Children's Bible Stories

I love The Big Picture Story Bible, but have been looking for an illustrated children's Bible that contained more Biblical stories so that Elisabeth would see more of the stories that fit into the Big Picture. I was sorely disappointed with the New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes, which is probably only appropriate for children under 3 rather than the claimed age range of 4-7.

Happily, we received the Illustrated Family Bible Stories as a gift, and have found a middle ground children's Bible that is not overly simplistic, but still has ample illustrations.

The authors do a remarkably good job of summarizing the Biblical stories. Sometimes there is very little editing at all, and is simply the Biblical text. (I've noticed how well they have stuck to the text as I have been reading through Genesis and Exodus in my devotions at the same time that I have been reading those accounts to Elisabeth.) There have been a few occasions that I questioned the way that they simplified a story for children, but for the most part I'm impressed. So, if you're looking for something to give more of the stories than the Big Picture Story Bible, check this out.

Goldfish

When I arrived at Elisabeth's school today, her teacher greeted me at the door. She asked Elisabeth to show me what she had done in school. She pointed to the word "goldfish" (clearly in her handwriting) on the bulletin board. The letters were well-formed, and I affirmed her work, thinking that was what we were observing. Elisabeth's teacher then explained that not only had she written the word, but she had spelled it by sounding it out. Previously, we had been working on words like "sit" and "bat", so "goldfish" is a major milestone!

Bach at bedtime

In the quest for peaceful transitions to sleep, we have encouraged Elisabeth to listen to music while she goes to sleep. A week or two ago, I asked her if she would like to listen to Bach's cello suites while she went to sleep. She didn't protest, and drifted happily to sleep. The next night I asked her what music she wanted, and she requested Bach.

Now Bach is her regular request at bedtime. (I don't blame her. The cello suites are my current favorite as well!)

Ash Wednesday

On Wednesday, when I picked Elisabeth up from school, she pointed at my forehead and asked, "What's that, Daddy?" I asked her to tell me what she saw, and what it looked like, and then we talked about the ashes and the cross. I told her that when our rector put the ashes on my forehead, he said, "Remember that you are dust and ashes; for you are dust and to dust you will return." And he prayed for me, that this would be a season of seeking, finding and resting in Jesus.

Elisabeth was intrigued, and I was delighted. It was a wonderful reminder to me of how vivid certain elements of worship can be to children. I remember her asking similar questions as we sat at the back of the Maundy Thursday service last year (at which there is a foot washing). All of the symbolic actions beg the question, "Why?!" When used purposefully and well, these actions tell the story of the Gospel, of our wickedness, and God's great love in Christ.

As we enter this season of Lent, I am deeply grateful for the symbols, and even more grateful for the Reality that they present. I'm excited to be attentive to what Elisabeth is seeing, hearing and experiencing so that I can impress this great good news through which the Holy Spirit gives new life.

That's what's SUPPOSED to happen at night

Last night as I lay sleeping, I heard little footsteps padding into our room. I looked up and asked Elisabeth what was wrong. Without answering, she walked over to the tissues, took one, and padded back to her room. She climbed in bed, and that was the last noise I heard until 7:15am.

In my mind, that's what's supposed to happen in the middle of the night when a child needs something!

Why do you call me a 'drama queen'?

Yesterday as we were preparing for church, Elisabeth was providing more than necessary resistance to the morning routine. Midway through Elisabeth's antics, she turned to Mommy and said,

"Why do you call me a 'drama queen'?"

I wonder if she will begin to recognize that those comments coincide with her dramatic statements and actions . . .

She walked home from school!

We live about 2 miles from Elisabeth's preschool, and until now have used the stroller to walk to and from school. Last week, we had dinner with friends who have a daughter 10 months younger than Elisabeth who regularly walks 2 miles from their home to her school. Inspired by her stamina, I decided it was time to let Elisabeth try the walk.

On Tuesday, she walked all the way home - without a single complaint! Yesterday we tried it again on the way home, and I was the one trying to keep up with her. She would run ahead and stop for me to catch up, and then start sprinting again.

Needless to say, she sleeps well at night!

Imitating Ellsworth Kelly

First, Elisabeth observed Ellsworth Kelly's work.

Then she created her own.

Is this healthy?

Elisabeth has a recent fetish with healthy food. Before she puts (almost) anything in her mouth, she asks,

"Is this healthy?"

Thankfully the vast majority of the time, the answer is yes - so not only is she eating healthily, but she is learning to recognize a healthy diet. Her follow-on questions are more difficult:

"Why is it good for me?"

That question keeps me honest, and forces me to do some homework. (I recently learned that bell peppers are an excellent source of vitamin C.) Elisabeth is going to keep me healthy!

"I love you Daddy. You do good ponytails."

