Even Before He Can Remember

I've (Kari) recently read Noel Piper's book "Treasuring God in our Traditions".  I recommend it to any mother.  She has spurred our family on in a number of ways to think about traditions.  My favorite one recently has been Liam's "tradition" of daily time with God.  I know, he's only 9 months. But he has been spending daily time with God now for a couple of months, and often he is more consistent than I am.  

Noel writes when speaking of her children's daily time with God, "It takes only a few seconds of thought to realize that it is smarter to get a three-year-old started with good lifetime habits than to spring a new regimen on a teenager.  One old saying is, "As the twig is bent, so grows the tree."  Wise Solomon said with the authority of Scripture, "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6).  Why would we wait to train up children in this essential discipline?..."

Thank you Noel for speaking such wise words to this young mother.  Our prayer is that Liam will look back on his childhood and say he has spent daily time with God since before he can remember.  Our greater prayer is that he will grow to love and treasure this discipline because it allows for him to know a God he loves.  Above all the desires we have for our son is the desire that he will know the God who made him and died to save him.  

For a 9 month old, this can be challenging.  But that's half the fun.  For now this is what it looks like.  In the morning we sit down and read one or two cardboard books.  Some of my favorite are "But not the Hippopotamus", "Guess How Much I Love You", and "Barnyard Dance".  You get the point, they are baby books.  After finishing I hand the book to Liam and let him play with (and chew on) the book all he wants.  Then, I slip Sally Lloyd-Jones'  "Jesus Storybook Bible" out and read him a story from this.  I tell him one or two things to remember from the story and then we pray.  Noel says in her book that before her kids could read she recorded bible stories for them to listen to during their time.  

I love creating an environment for Liam to spend daily time with God.  This is partly because I love spending any time with Liam; but mostly because I get to introduce to my son, whom I love beyond what I can describe, the God who loves him beyond measure.  I expect that as the years come and go Abraham and I will have to be creative and firm as we foster this discipline into Liam's life.  We would love to hear how you are being creative with your children.  Please comment and lets share ideas as we learn to parent together.