Family Discipleship Email // 19 (April 2024). A NEW TERM, NEW CURRICULUM, NEW ‘REMEMBER VERSES’, and AN ENCOURAGING FACT

Kia Ora Bay Kids Whanau,

As Term Two begins, we start the Biblical Literacy Curriculum focus of our Formation Practices. These Curriculum are from the TRU Resource, which we use throughout the year. This is an opportunity for all our children to get a sense of the bigger narrative of scripture and to track through a sequence of stories learning more about who God is and how He's at work in our lives.

In Bay Preschool this Curriculum is called, ‘God Made Me’, and over the first few weeks we cover Creation - God making the World, and then making Adam and Eve. We come back to this core message, that God made our world and He cares for those He created.

And in Team Bay Junior and Seniors the Curriculum is called ‘God’s People Respond to Him through Worship’ which will begin by covering stories about Peter, the Woman at Well, and Zaccheaus. These stories carry the thread of knowing that God’s plan is best, that He knows everything, and that He is the one who seeks and saves. 

An important message through this, for all our children is that they get to be included in God’s story. 

God is the main character in His story. The world, and every small storyline in it, is really about Him, His character, and His glory. Yet, God still looks at us and invites us all to play a part. He loves us so much that He invites us into His amazing plans, and to be part of His story.

This is an exciting invitation for our children and an important foundation for their faith, even though, as adults we know just how much we struggle with not being able to skip ahead to the chapters that we like, or that if we could fast-forward, we might not even like how these stories have progressed.

Being in the middle of the story, and not knowing how things will resolve, isn’t easy. We need His comfort and the ability to trust Him and His carefully orchestrated plans. We need to learn this truth when we are young - God is good, He loves you, and His plan is best.

And when we’re feeling really brave, we get to pass this part on to our children - our lives will be amazing, beautiful, redeemed and purposeful in Him. We’re also secretly grateful that we don’t write our own stories; God does that. As Proverbs 16: 9 says, ‘In your heart you plan your life. But the LORD decides where your steps will take you.’ (and I’m very grateful for this)

 Here’s some big questions for your school-aged children, to get some good discussions going beyond Sundays:

• Do you think it’s hard to follow Jesus? Why or why not?

• What do you think it means to be part of God’s big plan?

• Who can we be praying for that doesn’t yet follow Jesus?

And here’s a daily blessing to pray over your children as they begin to ponder these questions and the journey of being part of God’s plan: ‘(Child’s name), may you know that God invites you into His story, and may He show you what part you will play in His plans.’

Our preschoolers often like to view the world they live in by touching, smelling, or tasting everything they come in contact with. Sensory experiences help them learn about the world around them and remind them that God created the world and everything in it. Keep chatting with them about God making the world and choosing us to be the ones who care for God’s creation.  In the midst of their ‘little scientist’ explorations bless them with this blessing: ‘(Child’s name), may you worship God, remembering that it was He who created the world and everything in it.’

REMEMBER VERSES

The first verse we’re learning to remember this term In Team Bay Junior and Seniors is this particularly dangerous prayer from Psalm 139:23–24 in the New International Reader's Version - one of my faves.

“God, see what is in my heart. Know what is there. Test me. Know what I’m thinking. See if there’s anything in my life you don’t like. Help me live in the way that is always right.”

This is a prayer of David straight to God and it focuses on a character trait of God that’s part of The Big God Story - He wants us to learn to trust Him and His good plan for our lives. We really enjoyed shouting it out together in Team Bay Junior this morning!

In Bay Preschool our first Remember Verse this term is from Psalm 19:1 again, in the NIRV because of its plain straightforward reading language. 

“The heavens tell about the glory of God. The skies show that his hands created them.”

And here are the actions to get your preschooler's brain connecting with the words and you feeling a little silly.

“The heavens 

2 arms stretch straight up high

tell about the glory of God.

2 arms slowly come around and down

The skies 

2 arms waving up high

show that his hands created them.”