For almost my entire life as a father, I have been known by my daughter as the one who hurts her when putting in ponytails. In my opinion, I have dramatically improved over the span of her life. (I think I was really bad at it for the first year or so that she had enough hair to gather into pigtails, and then a ponytail.) However, I retained my distinction as the one who hurts her head.

So this morning I was shocked when Elisabeth came out of her room, climbed onto my lap on the couch and said,

"I love you Daddy. You do good ponytails."

That is a major milestone for me!

All smiles

Packed up and ready to go

We have two friends who have recently given birth to children with congenital heart defects. One child has hypoplastic left heart, and is about six months old, and the other has trisomy 18 (one of the effects of which is hypoplastic left heart). It has been hard and good to love and pray for these families as they love their children.

The second family, the Fahmers, know that their son's time is likely very short; only 5% of children with their son's condition live past their first birthday. They have started a blog about their experiences, which I hope will bring Light to parents of terminally ill children - and parents of healthy children.

Last night as Rebecca and I talked about these two hard situations, I thought of J.I. Packer's words in his introduction to A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of Christian Life:

"[T]he Puritans have taught me to see and feel the transitoriness of this life, to think of it, with all its richness, as essentially the gymnasium and dressing-room where we are prepared for heaven, and to regard readiness to die as the first step in learning to live . . . . [T]heir medicine and surgery were rudimentary; they had no aspirins, tranquillisers, sleeping tablets or anti-depressant pills, just as they had no social security or insurance; in a world in which more than half the adult population died young and more than half the children died in infancy, disease, distress, discomfort, pain and death were their constant companions. They would have been lost had they not kept their eyes on heaven and known themselves as pilgrims traveling home to the Celestial City. . . . Few of us, I think, live daily on the edge of eternity in the conscious way that the Puritans did, and we lose out as a result. For the extraordinary vivacity, even hilarity (yes, hilarity; you will find it in the sources), with which the Puritans lived stemmed directly, I believe from the unflinching, matter-of-fact realism with which they prepared themselves for death, so as always to be found, as it were packed up and ready to go. Reckoning with death brought appreciation of each day's continued life, and the knowledge that God would eventually decide, without consulting them, when their work on earth was done brought energy for the work itself while they were still being given time to get on with it. (pp 13-14 emphasis mine)

I think families like the Fahmers can be contemporary Puritans to us, helping us to live daily on the edge of eternity, "packed up and ready to go," whether we and our children are robust and healthy, or terminally ill. May God grant us grace to see His face and live with vivacity, hilarity and energy while He gives us breath.

Trip to the zoo

We enjoyed a visit to the birds (indoors) on a chilly winter day.

The subversive act of prayer

We are blessed in this season of life, with many wonderful friends. For the first time in our lives, several of those close friends are not Christians. As we frequently invite friends to join us in our home for meals, I'm forced to cross a new bridge: how/if to give thanks to Christ for food before we eat. In general, I explain our practice of praying before meals to our guests, and ask if they would permit me to pray before we eat. So far we haven't met with refusal, but it has opened my eyes to how subversive that action is.

In praying to God through Christ before we eat, we are speaking with the living God in front of people who don't know Him, who are by nature (as we were) enemies of God. We are bowing before the One to whom we owe our very existence, when our guests may not acknowledge His existence. Furthermore, if I was invited into the home of a friend who invoked another god before sharing a meal with us, I could not, in good conscience, participate. But that is exactly what I am doing in inviting our guests to pray with us: to participate in speaking to God in Christ.

If I am not mistaken, that 'small' action is potentially very threatening (in both good and bad ways) to our guests. We are calling them to acknowledge a Reality that they deny, by humbly pausing before Him. Regardless of their religion, prayer challenges the most basic assumptions of what is, and what is real. And that can be very threatening - in a way that causes people to clam up in fear, or in a way that opens the door to authentic, transparent communication about the Gospel.

I am finding that in crossing that culture gap, particularly with friends who have young children, it is wise and helpful to invite them to join us, to explain what I'm about to do (so it doesn't seem hokey-pokey, or ritualistic), and to pray - and silently pray that the Spirit would awaken them to the glory of Christ.

Don't do "__________"

Over the past several weeks, Elisabeth has developed a new mannerism. She now frequently tells us what she is not allowed to do, and in doing so demonstrates the proscribed behavior. It is not uncommon for her, without prompting, to say:

"We don't bang our forks on the table" (while shaking her head "no" and banging her fork on the table.

It is all that we can do as parents not to burst out laughing, because it almost never follows on us asking her not to do the particular behavior. It is as if she brainstorms all the actions that she knows she should not do, and then proceeds to tell us (always with demonstration) what would be inappropriate to do at that particular time.

I'm glad that she understands our expectations, and am ready for her to outgrow this mannerism.

