashing over me so unexpectedly. I couldn’t have anticipated it. It would knock me down and engulf me as unexpected waves do at the beach. I catch my breath and move on.
Grieving the relationship and stories I had lost, time and again and the grandfather my children and grandchildren would live without. I think some griefs are life long and will continue to hit you when you least expect it. Maybe every time it will not immobilize you as it once did but you will still feel the familiar loss as it crashes down around you. There is a hole.
Another Loss
Time moves. What seems a short time later I lost my father-in-law who had been such a friend and encouragement to me for over 30 years. What an emptiness he left in my world. Again I couldn’t speak of my loss it was a huge rock sitting on my chest.
One day I will have more family and friends on the other side than here in this world and I will long, even more, to go to my heavenly home.
Inclusion Body Myositis
Finding my way through grief. Sometimes we experience a different kind of grief. Five years ago when my husband was diagnosed with Inclusion Body Myositis my world was shaken. I felt some guilt for my self-pity, after all, he was the one with the life-altering disease, not me. His world was shaken the most! I went through a terrible grieving process for him and me. I stayed calm for the most part on the outside but I was still stunned.
We were wrapped in prayers and support from our family and people all over the country and I will be forever grateful for the outpouring of love we were blessed and sustained with. Our Christian family is amazing.
When this happened I had to leave my wonderful life at home and go to work. Most of my children were grown. The three left at home were all capable of taking care of the daily things needed and they had their dad with them while I worked. Yet I grieved this loss.
Empty Nest Worries
Finding my way through grief. Some losses are expected. When my children started leaving home I felt a little sadness and some grief I may not have realized at the time. I grieved the daily time I had with them. As each one left the younger ones would grieve too. The days turned into years so fast. How could it be time already?
However, although I grieved I also felt some excitement about what my children were doing and what an impact they would make on the world. I trusted they would find their way and that they would make this world a better place and I believe they are on their way to doing that.
Mistakes
I thought some of my children left a little premature but you know what? They made it! They made their own decisions and survived their consequences. Yes, they made some bad choices and learned from them as we all should. I am sure we all have some embarrassing moments we would rather forget. The important thing is to keep going. Keep learning from your mistakes. Don’t let your mistakes define you nor theirs. Don’t let your mistakes immobilize you. Don’t get stuck. Every human being makes mistakes and has to recover from them. So we continue to find our way through life’s ups and downs.
What can we learn from our mistakes?
Most of the time our mistakes can give us a lot of insight into the world and ourselves and teach us things we could not have learned any other way. Sometimes we get stuck in a rut and think we can’t recover from our mistakes and this becomes a cycle of falling and laying there a while and then climbing out. More of life’s ups and downs.
What can we learn? We have to learn that we can’t undo our mistakes. If we have done wrong we pray and ask God to help lift us up and help us to do better next time. By evaluating we can learn from it and how to approach it better next time. Then we get up and do the next right thing. It took me a long time before I realized that I could learn from other people’s experiences and that I didn’t have to make every mistake myself.
James
Am I ready for an empty nest? I don’t want to let the last little one fly away. With James #10 I was more worried about his leaving because I wasn’t sure if I had prepared him enough. I now know that was silly and he has done great. He may not know everything he needs to know to follow his path but who does? He is courageous and smart enough to find the answers and resources he needs. And he has God! He approaches everything with an “all in” attitude. I wish I had a smidgen of his discipline when I was his age and truthfully maybe now too.
I am so excited his hard work is paying off. He is playing football and has a 4.0 in his first two semesters of college. I’m excited that he will have an article published this week about something he is passionate about. Finance! He’s great with money, fitness, and whatever he puts his mind to. He is flying!
Esther
Esther is all over the place with her interests. Whatever she settles on I know she will bring a lot of heart and compassion to the world. She’s long had a fascination with anatomy, nutrition, and health, a lover of nature. In the last couple of years, she has been interested in nursing, midwifery, doula, real estate investing, organic medicinal gardening, etc. I’m not sure if she will settle on any of those but she will do well regardless. Esther is a beautiful Christian young lady with a strong faith which is most important.
Sometimes it feels so essential to make a decision but the reality is, it’s ok to carry on and wait and see what comes your way. Meanwhile whatever your hand finds to do do it with all your might. I wrote more about that in Choosing Your Path or Letting Your Path Choose You.
So life has its seasons of grief, rejoicing, pain, triumph, and defeat. But I am finding my way through grief and life’s ups and downs. I continue, pressing forward until the day Jesus comes or I go to meet him.
