Friday, 20 January 2012

Blessings Every Day!

Every week day morning, Mark gets the kids up at 7.30am and they all have breakfast together before he leaves for work at eight (and yes, he is a wonderful Daddy but that is a whole other post!). It is a really sweet time for them to chat about the day to come, the meaning of life, whether Lily gets to wear a dress that day, where butterflies sleep, and other such important issues - I love to overhear their chatter! It is a time the kids really love to spend with their Dad and if he has to leave for work early they are so disappointed (just left with good old Mum!).

For Christmas, my lovely parents-in-law gave the kids this gorgeous little book called Blessings Everyday - 365 simple devotions for the very young. It is completely precious and well-written, and perfectly suited for the age of the kids (well, let's be honest, Lily!). So as a new addition to an already sweet routine, Mark has been reading them one of the devotions each morning while they munch their Vegemite toast. They love it! Then they have a chance to discuss the topic and of course Lily asks questions and Eli shouts out 'Babbieeeeeeees' if he can manage to spot a picture of one (or anyone under the age of 25) in the book! Lily usually fills me in later on her take on things.


The topics are such things as Being Kind, Telling the Truth, Being a Helper, When you feel Scared, God's Promises etc - just one page with a Bible verse, a picture, a paragraph of text and a little poem - just perfect! The beauty is that at this age we will be able to just start the book all over again next year and I'm sure it will all seem just like new once more, haha!! When the topic was about God always being there for you, Lily excitedly added that she had four people to always look after her - 'God, Jesus, Mummy and Daddy... oh and Nana!' Lol.... 

I am thrilled at this special new part of their breakfast routine, little seeds of values, faith and truth being planted in their hearts each morning to help guide their day and perhaps even their lives.

On a related note, I am really enjoying capturing the regular rhythms of our day through this project! I thought I would focus more on the big fun things - outings and visitors and activities - but instead for now I am so happy to record those simple little routines that make up so much of our lives and would perhaps be forgotten in years to come. The moments, routines and way we live that I think in the end will be so much more meaningful than those 'out of the ordinary' times (as much as I love those too!)... isn't there something just a little bit extraordinary and magical in the everyday? What we do and how we live through these seemingly mundane moments I think will be much more telling than just the 'big moments' I would usually remember to capture. Hence the beauty of this challenge to Document Delight!

7 comments:

  1. What a great book! We have 2 children's bibles, but not a devo and I have to say, sometimes I get stuck on topics for little ones (when it's for bible class). Lack of imagination in distilling God's word, m'fraid. So this is great! Raiding Koorong soon...

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    1. yeah i was thinking - how could they manage 365 topics but flipping through they have done an amazing job breaking so many things down into easy subjects... lol, im the same, let them do the hard work of thinking it all out ;)

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  2. Thats a fantastic morning routine! Such a wonderful thing to do :)

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  3. Oh so beautiful. I will have to keep my eye out for that book- do you happen to know where your folks found it?

    I love these kind of routines- we have scriptures before bed, but I want to implement a spiritual devotional in the morning. Such wonderful seed you are planting in your kiddies hearts:) I loved these kind of routines as a child.

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    1. Hi Fiona - you can get it at the christian bookshop Koorong - or even online - just found it here! http://www.koorong.com/search/product/view.jhtml?code=1859854451
      Yes, its a lovely routine and hopefully a great memory for the kids too! sounds like you have some gorgeous routines already happening too! x

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  4. You know I was impressed with this little book/routine when I saw it this week :) Love too that your lovely husband is spending this time with the kids in the morning.

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    1. i know, its a sweet time for them all! thanks for pointing it out as an idea to capture too xx

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