Sketching

Elisabeth's artistic abilities have skyrocketed over the past three months or so. She's gone from mostly unintelligible scribbling to writing her own name, several other names, and several familiar words, and drawing pictures that can easily be recognized. This week at her museum class, they looked at Willem de Kooning's work. Elisabeth's sketch was decidedly more representational than de Kooning's.

It's good to be back where I belong

Yesterday we visited Uncle Gordon with Elisabeth's Granddaddy and Grandmummy (who were visiting for the weekend). At the end of a long day, as Rebecca was tucking Elisabeth into bed, Elisabeth looked up and said,

"It's good to be back where I belong."

It is hard to know whether she was speaking of home, or bed.

She doesn't like shots

Today Elisabeth went to the doctor for some immunizations. On the way to the doctor's office, Mommy explained that after their visit they would pick out a treat. Elisabeth quickly replied,

"Don't tell me that!"

Clearly she knew that treats were connected to the endurance of undesirable pricks in the doctor's office.

However, she kept up a brave face throughout the visit until the needles emerged. Then, crying after having received the first shot, she said through her tears:

"I'm crying because I didn't get to finish my painting in art today!"

Where does she come up with these?!

Flashback from pre-blogging days

On April 29, 2006 I wrote:

"I sat Elisabeth on my lap to talk about disobedience.
She said, 'May I have a chocolate after our conversation?'"

On April 5, I recorded:

"Carrying Elisabeth, I asked her to walk.
She replied, 'I don't want to walk.'
'Why?' I asked.
She answered, 'Sometimes I walk into things.'"

I love recalling and laughing over those days!

Poetic license

Tonight we covered the thirty-fourth question in the catechism:

What is not keeping God's law?
Not being or doing what God requires. Luke 10:31

We practiced it with Elisabeth by asking her, "What is not keeping God's law?"
She replied:

"Not being or doing what God acquires."

I tried to explain, "The word is requires, not acquires." To this she returned,

"But I like it better!"

I think that is where poetic license distorts meaning . . .

Seminary of Church and State

"A family is the seminary of Church and State. If children are not well principled at home, then everything miscarries! A error in the first mixture is not mended in the second! If youth are ill-bred in the family, then they will be ill-mannered in Church and society. It is in the home where making or marring of one's character first takes place, which early character is the early presage of their future lives (Proverbs 20:11)." [Thomas Manton, quoted in The Family Worship Book p109]

I find it hard to disagree. Therefore there little more important to Church or society than to equip and hold parents responsible for this high duty.

Coloring in the Met

Aidan, Molly and Elisabeth during Art Class

My Days . . . My Pictures

Elisabeth received a brilliant gift for Christmas called My Days . . . My Pictures. It is a small spiral-bound drawing pad that has a prompt for each day of the year, such as: Draw a picture of yourself. Not only is it fun because there is something new to do every day, but parents can see incremental progress over the course of weeks, months and the entire year. We have noticed changes just within the first eleven days of using it (a great witness to the power of practice!).

One of the prompts in the first week was Draw your Dad. Elisabeth has decided that all the people she draws need to have either a pony tail (on top in a bunch) or pig tails. So, notwithstanding the fact that I don't have long hair, Elisabeth announced:

"I'm drawing Daddy with pigtails!"

I expressed my consternation, and Elisabeth changed her course:

"I'm giving Daddy dreads!"

I hope that the pictures of me eleven months from now will be a closer approximation of my actual appearance.

How good were they?

Tonight we covered the thirty-first question in our catechism:

Were Adam and Eve good when God made them?

The catechism's answer is:

Yes, very good. All that God made was good. Genesis 1:31.

After reciting it several times, Rebecca asked Elisabeth, "Were Adam and Eve good when God made them?"

Elisabeth replied, "Yes."

Not securing the full answer, Mommy asked, "How good?"

"As good as us," Elisabeth replied.

2 years ago

Our 60+ degree weather sure is different from this snow storm
(Elisabeth at 2 years old looking out into Brooklyn)

Early lessons

"Let us look upon every brother who tries or vexes us as God's means of grace, God's instrument for our purification - an opportunity for our exercise of the humility Jesus our Life breathes within us." (Andrew Murray in Humility)

I tend to think of these kinds of insights as only for adults, but they are not. If we teach our children these lessons early, they will be less tried and vexed - and more happy and free. The great challenge of parenting, as I see it, is to communicate these things in language that 3 and 4 year olds can understand - and to manifest the reality in our own lives.

Come Ye Sinners

Recently we have begun including singing in our family worship time (despite the fact that I still can't play the guitar). Our CD player does a much better job than I could.

We started out using one of the songs from the Seeds of Praise album, Praise the Lord (from Psalm 148). I thought that this would be a good fit for Elisabeth as it is Scripture set to upbeat music. However, after about a week of Praise the Lord, she picked up one of my CDs, Indelible Grace, and asked if we could sing Come Ye Sinners, a great old hymn set to new music.

