This morning on my Facebook memories there was a quote from my then 12 old daughter over morning devotionals.
Me: Why do we fold our hands when we pray?
Daughter: Because the grown-ups don’t want us to do anything naughty while their eyes are closed.
Me: (Crickets chirp in the stunned silence)
I laughed, hit the share button, and remembered that summer is almost here and it's time that we start summer devos again.
We’ve been doing this every summer since my younger daughter was four (read about our faltering start). It’s more than just a habit, it’s a pleasure. When school is in, we study Bible as an academic subject, but when school is out, it would be easy for Bible study to fall behind.
This summer my girls will turn 10 and 17. And every morning, as soon as breakfast is over, even before we clear the plates and do the dishes, we recite whatever verses we are working on memorizing, read a short passage of scripture together and talk about what comes up. Our school year Bible study focuses on learning; our summers focus on becoming.
We’ve done Daniel and worked through Colossians (both of which are available to you free online Daniel / Colossians). This summer we are focusing on what it means to be a woman of God. We’ll be looking at Deborah, Hannah, Jael, Miriam, Huldah, Ruth and Esther. Then turning to the New Testament we will talk about Mary, Mary and Martha, Mary Magdalene, Lydia, Phoebe, and Priscilla.
This isn’t spiritually easy ground. We’ll discuss the ethics of violence in Jael’s story and our own ethics as we progress in Tae Keon Do. We’ll work on when it is right to lead and when we should submit with Deborah, Huldah, and Miriam. We’ll talk about courage from the perspective of Mary and Mary Magdalene. And what it means to be both a female evangelist with Priscilla’s story. We’ll talk about loyalty, God’s and ours with Ruth and Esther. And we are going to learn about prayer, poetry and “reversal of fortune” with Hannah and Mary. I hope to share some insights with you as we go along.
It’s going to be a wonderful summer. This is my last full summer to have my eldest home. Soon after her 17th birthday, she’ll head off to the University of Wyoming. But for these last precious days, the three of us girls will take that 10 minutes in the morning to have devotionals. Take the chance to listen to my girls, to hear their hearts and know their minds. To recite God’s word with them and think about His story together. Time goes so fast and for us summer devos are priceless.
If you are looking for Bible study material for your own kids, you are welcome to use our online material on Daniel or Colossians or we have an entire semester's worth of FREE curriculum just for our subscribers! Subscribe here!