2 arms out hands opened up

I love that everyone gets the chance to look up at the sky and imagine God’s hands creating something truly magical up there. Even the skies, the heavens, can’t help but worship God. I hope that you have the opportunity to see an amazing sunrise together or some wildly crazy cloud formations and learn to wonder again at what the skies tell us about their Creator God.

ENCOURAGING DATA

And finally some encouraging data and another great reason to be thankful for all the wonderful Bay Kids volunteers who make our Sunday programmes possible for your children. We are all grateful to have people who genuinely love to connect with our children and who feel enthusiastic about supporting their spiritual growth.

Non-parent adult participation in kids ministry is important to children's spiritual growth.

Barna data (The Barna Group has become a go-to source for insights about faith, culture, leadership, vocation and generations) shows that when kids have a meaningful relationship with at least one adult at church, they can experience a host of benefits. 

Here’s one example: ‘When we asked churchgoing parents of 5–14-year-old kids whether their child integrates biblical principles into their lives, we noticed a significant gap: Sixty-four percent of parents whose children have a meaningful adult relationship at church said this was “completely true.” 

Among parents whose children did not have a relationship like that, only 24 percent said “completely true.”’

So a huge thank you to all of you who are already this ‘non-parent’ adult in another child’s life - whether it’s through friends, family, work or serving in Bay Kids. Thank you for how you invest in them and let them know they belong. Thank you for helping them to make sense of the Big God Story. And next Sunday, it would be lovely if you could remember to thank your Bay Kids volunteers in your child’s programme too.

IMPORTANT DATES FOR MAY

10 May - Team Bay Seniors Home Church, 7-9pm

19 May - Pentecost Sunday focus in all Bay Kids Programmes - celebrating the beginning of the Church

• The Jesus Storybook Bible (Pages 325 - 333)

• God’s Big Picture Bible Storybook (Pages 230 and 232)

• The Day when God made Church (A child’s first book about Pentecost)

26 May - Our Bay Kids SPARKS Prayer Meeting, 4-5pm

And finally, in response to some questions about my opinions on the ‘best’ available Children’s Bibles, here’s an article from ‘Christianity Today’ The Quest for a Good Children’s Bible | Christianity Today that reviews eight different iterations through the lens of:

• focusing on crucial stories of Creation, Jesus’ birth, and his death and resurrection,

• how each book told the stories of biblical heroes like David and Jonah, and noted which stories the authors chose to include (or exclude),

• how the stories were told, looking at the quality of the writing and illustration.

Have a read of the article, it’s got some good critiques and some great options. It’s all my favourite things to rant about, so I’m quite happy to continue the conversation with you too.

Arohanui

Charlotte

Family Discipleship Email // 18 (March 2024) Easter, Framing and Plodding

Kia Ora Bay Kids Whanau,

It’s a shortened and busy week this week, particularly with Easter Camp getting underway on Thursday; So this month’s Family Discipleship Email feels a little bit more like what we used to call in the ‘olden days’, a PotPourri - a mixture or medley of things, usually scented dried petals and wood shavings thrown together randomly. I’m not entirely sure what the modern equivalent word might be for you… a pick and mix, a lolly scramble, a curated collection? Or my favorite - a hodgepodge.

So here it is, the hodgepodge:

• Easter Camp may be for the Youth Group, and not necessarily on your radar yet, and that’s totally fine, but it does mean that this is the beginning of what your children will experience one day too - we are creating intentional formational opportunities across all our age groups from 18 months to 18 years. And this is very exciting news, especially for the Team Bay Seniors who will be joining Youth from next year onwards. As these Team Bay Seniors flow into Youth over the next few years, there’s plenty of enthusiastic children in Team Bay Junior, as well as a growing Bay Preschool area too. Our formational practices and curriculum foundations build through each of these age levels and it’s really lovely to have this continuity across such a large developmental age span.