So for the last week or so, we have been singing Come Ye Sinners every night, while Elisabeth follows along the lyrics with her finger. That experience has made me even more grateful for rich hymns and the context that they give to explain and impress the truth of the Gospel. Each verse is an exposition of that great and glorious truth: "not the righteous, not the righteous; sinners Jesus came to call."

What better way to plant the great truths of the Gospel than through song?

Seven-oh-zero

For the past several days, Elisabeth has been getting up long before sunrise, and wanting the attention of her parents. She knows that seven o'clock is the time to wake up, and she has a digital clock in her room so that she doesn't have to ask us if it is time yet. So yesterday (clearly already awake), she triumphantly said,

"It is seven oh zero!"

Today was even better. She slept right past seven!

Sleeping troubles

After a wonderful season of going to bed at 7pm and rising at 7am, Elisabeth is waking in the night. Some of her memorable lines from the past two nights:

"There are tigers in my room."

"Can shadows bite?"

Skating

Last year Elisabeth was able to stand on skates on the ice without falling. This year she's skating forward!

Childhood is brief

"Childhood is brief, and without some guidance a child may miss what is quality reading and never discover the pleasure of a well-written book" (Gladys Hunt in Honey for a Child's Heart).

One of the consequences of the current ease of printing is that there are many children's books in print that are simply not worth reading. So when teachers say, "The most important thing you can do is read with your child," (like I did), that is only half of the story. If you go the library and take a book at random, it is likely that it is not good literature - if my public library is any measure. As Hunt says, "That's why book lists are helpful." Giving parents a book list provides a shortcut to books that will capture their imaginations and their hearts, and give them a hunger to devour really good children's literature. Once the cycle is begun, it tends not to need as much encouragement. If the first venture to the library is met by books that are less than captivating, then it is likely that the parent will pick up the remote control and turn on the television rather than traipsing out to the library again.

One such list is Jim Trelease's. Gladys Hunt also has a wonderful list in Honey for a Child's Heart.

Bad parents

"I cannot suppose that you are such a stranger in England as to be ignorant of the general complaint concerning the decay in the power of godliness, and especially of the great corruption of youth. Wherever you go, you will hear men crying out about how bad youth are. But indeed the source of the problem must be sought a little higher: it is bad parents that make bad children! We cannot blame children so much for their unruliness, for the greater weight of the blame lies in our own negligence in their education." (Thomas Manton, Epistle to the Reader of the Westminster Confessions of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms, reprinted in The Family Worship Book p109)

It appears from Manton's comments (circa 1647), that the problem of parenting is not a new one, and that then, as now, society was slow to locate responsibility with parents for the education and formation of their children. So his statement is very bold: "it is bad parents that make bad children!" I dare say it is more bold now than then to make such a claim, but no less true. Further, I think that his approach is right not to point the finger at others, but to frame it as confession: "the greater blame lies in our own negligence in their education."

Nor did Manton stop with confession and wallowing in the bad condition of parenting. The Epistle was bound with the Westminster Confession and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, because he was convinced that the application and use of these by parents was the remedy for their situation. I think we would do well to learn from him on all three levels: acknowledging the failure of parenting, confessing our sin, and repenting by taking hold of the resources provided for the instruction of our children.

The Family Worship Book

Before reading Family Driven Faith, I hadn't thought much about the difference between family devotions and family worship. Voddie Baucham primed the pump so that when someone offered to buy me a book for Christmas, I knew precisely what kind of book I wanted. Through some helpful reviews on Amazon, I found The Family Worship Book, which I am pleased to commend just as strongly as they did.

For those who are unconvinced of the importance not merely of Biblical instruction in the home, but of regular family worship, this book provides a helpful and brief overview of why Christians in generations past have considered it indispensable. The author, Terry Johnson, is quite forthright in tracing his heritage to the Westminster Confessions and Catechisms - and provides explanation for why he leans on them so heavily (which you will probably see popping up in my quotables in the days to come). I think his argument is compelling for those who are already sensitive to the issues (as I was), and I think would be very challenging to someone who has not considered the responsibilities of family worship.

Many books are good at casting vision without providing any practical resources for doing so, and I am pleased to say that such is not the case with The Family Worship Book. The author is diligent to outline what he sees as the important elements of family worship, and then offers a sample liturgy for how to conduct family worship. In addition, he includes:

• two catechisms, sans proof texts (including the Westminster Shorter Catechism)
• a great list of hymns and psalms (sadly without scores, although he recommends several CDs that have numerous of the psalms and hymns on them)
• a list of 50 important passages for memorization (including great OT texts)
• a family reading record that uses a harmonization approach for reading with young children
• a great selection of Scriptures for call to worship, and confession (reprinted, so you don't have to look them all up)
• the Apostles', Nicene, and Westminster creeds
• and a recommended pattern for introducing (and reviewing) psalms/hymns, memorization passages, and the creeds.

