Questions are Coming!!!!

"Let's see what the Word of God says today mommy!"

I almost burst with joy when I heard Luke say this two days ago when we sat down to breakfast to continue our 8 Year Bible Journey.  After Sophia and Luke and I are all settled in at the breakfast table with the sun streaming in through the glass sliding doors, I always say, "Let's see what the Word of God has to say to us today!"  Two days ago, Luke beat me to it!  He honestly is starting to look forward to hearing the Bible read to him every morning.

We are reading about Joseph now; one of Jacob's 12 sons.
Jacob had singled Joseph out as his favorite son and gave Joseph a multi-colored tunic or coat as a gift and symbol of his affection.  Joseph's brothers became jealous.  They took Joseph's coat, dipped it in blood and gave it to Jacob so Jacob would believe that Joseph was dead.  In reality, the brothers sold Joseph as a slave.

I took this photo from the Jesus Storybook Bible.  We read this after we read from my NIV Bible.

This is such a fascinating story.  If you haven't read it, go find a Bible and crack it open to Genesis chapter 37 and read all the way through to chapter 50.  You'll love it!

Here is what Luke and Sophia and I read together two days ago that sparked so many questions!

The Cupbearer and the Baker

Genesis 40

Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. ² Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, ³ and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. ⁴ The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them.

After they had been in custody for some time, ⁵ each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison—had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.

⁶ When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. ⁷ So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”

⁸ “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.”
Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

⁹ So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, “In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, ¹⁰ and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹ Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in his hand.”

¹² “This is what it means, ” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. ¹³ Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴ But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. ¹⁵ I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.”

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread.^{[a] 17} In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸ “This is what it means,” Joseph said. “The three baskets are three days. ¹⁹ Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale your body on a pole. And the birds will eat away your flesh.”

²⁰ Now the third day was Pharaoh’s birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials: ²¹ He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand — ²² but he impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.

²³ The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.

"Mommy, what is a prison?"
"Mommy, what is a baker?"
"Mommy, what is a vine?"
"What is a Pharaoh?"
"What is a king?"
"What is a country?"

I can't say that I had very good definitions to all of those terms, but I did my best, and I was so thrilled to be having this kind of conversation with my 2 year old!  (He'll be 3 in a month, but I'm keeping him 2 as long as I can *sniff* )  It took 40 days of reading before Luke started asking solid questions about what we were reading, but it was worth the wait!  I knew God's Word would start to click with him in a very concrete way.

A few chapters later, which was a few days later in Luke's studies,  Joseph's brother's unknowingly come to see him in Egypt.

"Do you remember Joseph's brothers?", I said. 

Luke said, "They like the rainbow coat and they killed him in a hole with an animal."

The details came out a little fuzzy, as you can see, but it made for a great conversation!

I highly recommend the Jesus Storybook Bible as an accompaniment to reading an adult Bible.  It has such engaging illustrations and the simplified wording can clarify what you've just read in a standard version.


Do you have a favorite children's Bible that you like to read from?

Through Genesis Chapter 31

I read Genesis chapter 31 to Luke and Sophia today.

Jacob Leaves for Canaan by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld

Engraving 1851-60 (It took 9 years to engrave)

Photo Credit: www.biblical-art.com

It's a chapter that talks about Jacob and his wives and all of Jacob's children, on camel back, leaving his father-in-law's estate without any notice after living all together there for 20 years. Laban, Jacob's father-in-law, and also his uncle, by the way (his mom, Rebekah's brother), catches up to Jacob's caravan and is upset--hurt really, that Jacob and his own daughters and grandkids all snuck off without saying good-bye (Jacob married two of Laban's daughters). The chapter brings reconciliation and a peace covenant between Laban and Jacob. Laban and Jacob gather a heap of rocks as a symbol of their covenant and as a geographical marker. Genesis 31:52 says "This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me."


Luke will be 3 in about 6 weeks and Sophia is 8 months. And I read this to them. Sophie likes the different voices I make, and listened intently for the whole chapter. Luke ate his breakfast through most of it. When he finished eating it went like this:

"Mom, I'm all done eating."

"Luke, we're almost done with our chapter."

"Can I have some keifer?"

"When we're done reading our chapter I will get you some keifer."

"Will you wash me? Can I go watch cartoons?"

" He said to his relatives, 'Gather some stones.' So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap."

"Are they getting rocks? I like rocks. And they put them in a big pile!"

So today, Luke liked that everyone in Jacob's family got to ride a camel from Grandpa Laban's house to Grandpa Isaac's house, and he liked it that everyone gathered rocks and put them in a big pile.

My children are very small and don't understand the bulk of what we read, but it is the true Word of God and it will not come back void. It is living and breathing and full of wisdom and power. I could read any number of toddler devotionals to my children, and we do from time to time, but I am convinced that the actual words of God I read out loud will be like hundreds of seeds planted in their hearts. The Word of God is powerful and I want my kids to hear it; even now.