• Framing up Church. It’s our job to frame things up for our children. We actually naturally do this all the time. We carefully answer loudly asked awkward questions about the physical appearance of complete strangers - usually in supermarkets. We explain other family’s choices or decisions or hardships or use of time politely and diplomatically. And we intentionally set our children up for positive new experiences by having family meetings in the car prior to visiting a new friend or starting a new school. As parents we are Framers, and although our children have excellent observational skills, they need support with how they interpret what they see and feel.

So with that in mind, here’s some helpful advice from parenting for Faith,

‘‘If we want our kids to be actively involved in church, then framing church services for them is so crucial. Whether it’s telling them what’s coming up, or why something is happening, or how others are connecting to God, framing is a brilliant tool that we use naturally as parents all the time, through the week, in all sorts of different contexts. Framing in church is necessary too!”

So this might look like whispering during the worship about what's happening for different people that they can observe or what they might be feeling themselves. It can be chatting through in advance the rhythms of what happens every Sunday morning - the welcome, the worship, the prayer, the offering. Or it could be having a quick question time in the car on the way home to talk through anything that was going on and why.

• Framing up Easter. This year in Bay Kids I have framed up Easter in three parts. 1st When it's sad, 2nd When it's happy, and 3rd All that happens next. This is to make sure that we don't just rush through the story, that we actually slow down and take a good look around, and it also gives us some time to explore all the different events and emotions, learning to see them in a bigger context, making sense of why Jesus died and rose again and what it means for the rest of the New Testament narrative and our lives. We will carefully journey through sadness, reflect on the waiting and not knowing, celebrate joyfully on Easter Sunday, and then learn about the next chapter for the disciples and us.

I really want our children to know the power of these words from John 3 verses 16 and 17 over their lives this Easter Season. They are so very loved.

“God so loved the world (and _______ your name) that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world. He sent his Son to save the world through him.”

I also love this Easter language from Meredith Miller which is helpful for framing up the meta-narrative of Easter.

“About 2000 years ago, God came to be with us, to be a person just like us, named Jesus. Jesus shows us what God is like, how loving and good God is. And we needed that, because the world was full of sadness and sickness and hard stuff, even death. Jesus came so we would know that God felt sad about all this too. And not only did God feel sad, God was going to fix it.”

This language comes from her great Easter resource, particularly useful at home over Easter when navigating The Easter Story with 1 - 5 year olds.

SAD DAY, HAPPY DAY! HOORAY! Here's your Easter Story Guide, written just for Kids ages 1-5.

• The lost art of plodding. Here’s some very simple discipleship wisdom from Jon Tyson that I think is so important for us as families in the midst of the everyday ordinary moments of boring and busy life - just keep plodding. Know the persevering grace of Jesus in your life, and keep plodding, keep moving forward, even when it feels like very small sluggish steps and uninspiring momentum. Trust Him. Look to Him. And get yourself near encouragement, the encouragement of others in this with you and also the encouragement of those who are just a few steps ahead. 

Hear these beautiful words from Jeremiah 17 verses 7 and 8 as an encouragement to stay planted and to grow, nothing massive, just deep roots and green leaves.

“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water.

Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.”

Happy Easter Bay Kids Whanau. May you be warmly reminded of the joy and life that is in Jesus as your journey towards Easter Sunday.

Arohanui,

Charlotte

Family Discipleship Email // 17 (March 24) - Prayer and the Kingdom of God

Kia Ora Bay Kids Whanau,

One of the main reasons that I send out these Family Discipleship Emails is that I want to form a strong link between Church and Home, so that what happens on Sundays doesn't just sit in isolation or remain disconnected from what is happening for you over the six other extraordinary and ordinary days.

“Best-case scenario, our kids will spend 100 hours a year in church. But they’ll spend 2000-3000 hours a year with (you), their parents and carers!” This is from Parenting For Faith, who happen to be a great Instagram follow.

