I don’t often share specifics about my spiritual journey. While I try to make it clear what I believe, I certainly don’t feel like I have any authority to tell others how to be faithful since I’m still figuring it out myself.
That being said, THIS ONE is a good one. Keith read an article a while back about encouraging people to write in their bibles and pass them down generation to generation, allowing you to aid your children in their spiritual journey in a personal way. Keith used that article to come up with this idea and I’m so excited and optimistic about it!
We are taking that idea and making it intentional. We are far from perfect parents, but we pray to teach our kid’s about Christ and prepare them to develop a relationship with Christ and a faith that is completely their own. You see, I truly believe, and I’ve learned first hand, that you can’t rely on your parent’s faith (or anyone else’s) to get you through. I think this is one of the reasons we see so many young adults leaving the church. They’ve never made their faith truly their own. They’ve relied on people. And PEOPLE ALWAYS LET YOU DOWN.
Anyway, Kassy’s sermon minute aside, this is our idea and our mission:
First, we bought each of our kids a bible: Hard Back Journal Bibles to be exact. Hardback so that it would hold up longer and journal so that there was plenty of space to annotate! I got this one from She Read’s Truth for Kate. I love the taupe color! And Keith bought this black one for Max.
We decided that Keith will do one for Max and I’ll do one for Kate. We might switch eventually so that they’ll have notes from both of us, but we love the idea of tightening the bond between father and son and mother and daughter.
For Christmas, mom gifted all of her kid’s The Bible Study. It’s a study designed to take you through the entire bible in a year. It’s not only a great study with amazing reviews but it’s also aesthetically please. And while that’s not extremely important, it certainly doesn’t hurt! I imagine it will take me longer than a year to go through the study because it’s a LOT of reading and I’m a mom of 2, but I’m optimistic about it.
I started mine last week. I began by writing a heartfelt note in the inside cover. I thought about sharing it and went back and forth. It is personal, but I also thought it might inspire you guys (I sobbed while writing it). It’s short and sweet, but it came from my heart. I also thought sharing it here would be good in case something ever happened to this bible. So here goes:
“Kate, Your journey as a Christian and as a daughter of Christ will be the hardest, most rewarding, and most important of your life. I pray we have prepared you to find a faith that is completely your own. This is truly all I want for you, my daughter.
We are embarking on this journey together, in a way. This will be my first time reading through the entire bible. I hope my experience aids you in yours. The study I am using was gifted to me by my mom and so this feels full circle for me.
Allow this book to be the light that guides your life and the sword that protects you. I love you always, Mom. “
From there, I’ll being doing exactly what I said. Going through the bible cover to cover. Reading it all and unpacking it for myself. As I do, I am making small notes, highlighting my favorite verses, and writing out short prayers, all with Kate in mind. It’s a bit different from just taking notes because I’m choosing to be intentional. Writing things that I hope Kate remembers or sees while reading the word.
A few examples:
At Genesis 1:1, I wrote: “God IS, has been, and always will be. Be comforted by the knowledge that he is, knows, sees all”
At the creation of Woman, I wrote: “I am WOMAN, hear me ROAR!” (lol)
I highlighted God’s promise to never flood the earth and drew a rainbow.
Those are just quick examples but my hope is that having my writing, thoughts, and prayers along side her while she reads and studies the bible will encourage her and comfort her.
I also plan on writing a few of my ‘big questions’ in the margins. I want to encourage her to dig deep, ask questions, and ask God for answers.
There are so many hopes, dreams, ideas that I have for this project but these are a few to get you started! I hope this idea inspires you to be intentional with your kids as well. None of us are perfect parents, but our hearts and our intentions are important.
I believe God wants to see our effort, however flawed. We are NOT enough as women, as parents, as people on our own. But HE IS! I plan to ride God’s coat tails through this thing called life, striving to know him better, be more like him, and love my children like he loves me.
Below, I put all of my thoughts into this little video!
