Devotional Time for Littles, pt.1

One year ago exactly I stopped working and went on maternity leave.  In another week, the best present in the world (aside salvation) would be given to me and I'd become a "biological" mom.  What a precious time.

I had many expectations of what this year would hold and though I've managed to definitely do some, others have been tough to do and my inability as a human being has worked against me (aka I'm not as perfect as I thought).  One of those iffy areas has been the consistency with which I do devotional times with my children (mostly the Baby since she's with me most of the time).  Part of it has been a wrong thought process on how "She's just a baby" and the other is just laziness on my part. 

But let me tell ya, I've learned something.

Babies retain the Word just as purely as toddlers, preschoolers and older children.  Though they cannot communicate back with you what they have heard and retained, you better bet your bottom that the Word is being hidden in their hearts just as clearly as it is in yours.  It's still important to read and teach our young babies the Word.  The Word is the purifying element of our faith that tills the hard soil in our grounds to cause seed to grow and fruit to be borne.  By exposing our young babies to the reading of the Word at a very very early age (as in, from the womb) we are preparing their hearts for the message of the Gospel and the deeper truths in Scripture.  In essence, we are allowing the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of Him (Eph 1:17-19) to come and surround their little hearts, so that when they develop greater communication skills, they will already have Scripture within their hearts and what will flow forth is His Goodness and Mercy from Scripture. 

So, my birthday resolution with Aaliya is to daily impart the Word of God into her little heart by a consistent form of daily devotions.  I want to obey Deuteronomy 6 in its wholeness and I desire to see salvation bear fruit in the hearts and lives of my little ones.  I want every purpose of the Father's heart to be fulfilled in my little one and I desire to be faithful with the Precious Gifts He's given me.

So, where do I go from here?

I'll be on a journey the next few weeks to finding a rhythm, a rhyme and a way that works best with Aaliya (and Daniella during weekends).  I'll also be hoping to conquer some of the challenges that come associated with daily devotional times with little ones (e.g. I have a very bouncy and active one year old that does not sit still for very long and therefore discourages me from attempting much though I know I should or I'm now a part-time working mom with a funky schedule which complicates the whole routine thing for the kids... That kind of thing) and would love to invite you along the ride!

Melany over at The Beauty of Motherhood wrote a great post several weeks back on her devotional time with her precious two-year old (whoa, when did that happen?) Grace! I suggest you start there as I have and we'll reconvene again in a week.

Deal? Deal!

What devotional time routines, rituals or resources work best for you with young ones?