During lock down, we have been reading the same books over and over again. And two things have struck me.
First, no matter how many times you read the Bible, those stories never get old! My 9th month old son, Malachi, loves being swallowed by the whale (me!), and being spat out onto the beach (our sofa!). We have knocked down the walls of Jericho and the foolish man’s house numerous times whilst playing bricks. And we regularly try and walk on the water of our paddling pool! Each time I reach to pull Malachi out of the water I am reminded, and remind him, of the fact God is always there to lift us our of the water.
The word of God is living and active. No matter where you are or what you are doing, there is always a Bible story or verse that speaks to it.
Second, no matter what story you are reading, you can make a God version! There is a set of books for babies called, “That’s not my…” books*. As you go through the books, each page goes something like.. “That’s not my bear its paws are too rough”, it is sensory so you can feel the rough paws. On the last page the reader claims the character e.g. “That’s my bear its tummy is so fluffy”. The kids love them, but they are very repetitive, especially when you only have one or two versions!
We have turned the idea in repeating lines into God truths. We tell a God story. “That’s my God, He loves me!” “That’s my God, He made that tree.” That’s my God, He is with me.” And so we go on because, there is no end to the story that, That’s my God!
Tabitha is Mum to Malachi and an Inspire Missioner based near Chester in the UK. She is also the Lead Missioner for the inspire4kids team who seek to equip, support and resource children, families, and leaders in the Inspire vision for missional discipleship. Find our more about inspire4kids HERE.
- That’s not my… books are published by Usbourne and available from booksellers. Remember that you choose to order a book from Amazon, starting your order at AMAZON SMILE will benefit the Inspire Movement.