Deuteronomy 6:7 says we are to “talk about [God’s word] when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

As parents we have the opportunity to make our relationship with God something that we can talk about in the boring, everyday moments of life - not just the high points or only when we’re feeling like we’re winning spiritually. Normalising faith is a beautiful privilege.

PRAYER

I am really thrilled that we are gently building a lovely prayer culture in Bay Kids; and I am really grateful to know that this is a culture that is growing at home as well as Church. In Bay Kids this is becoming an intentional, invitational, and responsive culture that normalises the practising of prayer, creates space for the opportunity of prayer, and is totally ok with the odd giggle, awkward word muck-up, and prayer whispered oh soooooo quietly and sweetly that it’s just there for Jesus’ ears only.

I have been so encouraged by the bravery and boldness in our children. Their willingness to pray for one another, and their openness to ask for prayer is a real blessing, and a bit of a challenge too, to be honest. Their confidence is building week by week, and it’s really special. It’s also a real reminder to me that we pray to a Heavenly Father who loves us just like we are his little children - we can so easily forget this with our big adult complicated brains and layers of self-doubt and protectiveness. Leaning into prayer rhythms with our children reminds us of the grace that is poured out for us too.

So thank you for prioritising prayer in your family. Not necessarily those grandiose moments of wild intercession but just seized opportunities and minutes in the day to pray through an immediate school need - big or small, or to care for a friend, or to ask for help.

Thank you for allowing your children the space to get comfortable with prayer, to see it up close, and to keep on practising - knowing that God listens, and that we don’t need fancy language.

Our next SPARKS Bay Kids Prayer Meeting is on Sunday the 10th March and all our Bay Kids children are welcome. Being immersed in an atmosphere of prayer and worship, as well as observing those around you praying, is a great way for our Preschoolers to start to learn what it means to pray, and it will also give them some ’scaffolding’ as they too practise prayer. It’s an absolute joy to have our littlest ones join us in whatever way works for them.

The word SPARKS is all about igniting little flames of prayer and the value of little prayers because it’s little by little that we become pray-ers. With bravery and encouragement we become pray-ers, with acceptance and opportunity we become pray-ers, with practice and moments we become pray-ers, and in keeping it simple with our eyes on God, we become pray-ers.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

As I mentioned last week in Church, we're going to be teaching our children about the Kingdom of God. This is an important Formational Spiritual understanding for our children as they grow and discover more about God and develop a relationship with Jesus, the King.

My hope is that they feel connected to the idea of their personal citizenship in God's Kingdom and their identity as a "Kingdom Kid".

The Kingdom of God is a massive title and a massive concept, so I’m glad that Jesus told stories and used word pictures in order to help us get our heads around what it all means - even in all the little ways.

Here are some truths about the Kingdom of God that we'll be learning and revisiting:

The Kingdom of God is Good News. It’s Good News for everyone.

God’s Kingdom is for kids.

You have a special invitation to live in God’s Kingdom from the King Himself, who is Jesus!

The Kingdom of God is here.

God’s Kingdom is everywhere around us - It seems invisible, because it doesn't have a castle but, whenever we see God do amazing things in our lives and all around us, we are seeing God’s Kingdom right where we are.

We carry the Kingdom of God within us.

The Bible tells the story of God’s Kingdom.

For example, Jesus said in the Bible, that the Kingdom of God is like a little mustard seed. This seed is very tiny at first but it is the beginning of something big - a huge tree, a tree so big that birds come and sit on its branches!

Jesus is reminding us here that things might look very small at the beginning but they can become something much bigger and end up making a huge difference!

And we get to be part of all of this - we get to do what Jesus did and we wait for Jesus to come and bring the whole Kingdom.

So we’ll keep using this Kingdom language in Bay Kids and teaching these Kingdom ideas, particularly over this next month, as well as spiralling back to them throughout the year as we build our Biblical Literacy.

Can I encourage you to use this language too, and to continue to remind your children of their special belonging in God’s Kingdom and the invitation that is there for them to be a part of God’s Kingdom here on earth in small and significant ways at home and school.