If you do the math, from the day I started this 8 year bible adventure, until today, we should be much farther than chapter 31. We keep plugging along in between the days missed due to funerals, vacations, stomach flu, sleepless nights, etc. Every single morning that we possibly can, we open the Word of God and read together. I'm not worried about a strict 8 year schedule. I'm just tickled that we're getting as far as we have! And that it's going so well. I get my daily feeding of God's Word and so do the kids. Then if I have time, rarely, I will do a more in depth study on my own. I don't get to bent out of shape about it. I just do my best every day to live for the Lord.  We will press on!



Those of you who read the Bible out loud to your kids, how is it going?

Through Genesis 11

Me:  "Bonjour Luke! Est-ce que tu veux le petit dejuner?  Une pomme? Une barre granola?  Est-ce que tu connais ce que ta mere parle le france?  J'ai etudi le france pendant une semestre a L'Universite de Caen en Normandie!" (don't hold me to this being grammatically correct...I just threw this out from the top of my head...I haven't spoken french since I was at L'Universite de Caen in 2000!  And, I cannot figure out how to type with appropriate french accents on the letters on a mac!)


Luke: "Don't Mommy.  I can't like that." (Luke says "can't like" instead of "don't like")


Me: *laughing*  "You've never heard any other language before! Today is about God creating all the different languages of the world."


We have made it to the story of the Tower of Babel today in Genesis 11.  We are holding strong on our journey of me reading the entire bible, out loud to our 2 yr old and our 5 month old, one chapter a day, hoping to finish in 8 years.

A view of Paris I shot from on top of L'arc de Triomphe

I've been consistently reading our one chapter of the Bible during breakfast together, Monday through Friday.  Our weekend schedule is always different, so sometimes we fit it in and sometimes we don't.  Overall, I'm still excited and pleased with how it seems to be going.  Each day, for 11 days, Luke has quietly listened to the whole chapter with very minimal interruptions.  This is amazing.  He's two.  He's a boy.  My mother always said Luke was "bookish" though.  He can rip and roar and snort and fight with the best of the kids, but he really is a book man. 

He likes to "cross-reference" our NIV (New International Version) Bible with his Jesus Storybook Bible.  He likes the pictures and he enjoys hearing the story again told in a more child-like way.  After I finish reading from the NIV he says, "Now lets read MY Bible".  I love his Jesus Storybook Bible.  It doesn't have all the content of the Bible, but it has quite a few of the most commonly known stories and lessons, and the illustrations are darling.

But other than being quiet and listening, I haven't had any indication that he is absorbing what I'm reading.  He smiles a lot during my reading, and I see wheels turning in his little blond head, but that's about it so far.  It's been a great feeling for me to be dedicated to being in the Word regularly and planing all these seeds of God's Word into my kids.  And that is the real pay-off for me.  It starts my day grounded in reality.  I love it.  Have any of you tried this?  How's it working out?

Day 1 - A Success

So we read Genesis chapter one together today to begin our 8 year journey of reading one chapter of the Bible a day, out loud, at breakfast.  Sophia was sleeping, and Luke and I were at our kitchen table eating. 

As I read, I got a big smile from Luke each time I said, "And God saw that it was good."  Other than the occasional smile, it really didn't seem like he was listening to me at all.  Then I got to the part where God creates the "creatures that move along the ground". 

Luke pipes up and says, "Thank you God for SNAKES!"  I could have burst, I was so happy!  He heard the Word of God, he registered what it was saying, and he thanked God for what he had done!  And Luke is 2!  This is going to be an amazing journey, and yes, God, THANK YOU FOR SNAKES!  Thank you for the power of your Word!

The Start of the 8 Year Journey

Ever since Sophia was born 5 months ago, I haven't been able to have consistent time in my Bible.  I've tried all different times of the day, but nothing has stuck.  I have needed a plan, a hunger, some discipline, maybe all of the above. 

Today I have decided to read my bible out loud to my children, one chapter a day, until I get through the entire book.  "But you have a newborn and a 2 yr old!" you say.  Yes I do, and my plan would seem crazy had I not been inspired and encouraged by some amazing Christian women today at ReviveOurHearts.com.

Today I heard a Revive Our Hearts radio broadcast by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and her guest; blogger and author, Carrie Ward, that brought tears to my eyes repeatedly.  This was the solution to my hunger for the Word.  This was the solution to planting the seeds of the Word in my young children.  

You can visit Carrie Ward's blog here.  She has written a book called "Together-Growing Appetites for God" after her experience of reading the entire Bible, one chapter a day, during breakfast, to her small children (a newborn, a 2 yr old, and a 4 yr old when she started her journey). 

How long did it take her to get through the entire Bible you ask? 8 YEARS.  The retention of scripture in her little ones has been nothing short of miraculous, especially since it rarely seemed like the children were paying attention.  She has since read through the Bible two more times with her children.  Their knowledge of scripture is phenomenal, and nothing was needed but the Bible itself.

You can find printable progress charts and journals for this daily Bible reading challenge for free at www.aneverydaymama.com. I will be blogging about this adventure from time to time to share with you our trials and triumphs through this journey.

I hope some of you might be as excited as I am to get started on this 8 year journey.  I begin tomorrow!