Pearls of Encouragement for Christian Working Moms
August 2008 Edition
Welcome
Blog/Online Bible Study
Coaching Tips
Article – How to have Family Devotion Time
Final Thoughts
Welcome
I’m sorry the August edition is
a little late in getting out this month.August is
usually a busy month for me. My children start school
on August 19th. Welcome to all our new CWMs, may you
find encouragement here and on the CWM Blog. I have
to share a funny story with you about our vacation.
I am originally from the state of Kentucky in the
United States. Kentucky is famous for horses. The
problem is I don’t like riding horses. My children
and husband decided we should ride horses on vacation
in the mountains of Kentucky. So, I reluctantly agreed
to go along. The trail was up and down hills and around
sharp turns. The ride lasted 45 minutes (seemed like
2 hours). Here is the funny part. My children knew
the names of their horses, Chief and Barney. I was
not told the name of my horse when we left on the
ride. When we got back my children asked me to find
out the name of my horse. His name, are you ready?!,
was CRAZY!! Some things are better off not being known.
Anyway, I survived the horse ride, although I was
sore. I did not fall off Crazy which was a very good
thing. Hope you had a good time with your family this
summer.
CWM Blog/Online Bible Study
Please visit the CWM Blog at http://christianworkingmoms.blogspot.com.
Several people have posted questions and would like
responses. You can find those questions in the Open
Comment section. The CWM Online Bible Study can be
found at http://cwmbiblestudy.blogspot.com.
I hope to add another lesson soon, maybe after my
children are back in school.
CWM Coaching Tips
Do you find it hard to take time to
memorize or study scripture? Then, CWM Coaching Tips
are for you. You will receive an email daily with
a short devotional and a Bible verse to memorize weekly.
To find out more go to: http://www.kimberlychastain.com/cwmtips.htm.
Article – How to Have a Family
Devotion Time
I love the quote I read in a bulletin
once, “Blessed is the family who begins family
devotions again.” I could relate to that comment.
Before we discuss how to have a family devotion time
we need to ask the question, “Why should we
have a family devotion?”. In Proverbs 22:6 we
read, “Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.”
CWMs churches cannot be the only ones teaching our
children about God. We need to teach them the other
6 days of the week.
For many of us the idea of family devotions
may seem time consuming or you don’t know what
you should do. Yet, there is nothing more important
than teaching our children about God.
I would like to give you some ideas
based on the ages of your children.
Birth – Age 2
Even infants can hear about God’s love. You
can sing songs like Jesus Loves Me to your children
as your rock them to sleep. When you talk with them
in the car you can point out how God made the trees,
etc. When your children are around age 1 or a little
older you can get them a small children’s book
of Bible stories and read one story before going to
bed. My children had certain stories that were there
favorites and we read them each night.
Age 3-5
Children this age can begin to learn how to pray.
At night when you are putting them to bed you can
say let’s tell God what we are thankful for.
I would start by saying thank you God for ___________
and my children would fill in the blank. You will
hear some very funny and wonderful things to be thankful
for. You can still at this age get a children’s
Bible story book to read as well.
Ages 6-9
An excellent website I have found that is for several
ages is
www.heritagebuilders.com.
They have tools to help you with family devotions.
One is the Family Night Tool Chest. Your family acts
out or does an activity that can relate back to a
Biblical principal. The activities are fun and make
a lasting impression on your children.
You can also find devotional books for children at
most Christian bookstores. You can begin deepening
their faith at this age and also pointing out their
sin and need for a Savior. You can begin memorizing
Bible verses together. Children this age can memorize
better than us adults.
Ages 9-12
During these ages you need to begin studying the Scripture
more in depth with your child. You can pick a book
of the Bible to read and buy a simple easy commentary
like Shepherd’s Notes. They have a commentary
for each book of the Bible. You can read a few verses,
or allow your children to read the verses, then read
the explanation from the Shepherd’s notes. (You
can view Shepherd’s notes here).
Continue with Bible verse memorization
Ages 12 -18
At these ages family devotions are still very important,
yet children also now need to be developing their
own quiet time. You can help them with that by getting
special devotional books for teens.
There are many out there at the Christian Bookstores.
Here are a few samples you can look at by clicking
here. You could even let your teen lead the devotion
time one night. Teens may balk at wanting to do devotions,
but it is still an important thing to do.
What really do I mean by a family devotion
time? Taking 15 minutes to read scripture and talk
about what you have read. We need to hide God’s
Word in our hearts. You can do it before children
go to bed. You can do it at the dinner table after
dinner. You can take opportunities in your drive to
work and school to talk about God things. When difficult
situations arise at school you can talk about how
to handle it as a Christian and what does the Bible
say to do.
You may be thinking to yourself I’m
afraid to do this or I didn’t grow up in a Christian
home. God will be helping you and He lives in you.
You will grow as well as you teach the Bible to your
children. In James 1:5 we read, “If any of you
lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously
to all without finding fault, and it will be given
to him.” God will give you the wisdom to teach
your children.
Believe me my family has not always
been faithful to do family devotions. Hectic schedules
get in the way and it is easy to give up. Yet, I take
comfort in the quote from the beginning, “Blessed
is the family who starts family devotions again.”
God is faithful even when we are not. Truly, there
is nothing more important than talking to my children
about God.
Visit the CWM blog at http://christianworkingmoms.blogspot.com
and share your own stories about family devotions.
Try this week to spend time with your family teaching
and talking about God.
Final Thoughts
Our family horseback ride will be great
family memory. Be willing to risk new things and make
a fool of yourself in front of your children. They
will have stories to tell their children one day.
Smile and laugh more with your children.
Till next time,
Kimberly M. Chastain
