A while back, Tad shared here and here about why family devotions are important. When we first started doing devotions with Vera, we really started out small… working on a memory verse, singing some songs, and praying.
We still keep things really simple, but this year we started learning the New City Catechism (children’s version). We’re eight questions in (there are fifty-two), and Cordelia is actually learning some of the answers along with Vera!
Here you can watch Vera working on her questions (this was a week ago, so we were all still learning the eighth question). Notice how CC helps her out with an answer at one point!
I think it’s important to note that Vera was exceptionally well-behaved for this video, which may give you the impression that sitting on Daddy’s lap is easy for her. She’s a wiggle-worm, so it’s a big deal that she is growing in obedience and self-control!
In addition to working on our catechism, we also sing songs and pray. We chose quite a mixture of songs, from the ones that go along with our catechism (by Songs for Saplings) to children’s Bible songs (The B-I-B-L-E, Jesus Loves Me, etc.) to hymns (Trust and Obey, Be Thou My Vision, the Doxology, etc.) to contemporary songs (10,000 Reasons, All I Have Is Christ, etc.) to seasonal selections (Christmas and Easter songs). We usually do 5-10 songs each night, depending on everyone’s attitudes and how late it is.
We close our devotion time by singing the Doxology. Tad always prays for us after that. Recently, we’ve started asking Vera what we can pray for her about. Usually it’s about a sore finger/toe/elbow, but sometimes she asks for prayer to be more loving or something like that.
Most evenings, family devotions are crazier than a three-ring-circus. For real. Kids are twirling around the room, usually one out of three kids crying at a given moment, and certain people do not want to sing/say questions/etc. Our girls can be crazy and wild most nights! But we keep persevering at this anyway, knowing that it will reap eternal rewards as the Gospel takes hold of our children’s hearts. This is totally worth it!
I’ll also add, most mornings I do a brief devotion time with the girls after breakfast. We worked on learning 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 in February (“our love verse,” we call it), and I’m hoping to start a short Easter passage soon.
We strive to make our home a Christ-centered place, though we fail many days. We are thankful that His grace is there even when we are weak! I’m praying that my children grow up with fond memories of the time we spent as a family worshipping God together.