Many blessings on you, your families, and your households.

Arohanui,

Charlotte

Family Discipleship Email // 14 (October 2023) - Demystifying Worship

This term, in Bay Kids, we continued with our formational learning focus, and it’s again a beautiful privilege to be part of your child’s discipleship journey.

Whatever we’re learning about, in whatever programme we’re in on a Sunday morning, amidst paper plane chaos and vege crisps, we underpin it all with a foundation of Biblical Literacy, Scripture Memorisation, Experiential Prayer, the Joy of Community, and now the formational practice of Worship.

Our curriculum, across all our programmes, has been about demystifying Worship, normalising Worship, and making Worship ‘everyday accessible’ and fun for all our children at every level.

And right now, we’re in the middle of exploring the six ‘Ws’ of Worship as our foundation of understanding: The What, the Who, and the Why; the Where and the When; and the hoW.

So let me fill you in on what your children have been learning about so far, so that you can have some shared language to discuss Worship together around the dinner table, and to bring it into the ordinary moments of your day - loud singing in the car, quiet moments of worship at bedtime, and shouts of joy despite difficult days.

The first thing we did was look at what Worship is. We know that it is the first commandment of the law - Only Worship God because God is Number One. And we actually love to shout this bit out loud! But we also know (amidst the shouting) that Worship is about loving God with all of ourselves, and that’s also the biggest command that Jesus gave us as His followers.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30)

Love is why we worship. We love God and we show Him through worship. He loves us and we thank Him through worship.

In worship, we enter God’s presence and focus our attention only on Him. We give thanks, we praise, we sing, we dance, and we bring our whole selves to spend time with God.

And we can do this regardless of the Where and the When, and no matter hoW we’re feeling.

That's why it was important to look at what it means to Worship in the Good Times, and also in the Bad Times; To look at both Worship that's Noisy in crazy busy circumstances and also Quiet in still and reflective moments.

And all of this foundation helps us to understand that we have access and familiarity to Worship. That it's a normal everyday part of our relationship with God, and that it’s something that we can be part of.

As parents, we need to guard our children’s perceptions of what worship looks like, as well as their experiences of worship, so that they’re not just limited to what we sing together on Sunday mornings in Church, or allocated to a formalised isolated occasion.

Background worship music can become a familiar household soundtrack or a much needed soothing car trip backing track. Silly sing-a-longs, pyjama praise parties, reflective readings, and seasonal selections of hymns and carols can easily become part of our family routines and rituals, allowing Worship to weave its way into our ordinary lives.

Please feel that you can encourage your children to join in on Sunday mornings with the percussion instruments and ribbon streamers. Their loud and overly enthusiastic ownership of the front of the Church is a beautiful picture of Worship and Joy that our Community needs to experience. Don't worry about the noise and the chaos and the lack of rhythm, it’s good for our souls!

In Bay Kids we want to expand our children's engagement with different forms of worship and also grow their capacity to worship freely.

We don't want worship to become a singular static image but instead a formational expression of love and relationship that draws us closer to God.

We want Worship to be thankful, transformative, calming, simple, interactive, responsive, overflowing, and joyful.

In Bay Preschool this starts with Bubble Worship - a joyful response to background worship music with bubble blowing and dancing and simple action songs to join in with too.

In Team Bay Junior, we’ve had the privilege of learning action dance songs with Jen. Jen is full of joy and energy and her actions are fun and inviting. The room changes when we worship enthusiastically together and get our bodies moving, shaking off our sillies and our grumpies, and embracing the joy, despite coordination issues. We also spend time worshipping quietly and reflectively, thanking God individually through Psalms, prayers, and silence.

Our Team Bay Seniors have had the opportunity to be part of our amazing Kids Worship Band, playing their own instruments and leading the Church in Worship as Worship Leaders, not just performers. They are also a huge part of what enthuses our Juniors to learn actions and give it their all in worship too. They are already modelling our culture of Worship.