Do you remember the Crosby, Stills, and Nash song: Teach Your Children Well? Here are the lyrics. Listen here.
TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL
You who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good-bye.
Teach your children well,
Their father’s hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picks, the one you’ll know by.
Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you will cry,
So just look at them and sigh
And know they love you.
And you, of tender years,
Can’t know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.
Teach your parents…
Child of the 60s
I was born in Birmingham, Alabama on February 26, 1960. A child of the 60s and 70s. Lawrence and I met in college and married in 1980. A year later I became a mom. Determined to be a good mom I researched the scriptures, studied parenting books, and interviewed people I thought were good parents. Are there any perfect parents? No! Even though I wanted to be the perfect parent. I knew there were no perfect parents but I wanted to do it right! It may seem funny now but I was very intentional about it. This approach became a pattern for my learning not only about parenting but other things as well. Read scriptures, read books, and interview people.
Lawrence and Reda 1980Lawrence & Reda
Homeschooling
Not only did I want to be a good mom but I wanted to teach my children myself. Homeschool was not even a word back then nor did I know anyone who taught their own children or would consider doing so. Somehow unknowingly I found myself at the forefront of a movement that continues today. It has morphed as time has passed but is still alive and well. Hopefully, I can write more about that later.
When I started this post I was intending to share my journey into parenting and homeschooling. However, considering the current atmosphere in our country I have decided to take this a different direction. It does not matter what choice you have made about schooling. We all teach our children. Whether it is intended or not. Some of life’s most important lessons come from home and come early in life.
“Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park”
Your children learn from you. This song has been in my head for a couple of weeks. After a little research, I found out that Nash wrote this song after seeing a famous photograph by Diane Arbus that depicts a child with an angry expression holding a toy weapon. According to an interview, he wrote this song to reflect on the messages given to children about war. There are a lot of messages given to children!
Love
Whether you know it or not you do teach your children. Teach them well. It is your job to teach them how to love and how to be loved. It is your job to teach them the truth, God’s truth. God’s ways are different from the world and so should ours be.
John 13:34&35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”
I John 2:11 “But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.”
Matthew 5: 43-48 says, “You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor” and hate your enemy. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
God Shows No Partiality
Peter learned this and we should too. In Acts 10:34 “So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,”
Be Light Givers
This is what God says in Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Yes I was born in Alabama in the 1960s and I saw racial prejudice, social prejudice, and more, but I did not embrace that because I was taught well at home. I do not remember having a conversation about this. I was taught by my parent’s example and I am thankful for that!
Why am I learning to make a sourdough starter? I have spent years at home rearing children, homeschooling, cooking, laundry, etc. So this time in our history hasn’t been as hard on me maybe as some of you. But it has given me an excellent opportunity to explore possibilities. Extra time at home, what will I do? Using this time to learn some new skills and improve some old ones seems like a good idea.
What have I been learning? In my crazy artistic, ok maybe chaotic (it’s those 11 kids I’m telling you!) way I tackled several things I have been interested in for some time. Today I will tell you about my sourdough project.
Sourdough
The problem is I love bread! If I had to choose one food group it would probably be bread. What smells better than fresh bread baking? With a little direction from my friend Eleni Melirrytou, I decided to learn to make sourdough bread. That entails first making a sourdough starter. Yes, you normally can buy yeast in the grocery store. Maybe not during a pandemic. And maybe not in Africa. I know that you can buy a sourdough starter on Amazon. However, I want to learn the whole process so that wherever I am in the world I can make bread. This is a long process that begins with flour and water mixed and worked with for at least 14 days before you can have a strong enough starter to make your bread rise. You can make some pretty yummy sourdough pancakes with your throwaway starter though.
Work With Refugees
Do you remember the first time you ate sourdough bread? I don’t. I’m sure it must have been in Seattle in the 80s. The best sourdough I have ever tasted was made by my friend Eleni Melirrytou when she and her husband came to Nashville, Tennessee, to share about their work with refugees in Greece. Check out their website here. As with most functions with Christians, there was food! Not just food but amazing Greek food which included Eleni’s sourdough bread! Yum, makes your mouth water bread!
Northwest Sourdough
I need to learn how to do this, I told myself. I asked Eleni for recommendations and she sent me a link to a video by Northwest Sourdough and Teresa L. Greenway. There is a link for a free guide below the video. This video and the following ones got me started making my sourdough starter, pancakes, and eventually bread. Click on the link to learn how to make a sourdough starter using only flour and water.