With a few bookmarks, this is a rich resource for beginning to practice family worship rather than just talking about its importance. I haven't yet found a better book to call and equip parents to lead their families in fellowship with Christ.

Core curriculum

Is it or is it not the case that every human being exists for the joy of eternal fellowship with God and must face the possibility of missing that mark, forfeiting that prize? If it is the case, it ought to be part of the core curriculum in every school. It will not do to say that the determination of character by the structure of the DNA molecule is a fact that any child must learn to understand, but that the determination of all proper human purposes for the glory of God is an opinion that anyone is free to accept or reject. The question of which is the real word simply cannot be permanently evaded. There can be no genuinely missionary encounter of the gospel with our culture unless we face these questions. (Lesslie Newbigin Foolishness to the Greeks p67)

I love reading Newbigin. He has the ability to make clear what our culture sees as murky - and helps me think though what is involved in raising children to see that DNA can describe a great many things, but cannot explain them by giving them purpose.

Ice Skating

Happy New Year!

Connectogons

Elisabeth received a set of "connectogons" for Christmas, which she loves. I've tried to find them online and can't find them at all. Has anyone else heard of them? They're fantastic!

Little churches

"The families of Christians should be little churches."
(Richard Baxter in his Christian Directory, quoted in The Family Worship Book p17)

As I am reading through The Family Worship Book, I find Baxter's claim ringing true. If the family functions as a little church in regular worship, confession, prayer, reading, instruction and catechism, would not the church benefit greatly?

If it would not only benefit the church, but is in fact the responsibility of parents, then what greater service could the Church offer than to equip parents to lead its "little churches"? The Church would be rightly shifting the responsibility for spiritual nurture back to parents and equipping them to fulfill that responsibility.

I see the consequences spiraling:

1. Parents realize the gravity of parenting.
2. Parents pray daily with their children and for their children.
3. Children grow to understand worship as a daily, not weekly, activity.
4. Children daily see their parents confess sin and worship Christ.
   
5. The worship of many families (on Sundays) mirrors and reinforces the worship of the "little churches."
6. Suddenly children's "programs" are not as critical.
   
7. Children participating in Sunday worship (rather than going out to their programs) is more normal, because they are learning to worship every day of the week.

I can't think of a negative consequence!

Ardor for Order

"Puritan teachers thought humane family life, in which Christian love and joy would find full and free expression, could not be achieved till the ordered pattern they envisage - the regular authority-structure and daily routine - had been firmly established. Their passion to please God expressed itself in an ardor for order; their vision of the good and godly life was of a planned, well-thought-out flow of activities in which all obligations were recognized and met, and time was found for everything that mattered: for personal devotion, for family worship, for household tasks, for wage-earning employment, for intimacy with spouse and children, for Sabbath rest, and whatever else one's calling or callings required" (J.I. Packer A Quest for Godliness p 273, quoted in The Family Worship Book p18)

Although I have read A Quest for Godliness (and highly recommend it as an excellent overview of the Puritans), I found this quotation in The Family Worship Book extremely helpful in pushing me to make time, particularly in the new year, for those things that matter most.

Merry Christmas!

Reading Paddington

Elisabeth found the best place to read the adventures of Paddington Bear: in Uncle Gordon's lap.

Nap time after party time

After her birthday party on Saturday, Elisabeth and Uncle Gordon were ready for a nap.

Making ornaments

Elisabeth had a blast making ornaments out of pine cones.

A birthday without a post?

How could I neglect to record and celebrate my daughter's birthday? Well, she got sick at preschool (which meant an early trip, and abbreviated in-class celebration), and we came home to find that the roof had sprung a leak. So there was not much time for anything.

Now the roof is patched, and Elisabeth is in bed, so there is a bit of time.

I have loved the past year for a multitude of reasons:

• Bedtime is now a peaceful, happy routine.
• Bathing is happy, as getting water in your eyes isn't the end of the world.
• Elisabeth loves to help: cleaning, doing dishes, etc.
• She can make responsible decisions.
• She can make a polite request instead of falling to pieces.
• She can enjoy a book that doesn't have pictures on every page.
• She can solve problems rather than simply reporting them.
• She can share, even when she'd rather not.
• She initiates sharing!
• We can enjoy talking about a shared experience.
• She is even more affectionate and articulate. (Elisabeth regularly comes up to one of us, unprompted, and says, "I love you, Mommy [or Daddy]!")

I am so thankful for my daughter, and for her fourth year of life. What a wonderful gift of grace!

4 years ago....

Tomorrow Elisabeth turns 4....

We didn't worship yet!