And this Sunday we’re really looking forward to seeing all of this in action, worshipping with our Bay Kids in Church and being a Community of Joy together that Worships with free and open hearts.

Our Memory Verse for this Term, from Psalm 100, verses 1 and 2, reminds us to ‘Shout for joy to the Lord, everyone on earth. Worship the Lord with gladness. Come to him with songs of joy,’

So check out our Follow ‘dance moves’ video on our Bay Kids Whanau Facebook Group and prepare yourself for Joy.

Arohanui,

Charlotte

Family Discipleship Newsletter // 13 (September 2023) - Tell the Story

I love the movie, “The Prince of Egypt''. I’ve been really enjoying rewatching it as I prepare these last three weeks of this term’s curriculum and the incredible adventures in God that Moses had.  And while I happily acknowledge it is just a movie production aimed to entertain and make some money, and that it's not always going to be accurately Biblical, there are some beautiful moments that absolutely delight my soul and remind me of the magic of storytelling.

I love that in Exodus 3 out there in the wilderness, as a man-on-run-turned-shepherd of someone else's flock, at the foot of the mountain of God, Moses heard God call out to him by name in the midst of a burning bush - which could be a whole sermon on identity just in itself, and Moses answers, “Here I am.”

In this moment there is some recognition of who God is, there is a sense that Moses knows who is calling him, and that he knows to give an answer. 

And God then explains who He is to Moses on this holy ground, 

“I am the God of your father, [your forefathers] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

This verse really stood out to me. More than a genealogy, more than the lines of family history, more than just generational knowledge, but a legacy of faithfulness, a strong thread of inheritance, a reminder of who God has been and who He will continue to be, the God of I AM. 

In this big infinite title stands all the attributes of who God is stretching back into time, and reaching forward into eternity, but He is also God to Moses in that holy moment too, when Moses is afraid, uncertain, and unseen.

Just as He was the God of promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - in their stories of weakness and triumph, and in their valleys and mountain moments too.

We are the ones who remember and we are the Story-tellers.

Let me encourage you in your family discipleship journey with God's words from verse 15. "This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation."

We too are part of this thread of God's everlasting presence and faithfulness. Carried, and revealed into every generation. We get to be the ‘remember-ers’ - those who remember and seek to make space for others to remember too.

We pass this on as Mothers and Fathers, telling the stories of our faith, reliving the tangible promises of God in our lives, remembering the characteristics of God - His love and His redemptive story. 

We do this in the big picture of our family values and rhythms, and in the small ordinary details of our everyday words and actions. We are the storytellers, and we get to introduce our children to God - the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and me.

And because we want our children to know God and we want our children to be curious about who He is, it is important that we teach them His attributes. 

Our God is a Creator, He desires relationship and He keeps His promises. Our God is Faithful, he redeems and rescues us. Our God is a Provider, a Warrior, and the great I AM - unchanging, everlasting, and constant. Our God speaks to us and can be known, can be trusted, and can be close. (This is what our Team Bay Juniors and Seniors have been learning about through our exploration of Genesis and Exodus this term).

Let's pray that our children in our care grow to recognise His voice, His call, and His character in their own lives
Let's tell our stories, tell His story, and write down the legacies for this generation. 
Let's remember around the table the times when we felt His presence, knew His provision, and were comforted in His community, both big and small.
Let's pray big prayers that connect us boldy and simply to our God, as well as small prayers of tiny needs and little daily requests.
Let's wonder together about His plans and His ways, not being afraid of His mysteries and our own doubts.
Let's make it clear to the next generation that they are part of this Big God Story too.
Let’s treasure their testimonies of just simply knowing God from a young age and growing in relationship with Him.

Psalm 78 (v1-7), one of my favourites in this season, clearly reminds us of the responsibility that there is to pass on the things we know to the next generation:

‘My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us.
We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.
He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children,
so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.’

