caffeine, please.

Rememberizin' #5

Tonight's family memory verses shared around our dinner table were taken from the Psalms.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
       will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say  of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
       my God, in whom I trust." (91:1-2)

What is God leading you to "get inside of you"--to remember?

Rememberizin' #4

Tuesday means Rememberizin' at our dinner table. 

So last night after dinner we reviewed the first three verse combos and then added on a new set of verses.  Lena is turning out to be the verse queen of the family.  She can rattle them all off pretty much word perfect.  And what's funny is she doesn't just recite the verses, she brings them with panache and a little glint in her eye.   I think she is relishing being the "best"...  (We'll have to cover humility next week.)

Here's this week's edition:

Proverbs 10:16-17

The wages of the righteous bring them life, but the income of the wicked brings them punishment.
He who heeds discipline shows the way to life but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.

Why do we do this?  Because we want to...

Write these commandments that I've
given you today on your hearts.
Get them inside of you and then
get them inside your children.

Rememberizin' #3

With the kids gone for Spring Break we're just now getting on track with our third set of family memory verses.  This week is appropriately a Resurrection theme:

Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.  (1 Corinthians 15:20-21)

On the way to school this morning I did a quick review with the three older kids.  The verdict:  they were about 85% on Romans 10:9-10 and we were all no where to be found on Romans 3:22-23. 

Bottomline:  we need to review, review, review so that we can retain.

Write these commandments that I've
given you today on your hearts.
Get them inside of you and then
get them inside your children.

Remeberizin' wk. 2

Last week Tuesday we kicked off a new family tradition rememberizin' Scripture together.  Our first set of verses were Romans 10:9-10.  Last night at the dinner table was our check in time.  Each person said the verses starting with me.  Everyone but Olivia had memorized them (Lena needed a little help with the second verse).  I rewarded each of the older kids with a $1 for having memorized the verses. 

At the end we each wrote down next week's verses on our index cards:  Romans 3:22-23.  I'm liking this new and simple family spiritual practice.  Wanting to live out the command from Deuteronomy:

Write these commandments that I've
given you today on your hearts.
Get them inside of you and then
get them inside your children.

Rememberizin'

Love God, your God, with your whole heart:
    love him with all that's in you,
    love him with all you've got! 
Write these commandments that I've
given you today on your hearts.
Get them inside of you and then
get them inside your children.
    Talk about them wherever you are,
    sitting at home or walking in the street;
    talk about them from the time you get up in the morning
    to when you fall into bed at night.

A friend with older kids told Gil the other night that their biggest regret in parenting was not having their kids memorize more Scripture.  We took that to heart.  We've found it challenging to get our young children reading the Bible on their own so we've adjusted our approach...