In an attempt to move from bed-time Bible reading to family worship, we have been using the Seeds of Praise CD to sing our worship. (I'm hoping that our family worship time will push me to learn to play the guitar that I was given two years ago . . . and still can't play.)

Last night we were late in getting Elisabeth to bed, and I announced, "OK, time for bed!" to which Elisabeth responded,

"We didn't worship yet!"

O how I want that to continue, so that she eagerly anticipates our worship time each evening!

Catechism music

Elisabeth is addicted to a catechism bootleg. It is a recording from a preschool in Tennessee, and is very, very good. So most nights she listens to it as she goes to sleep.

I saw another music catechism product from Monergism today. I'm not sure that the musical quality will be as good as the bootleg, but it is good to know that others are actively putting these great questions in the format that children learn fastest: music.

Playing memory with Uncle Roger

I have the best in-laws!

Last week Rebecca and I took a 3-day getaway to celebrate her birthday - while Elisabeth stayed with her grandparents. I thought that it was very kind of my in-laws to be willing to take care of her for that time. But when we made the handoff, I was even more amazed that they had packed a basket of treats for us for our getaway! We were spoiled - and grateful.

I have the best in-laws!

We were gone for several years

We spent about two weeks on the road spanning Thanksgiving (which is one of the reasons I have been so sparse in posting). When we returned home Elisabeth announced:

"We were gone for several years!"

Clearly she has grasped that a 'year' is a long time, even if she hasn't quite figured out just how long it is.

A commandment always practiced

This evening I was talking with a friend about spiritual lethargy that we are both experiencing. As we talked, I realized that I receive so much wise counsel from John Owen on overcoming sin and temptation. I opened up his book and my gaze fell on this sentence:

"A commandment that is always practiced is always new . . ." (379)

There is a wonderful remedy for my lethargy: to practice! He continues:

"And he that really improves [practices] gospel truths, though he hears them a thousand times, they will be always new and fresh unto him, because they put him on newness of practice; when to another, that grows common [bored] under them, they are burdensome and common unto him, and he even loathes the manna that he is so accustomed to." (ibid.)

How good it is to have wise counselors who point me back to such simple, true spirituality.

That smile

Believe it or not, it is getting harder and harder to capture a genuine smile. I'm just not quick enough on the trigger. But this one made me smile.

Noel Calendar

Last year my sister-in-law told me about the Noel Calendar put out by Desiring God. It was too late in the Advent season to use it by the time I got it, but I packed it away for this year. I took it out tonight (thanks to my wife, who found where I had tucked it away) and Elisabeth and I did the first three days of the calendar together.

I was delighted to see how she engaged so readily with something that she could see and touch, which would help her connect with the story of the Invisible God, who became a baby to be seen and touched. I pray that this Advent she (and I) will be in awe of our God who was born among animals.

Family Driven Faith

"You are not likely to see any general reformation, till you procure family reformation. Some little religion there may be here and there; but while it is confined to single persons, and is not promoted in families, it will not prosper, nor promise future increase" (Richard Baxter quoted in Family Driven Faith p213)

Baxter's wise observation is the foundation of this book. Clearly Voddie Baucham has internalized the necessity of "family reformation," the turning of the family together to Christ. Furthermore, he does not write without experience. Having grown up in a single parent home, and then raising three children in a faithful marriage, Baucham is not naive. He knows the challenges, and what is at stake.

I highly recommend his section on family worship (pages 139-148) which makes a strong case for the importance of family worship, and offers practical encouragement for how to establish the practice in a home that doesn't have a history of family worship. I was convicted afresh of my own need to move from Bible reading and prayer routine into family worship that incorporates reading, prayer, dialogue (through catechism) and worship. It became very apparent to me that the centrality of worship in family life can have an entirely different tone than even faithful reading and prayer may produce. Now I need to put it into practice!

I also recommend the final chapter, A Radical Departure from the Norm, not as a prescription for how to change, but as a helpful glimpse into family-integrated church. He identifies the following distinctives of family-integrated church:

1. Families worship together (rather than sending kids out during the service)
2. No systematic segregation (worship, discipleship and evangelism are age diverse)
3. Evangelism and discipleship in and through homes (through daily family worship)
4. Emphasis on education as a key component of discipleship (i.e. private or home schooling)

For me, it was an eye-opening glimpse into another possible way of worship, discipleship and evangelism.

Unfortunately, I can't recommend this book without qualification. The author is very opinionated, and makes statements that go much farther than I would go. So for those who are easily offended, I wouldn't recommend this book. If you can sift well (and aren't easily riled), this book is a helpful one for encouraging parents lead their children into the knowledge of God.

Can I have this please?

Elisabeth found an appealing looking can in the grocery store with a cartoon drawing on it, and brought it to Mommy.