Lord, we pray that our children would put their trust in you and that we would be parents who disciple them in the knowledge and experience of your praiseworthy deeds, your power, and your wonders. AMEN

Well done on making it through Term 3, have a safe and relaxing school holiday break. See you next term.

Arohanui,

Charlotte

Term 3 - 2023 // 'Hold firmly to the word of life'.

In Philippians 2 Paul encourages us to 'Hold firmly to the word of life'.

To hold onto it, to know its The Word and to know that it brings life. To not let go of it or replace it with other things to take hold of instead.

I picture (somewhat metaphorically) our children holding onto it as little ones, tucked in under their arms, surviving Kindy, hugged at night, and carried with them on their school days as they journey and grow. With them in the playground, at a sleepover, buried at the bottom of a sleeping bag on camp, nestled next to them as they play inside, carried on an outdoor adventure, or company for them in moments of silence.

We can all agree that we want our children to hold firmly to the Bible, to the ‘words of life’. This is our hearts cry as parents and a prayer of hope for our children too. But how does this beautiful end goal become a gritty reality? What does it look like for them on the way as they learn and stumble and cry out and discover for themselves?

Firstly they need a Bible, one that can be leafed through with pictures, one that can be read to them and with them, one that can be treasured and secreted away all by themselves. One that has readable clear language, not diluted, one that can be memorized and reread as they discover favourite verses and stories.

And they need to see yours in use too, out, open, but also just lying on the coffee table, and beside your bed, and well-loved and crinkled and underlined and highlighted and coming with you to Church.

There's no magic in this use, it's not a formula for saving your children, it's not a prescription for getting it right, but it is deeply formational. It lets them know that the Bible carries the words of life, that it must be taken in and consumed and integrated into life, that it is relevant, and personal and sacred and anchoring.

I fondly remember my Dad's big brown Bible, worn and sellotaped, with swirling gold writing on the cover and wrinkled crinkly pages. It was good for hut building - to hold down blankets, or to create towers. It was often left open in his room, read with audible murmurs of agreement and exclamations of 'brilliant'. It was too big to go to Church with him every Sunday morning, but stuffed with papers when he preached, and often carried with his guitar case to a mystical night service.

We have never talked about it. There has never been a conversation about reading it or a lecture on the dangers of not. I even had to text him to ask him what version it was, (the New American Bible version as it turns out, the one that came out in the 70s). But I remember what it all meant. It meant that it was real, that it mattered, that it was somewhat ordinary and everyday, that it was routine, that it was treasured, that it was important, considered, referenced, dug into, personal, part of him and his life.

A great teaching strategy for our children is to 'show, not tell' .

What they can observe, notice, and experience around them carries more weight and becomes more connected for them than what we just tell them.

Let them find the story from Sunday mornings teaching in the Bible with you.

Let them see how far through the Bible that part of the story was, compared with Jesus' time in the Gospels.

Show them your highlighted go-to verses, the verses that revive and refresh you, the Psalms that allow you to find words to praise God on bad days and encourage others on good ones.

Let them find their memory verse in your Bible and circle it, showing where it fits in the chapter and verse layout.

Talk about your favorite Bible story, reminding them that all stories fit within the big God Story of Rescue and Redemption.

Psalm 84 verse 3 says this about living in the presence of God, and dwelling in His house, that 'Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar, O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, my King and my God!'

It's a beautiful picture of the safety and nourishing peace that is available in the presence of God, in His words of Life - even to a little bird raising her young in the coziness of the altar, even just being near it.

Let's build nests for our young in the presence of our King and our God.

Let's make room for them to be near Him, to find safety and refuge in His words and the beginning of a relationship that spans their whole life and let's be willing to create homes where ordinary Bible moments sit amidst weetbix and spilled milk and morning coffees and washing piles on our tables.

Let's 'Hold firmly to the word of life' as families.

Arohanui,

Charlotte