One interesting side note is that I lived very close to where Teresa L. Greenway filmed these videos and I never knew what I was missing or what great resources were right next door.
Sourdough bread – My first loafSourdough bread 2Sourdough bread
If you follow this link you will find the recipe I used for my sourdough bread. Bake with Jack is a great teacher.
I didn’t really start the day planning to make old fashioned banana bread. Today I was sorting books and got to looking through some old cookbooks. I found a recipe for old fashioned banana bread. We had some overripe bananas that needed to be used so I suggested Esther make banana bread. She got even more creative and made a video of her process. This was her first attempt at banana bread. She said to remind readers to soften the butter which she forgot to do. And she said she poked it a few too many times checking for doneness. The bread turned out to be delicious.
Even though she put the recipe at the end of the video I am including it here at the bottom of the page.
Old Fashioned Banana Bread
3 ripe bananas
1 Tbs water
1 cup of sugar
1/4 cup butter
2 beaten eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour
1 cup nuts
Mash bananas and water together. Set aside 3 minutes, and then mix remaining ingredients together as listed. Bake in loaf pan at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.
Yesterday I started brainstorming about fun things to do with your kids at home. Many people have found themselves unexpectedly homebound. How long will this crisis last? Tornadoes, viruses, injuries, and snowstorms can all cause our world to come to a screeching stop. I do not remember a more uncertain time in my life. I do not ever remember workplaces shutting down at this rate. This has produced a lot of anxiety for some people.
I recommend making your day a more positive day. Don’t give into sitting and watching a play by play on TV or on the internet. There are many things you cannot control but you can control your home environment. Don’t give in to all-day screen time.
Below is a list that I compiled just off the top of my head. There are many things you can do. These are some things I have done over the years or wish I had done. I hope maybe some of these ideas will make your days at home a little easier.
I have eleven children and I have homeschooled for well over 30 years. Staying home for days at a time surrounded by great books with beautiful and brilliant children was my joy and my life. I miss those days. Were my days perfect? No. There are so many things I wish I had done better. Here are a few things I did do.
Making Chores Fun
If you haven’t already gotten your family on a chore system now is the time. There are several reasons for this. First, you will feel better when the basics are taken care of. This is a basic life skill. Second, you have a lot of hours on your hands and children truly need something to do and this benefits the whole family. There are several ways you might do this.
Pull slips with jobs on them. This adds a bit of mystery. You write single jobs on strips of paper. Fold them up and put them in a basket. Everyone chooses one and goes and does that one. They continue until all are done. You can set a timer to make it more interesting. These are extra jobs, not weekly chores.
Whiteboard with lists of jobs let them choose which one. And of course, get the joy of wiping off the accomplished job!
Assign chores by the week as I did when my children were younger. They became chore chart participants at 8 years old. We switched every Sunday. Dishes, table, babies, floors, etc. We have 11 children so for many years I needed help cleaning the high chair, buckling kids in car seats, etc.
Set a timer and have everyone work together in one room or folding all the laundry and then do something fun.
Stories
Tell Stories, everyone loves stories
Make chain stories where one person starts it and each person takes a turn adding the next part to the story. We did this frequently on car trips.
Read
Listen to audiobooks available free from your library even when your library is closed.
Read great books. If you have not read the classics they are great! There is a reason they are called classics. The long ones I prefer the audio version. Unabridged of course.
All those books on your shelf that you haven’t had enough time to read. Now is your opportunity.
Set a reading time every day during this confinement.
Write (or Dictate) and Practice Penmanship
Have your children write and illustrate a story. I have recently been going through files of things I have saved from my children’s younger days. Their stories are fun to read later.
Write stories and then let each one share. Your younger kids can dictate their stories to you. You can have them dictate first and then illustrate or the reverse.
Writing simple reports can be fun and educational. Let them choose a topic to learn about and research about it for a set amount of time and then have each one share his report.
Write out a scripture verse each day.
Write a letter to a grandparent, friend, neighbor, a sick person, or someone in the nursing home.
Stages of Frog
Arts and Crafts
Have an art show. Hang a string from your curtain rod end to end. Especially if you have a large picture window. This works great. Everyone draws or paints pictures etc.
Craft time. Drag out the craft supplies and create pictures. If you have no craft supplies get creative and use noodles, string, make newspaper hats, etc.
Draw a picture for someone and mail it to them.
Take old mismatched socks and make something out of them. Ideas: sock doll, ball, puppet, doll hats, etc.