"Mommy, can I have this please?" (She remembered her manners.)
"No, sweetheart, that's dog food."
"But I want it!" (Manners fading . . .)
"Sweetheart, that food is for dogs."
"But I like it!" (Good-bye manners.)

Clearly the advertising people missed their market on this one.

Changing seasons

Elisabeth found a brilliantly red tree!

E-X-I-T . . . exit!

Today Elisabeth picked up a book and read, "E-X-I-T . . . exit!" Rebecca and I looked at each other to ask, "Did you teach her that word?" and we both shrugged our shoulders at the same time.

I don't think we're far from being frequently surprised by the words she can decode.

Family walk

Elisabeth often asks to go on a family walk, which not infrequently looks like this.

Do you know why I like my church?

Overheard, talking with Grandmummy:

"Do you know why I like my church? I like it because of the people."

What a great reminder of how the church represents Christ to the youngest among us.

Why do we "repent"?

Last week I was doing catechism questions with Elisabeth from My First Book of Questions, and came to the question, What does it mean to repent?

After we had discussed the question and answer, I asked Elisabeth, 'Why do we repent?', to which she promptly responded,

"To get dessert!"

Earlier that evening at the table, she had had a bad attitude, and I had told her that it needed to change if she was going to join us for dessert. She changed her attitude, and finished her food - and clearly internalized the reason for her repentance. Her transparent answer showed what many of us exhibit: no hatred of sin or desire to be done with it. Yet that very honesty provides the opportunity for true repentance to occur.

The Plymouth Thanksgiving

I'm terrible about finding good books to help Elisabeth understand holidays. I always wait until the last minute, and then find the library shelves empty of quality literature. However, this time there was still The Plymouth Thanksgiving on the shelves. Though it is a long read for Elisabeth, it does a great job of setting the context of the first Thanksgiving, based on William Bradford's diary. I learned a lot in reading it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

That lady is not being loving . . .

Elisabeth was just reading a book with her aunt Haley. On opposite pages of the book, loving and unloving characters were contrasted, and Elisabeth observed:

"That lady is not being loving, but she is pretty!"

Already at 3, she is noticing the things that people value: appearance, performance, and virtue. How I want her to value them in the right order!

Overcoming Sin and Temptation

When I arrived home from my travels last weekend, I told my wife, "I finished Overcoming Sin and Temptation!" (It is the book that I completed, and not the struggle!)

I first read John Owen at full length in The Glory of Christ, and found the experience to be both challenging and richly rewarding. In all honesty, I would say that Overcoming Sin and Temptation is just as rewarding as The Glory of Christ, but (at least for me) more challenging reading.

So why tackle 407 pages of small print, precise language and archaic syntax? Owen has such a clear view of the glory of Christ, the nature of the Gospel, and how to wage war on indwelling sin that on almost every page I was struck with fresh insight. On the very subject Owen notes:

"Growing in notions of truth without answerable practice is another thing that indwelling sin makes use of to bring the souls of believers unto a decay. . . . By this means, from humble, close walking, have many withered into an empty, barren, talking profession. . . . And generally this is so when men content themselves, as was said, with the notions of truth, without laboring after an experience of the power of them in their hearts, and the bringing forth the fruit of them in their lives, on which a decay must needs ensue" (p386).

He did not intend people to read his writings just to get insight; in fact he saw it as potentially destructive! Rather he wrote a theological treatise on how to kill that which can take what is good and make it deadly to us. There are few authors that I have found that so successful navigate the course to faithful doctrine and faithful practice. It would seem that this very reality is the reason that Owen wrote: there was much true profession without answerable practice, and much falling away, even in the midst of true doctrine:

"This is indwelling sin. So wonderfully powerful, so effectually poisonous it is, that it can bring leanness on the souls of men in the midst of all precious means of growth and flourishing. It may well make us tremble, to see men living under and in the means of the gospel, preaching, praying, administration of the sacraments, and yet grow colder every day than others in zeal for God, more selfish and worldly, even habitually to decline as to the degrees of holiness which they had attained to." (p370)

Those are sober words; and yet Owen is convinced that through the Gospel we are given everything we need for life and godliness, which he presses on believers with tremendous force.

It is this reality, the insidious power of sin and the glorious power of the Gospel, that makes such difficult reading worthwhile. After reading Owen, I see how trifling vast swaths of contemporary Christian literature (and my own writing!) are. We simply don't have the acquaintance with indwelling sin, or the Gospel, that Owen had. So, from three centuries ago, he offers timely warnings, and powerful counsel.

I can't escape from commenting on how I read Owen as a parent. I no longer read simply for myself; all of my reading is for my family as well as myself. I have found no one better (yes, I think he is even more helpful than Jonathan Edwards) for treating the subtleties of our hearts, and applying the gospel remedies. Dozens of times in the course of reading this book (which has been at least six months), I have been corrected in my parenting, though Owen rarely makes direct references to the responsibilities of parents. In fact, I think someone should apply Owen's theology (which is simply careful, practical, Biblical systematics) to child-rearing. Any takers?

