Found within the greatest parenting manual the world has ever known (Deuteronomy 6:1-9; and 6:20-21 in case you're asking) are these words:
"You shall teach the(se things) diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." Deuteronomy 6:7
Moses commands parents (who by the way are the primary disciple makers of their children) to teach their children about God, specifically about His love and His redemption. And when are they to teach their children? Four categories are given:
- When you sit.
- When you walk by the way (or drive by the way - I'll unpack this idea more in the future).
- When you lie down.
- When you rise.
For the sake of this post, let's talk briefly about the "when you lie down" category.
Parents, your children need to have a set bed time. One of the reasons for this is because structure is good for them (kids need boundaries because it reminds them that they are not the center of the universe). Another reason is that a set bed time will allow you to endure the hard days and keep your sanity, knowing that you will have some down time. Additionally, do you like being married? Do you want to stay married? If you want any semblance of a healthy marriage, you've got to put the kids down (at a decently early time) so that you can have some wifey and hubby time to reconnect, relax, watch a netflix show, pray and do other things that married couples do ;)
Parents, your children need to have a bed time routine. In our family (most nights), we try to eat dinner between 6 and 6:30 (which means the cooking of it should begin no later than 5:30). After dinner, we do clean up (all of our children participate in some way). After clean up, it's bath/shower/brushing teeth time. After that, the rooms are tidied. All of that happens in about 30-45 minutes. By 7:15, we settle down for a time of Bible reading, singing (sometimes) and prayer together. The lights are out most nights by 8pm. Now I realize that some nights are tougher than others because of ministry, school, and sports obligations (have you read our post about youth sports?), but if you are home, then you've got to have a routine.
Parents, your children need to have a constant reinforcement of Scripture. This point has already been established, but it can't be emphasized enough. What is the only hope for our children? Jesus. How do we know Jesus better? Through Scripture, the Bible - since well, the Bible is all about Jesus. So the more we give our kids the Bible, the more they have an opportunity to get Jesus. This needs to happen, like Moses said above, morning, noon, and night.
Now, what if you had something to help with the whole Scripture reinforcement every day? Something easy and effective? Something that you would literally only have to press "play" to make happen? There is a way! It comes in the form of nighttime lullabies. And it's found right here. I've always wanted someone to put Scripture to bed time music and then I discovered this. Seriously, you are going to love these songs. They make me cry every time I listen to them. I am a pastor and often I write sermons with these sweet lullabies in the background and (full disclosure), I weep like a baby while listening to them.
And what's better than me liking the lullabies? My kids love them. They ask for them and fall asleep to them every.single.night. So go snag them right now.
Or, enter into the latest Kid Theology giveaway where we will be giving away a free copy of Volume 1 of the Scripture Lullabies (Winner will be announced on Friday).
All you need to do to enter is...
- Snag the image below
- Post the image to Instagram or Facebook
- Tag Kid Theology so we know you posted (@kidtheology #kidtheology)
- Tag four friends who have kids and could use some help :)
- Copy and paste this description: "Check out @Kid Theology (www.kidtheology.com), a resource that provides content to help equip parents who in turn disciple children to know and love Jesus."