Memorize other facts you may need like multiplications, verbs, etc.
Games
Play sound games with your preschoolers. Ask them how many words can you think of that start with the same sound as banana, or apple, or penny, you get the idea.
Drag out your board games.
Play charades. Choose a topic. Bible characters, animals, etc.
Music
Learn a new skill
Practice a musical instrument
If you do not have an instrument you might make a paper keyboard and practice as did several famous musicians. Or create rhythm instruments from things around the house.
Practice singing together.
Learn to read music.
Toys
Get out the legos and play together.
Have the kids sort their toys and find some they would like to share with others.
Put together jigsaw puzzles.
Homemade Fun
Make your own homemade family carnival.
If you have a laundry basket make a game of throwing old socks or balls, etc. and ringing the basket from different distances.
Make your own ring toss game.
Make your own dart game using rubber bands and try to hit a target you make.
Get out the shaving cream and on a safe surface give everyone some shaving cream to play with. It is a lot of fun. Remind them not to rub their eyes.
Make playdough ( recipe here) make figures out of it. Set themes: everyone make a dinosaur, or farm animal or flower, etc.
Cooking
Cook together
Bake cookies or bread or pretzels.
Let each child help you make a meal.
Set the table extra pretty for special guests who are going to be there and let someone make a centerpiece for the table out of things you have on hand. When supper time arrives tell your family they are the special guests.
Outside
Let the kids play in the yard or if they don’t want to, insist they run a couple of laps around the outside of the house for exercise.
Go for a walk.
If you cannot go outside put on some oldies and have a dance party. My 20-month-old granddaughter loves Barbara Ann. Take this time to laugh and be silly with your kids.
Look out the window and count how many birds you can see and what kinds. If you don’t know what kind of bird it is look it up!
Exercise videos
Play hopscotch
Generational
Have your child play the reporter and Interview their grandparents on the phone or face time.What games did they play? Were they ever stranded at home? What was the longest time they ever remember staying at home? Snowed in? Epidemic? Earliest childhood memory?
Have the child interview different members of your church by phone and have them ask about their conversion story! How old? Where? Etc.
From my earliest childhood, I knew the scriptures were important. As I sat in church listening to the Bible being taught I knew I was to sit quietly. My memories were not really of the lessons themselves, here it is, I thought I would become an angel when I died. Where I got this idea I have no idea. I was taught the usual Bible stories and enjoyed it all immensely.
High School
When I was a student at Mortimer Jordan High School in the 1970’s we had a POW speak to our assembly. I was very impressed with his story. I really wish I could remember his name. Even though I cannot remember his name part of his story has stayed with me for over 40 years.
This POW shared some of the experiences he had while being held captive. One of the things he and his fellow prisoners did to help sustain them was to put together a Bible. Each man shared what scriptures he could remember and they wrote them on toilet paper. They compiled their own little Bible! This impressed me with a desire to commit scripture to memory lest I find myself in a similar situation with no Bible.
College
While a student at Alabama Christian and later Freed-Hardeman University each Bible class gave us memory verses. I enjoyed this activity. One teacher emphasized in his life the importance of memorizing God’s word. It was said that he could quote whole books of the Bible. I was impressed. I wanted to have chapters and books memorized.
During my early years as a young bride, I would put a scripture beside my bathroom mirror to help me memorize the Word. It was mounted on a paper that said a scripture a day helps keep Satan away. I memorized a lot of verses this way.
Books
In the book Ordering Your Private World Gordon MacDonald shares the story of Howard Rutledge, a young man who is captured during wartime. As a civilian, this young man never had time for spiritual things. He soon realized he did not have the spiritual resources he needed to sustain him during his imprisonment.
Being imprisoned he said his hunger for the spiritual soon outdid his hunger for food. He said, “It took prison to show me how empty my life is without God.” By the time he was released, he realized his need to grow in his relationship with God. You can read his story in the book In The Presence of Mine Enemies. This story really stayed with me and gave me a greater desire to memorize the word of God.
Resources
We lived in Logan, Ohio in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Barbara Dunn, a friend, and Bible teacher gave me a copy of the Bible ABC’s. My children and I memorized these during that time. They are still with me. Through the years I have found several versions of these. Check out these two :
I memorize scripture because God’s word is the Word of Life. I have hidden your word in my heart so that I might not sin against you. Why not memorize God’s word for yourself today!
Please share in the comment section what things you have used to commit the Word of God to memory.