Tying her shoes

This week, Elisabeth insisted that she could tie her own shoes. In some sense, I think she was right.

Parenting in the Pew

Our Sunday school class has been reading Parenting in the Pew by Robbie Castleman, as a discussion-starter for parents.

In this sphere, I think it succeeds. Castleman raises some of the major issues of teaching children to worship, and offers some of her own experiences for insight into how to do it. I must admit that it made me much more conscious of how I was leading Elisabeth into worship last week in our Sunday service - and exposed a number of my bad habits. This book is great for getting parents (and others) thinking actively about how we teach our children to worship Christ.

I wouldn't, however, commend this book as the How to of teaching children to worship. Many of her examples are historically and culturally bound, and don't translate perfectly to other circumstances. I don't think that these qualities are reasons not to recommend the book, just words of fair warning for what you will find.

If anyone has recommendations of books that provide helpful recommendations of how to, please share!

Honey for a Child's Heart

Where The Read Aloud Handbook fell short, Honey for a Child's Heart excels. It commends the value of literature for capturing the imagination and shaping character far more than the Handbook. Whereas Jim Trelease sees reading (aloud and silently) as the crux of education, Gladys Hunt presents them as the crucible of character formation.

Like the Handbook, Honey is divided into two parts: expository text, and literature recommendations. The entire book is shaped by this conviction:

"You cannot bully people into appreciating what is true and good and beautiful." (p95)

The necessary corollary is that parents have the responsibility for winsomely presenting what is good, true and beautiful to their children. Hunt contends that literature is one great vehicle of achieving this end, and I think she succeeds in her case. I found myself remembering from my childhood many of the books she referenced, and I found myself longing to explore others that I missed out on.

I found her writing so compelling and inspiring that it made me want to homeschool not from any dissatisfaction with other means of education, but just because I want to have the privilege of soaking Elisabeth, and any other children God gives us, in great literature.

I'll leave you with her presuppositions (which I share):

"Underlying all of this discussion is my thesis that parents who read widely together with their children are going to be those who most influence their children, who have the largest worldview, who have an uncommon delight in what is good and true and beautiful - and an uncommon commitment to it. Sharing and feeling and talking together will come naturally. Books shared with each other provide that kind of climate." (p99)

The Jesus Story Book Bible

We're always looking for good children's Bibles. Right now, we are reading through The Jesus Story Book Bible right now (on loan from a friend, who has ours), and have to admit it is with mixed results. I should preface that by saying that we love The Big Picture Story Bible, which I have read through well over a dozen times with Elisabeth.

The Jesus Story Book Bible does a great job of prefiguring Christ through the stories of the Old Testament. That is the tremendous virtue of the book. The downside is that I wouldn't characterize it as great literature. Maybe after one or two really thorough revisions it could arrive at the place where all the words are well-chosen; but it is not there yet.

Now that I think about it, the reason that I so much prefer The Big Picture Story Bible to The Jesus Story Book Bible is the theological bias of each. The Big Picture takes the Kingdom of God as the central motif, and clearly tells the Gospel, with remarkable economy of language, through that lens. The Jesus Story Book treats 'God as lover' as the central motif, and often drifts into Sleeping Beauty type language (and in my opinion misrepresents the nature of God's desire for human beings).

So in my opinion, the scales are balanced on the Jesus Story Book: great prefiguring, but sloppy language and theology. In some ways far better than standard children's Bibles, but in some ways missing the mark. I highly recommend The Big Picture Story Bible for its rich literary and theological quality, and I'd encourage you to check out the Jesus Story Book and see if I'm overly critical!

The Read Aloud Handbook

Last weekend I had the privilege of traveling for business and pleasure. I took every advantage of the time in on the bus, in the airport, and on the plane to devour books that had been collecting dust for the past month or two. I was able to finish off several that I have been working on, and want to commend some of them to you.

The Read Aloud Handbook makes the case that parents reading aloud to children is the linchpin of successful education. Jim Trelease, very well acquainted with school policy and politics, and research on reading development, contends that reading to and with children throughout their years in the home fosters a love for reading, facility with ideas, critical thinking skills and open horizons.

For those who aren't convinced that parental reading plays a key role in their children's lives, I commend this book. For those who are already convinced, I commend the second half of the book, which is a treasury of recommendations for reading aloud. It will save you wading through many pieces of poor literature in an attempt to find good books for your kids.

In addition to his case for reading aloud, Trelease also offers creative ideas for establishing patterns of sustained silent reading, how to use the television to enhance literacy, and how to use audio books to enable children to enjoy literature that would prove difficult reading. His tips are practical and helpful, and I commend this book to parents and teachers alike.