174: Engaging Your Kids in Family Devotions with Laurie Christine Ressler

Today I’m joined by author and speaker Laurie Christine Ressler as we talk through ways to engage your children in family devotions.

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Show Highlights

Laurie Christine Ressler writes devotional Bible stories for families. As a mom of four young boys, she understands how important it is for parents to connect with their children while communicating the truth of God’s Word to them in a way they can understand. With degrees in Creative Writing, Biblical Studies and Education, Laurie has more than twelve years of experience in teaching the Bible to young children as well as writing Sunday School curriculum for her local church. She also serves as the Administrator for the Christian Writers Institute. Laurie’s passion is to equip parents with the resources they need to create Christ-centered connections with their children.

There are a number of reasons why many families – even the most spiritual – do not spend time for family devotions regularly. Most of us are too tired at the end of the day, or you feel like you don’t know the Bible well enough to teach your children, or the kids are just too chaotic.

But, creating the family devotions habit does not have to be intimidating. Start small, even with reading just one Bible verse together. Then, talk about what it means to you and to each one in the family. What do you learn about God from the verse?

Here are some creative ideas for starting family devotions:

• Go through a devotional book or children’s Bible stories. Make sure your kids are engaged while you read them together. Read with expression.
• Be passionate in what you are sharing with your kids. If you are excited about it, your kids will be excited about it.
• Tap into things that your kids already know about the Bible stories. Make them tell the story or contribute what they remember about it. Let that dig deeper into the story.
• Have your kids draw or act out what they know and remember about the stories. Learning is reinforced by involving all their senses.
• Connect the stories to real life.
• Always end by talk about what you learned about God from the Bible stories.

Don’t put pressure on the family to do your devotions every day, at a specific time. There is no formula for how you have to teach God’s word to your children. You will not transform your children in one single moment, but it is the consistency of coming together for the devotions that will make a difference.

Resources Mentioned

• Things for Thursday and free e-book: Text THINGS to 66866
• Health care ministry: samaritanministries.org
• Family Devotions Resources: https://www.LaurieChristine.com/family-devotions/
• Website: www.LaurieChristine.com
• Laurie’s books: www.LaurieChristine.com/books