His Treasure Seekers

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted anything about our Bible lessons.  We’ve still been enjoying Long Story Shortby Marty Machowski, but I just really didn’t have anything additional to write about the weeks we spent on “God Rescues Lot” or “Isaac and Ishmael.”  I’m amazed at how much Ian (4 1/2) has been getting out of the nightly devotions.  Elijah (just turned 3) needs a little extra explanation, but even he has been learning a lot.  Every night as we pile on our bed for Bible time, Elijah gets a grin on his face and says, “Mommy, I know a Bible verse.”  I love the gleam in his eye as he says it.  He obviously realizes this is something important to me, and he’s excited to share.

I’ve mentioned before that we’re also using The Gospel Story Bible (also by Machowski).  To be honest, I wasn’t terribly impressed with it upon first glance, at least as a stand alone storybook.  However, I’ve come to really appreciate it as a part of our weekly routine.  The devotional readings in Long Story Short tend to break up the story over the course of the week.  We usually read from The Gospel Story Bible as an additional reading at the end of the week, and I love how it not only tells the whole story, but also incorporates the teaching about Jesus.  It provides a great summary and is the perfect way to close our week.

This week’s story was about Abraham being asked to sacrifice the beloved son he had waited 25 years to hold.  It led to some interesting conversations with Ian, especially about the idea of a parent loving God more than his child.  It’s easy to say this is our priority, but when we consider what God asked of Abraham we might have to do a heart check.  I know I did.  Children are such precious blessings, especially when they have been long anticipated.  I can only imagine the delight Abraham and Sarah took in watching Isaac go through each new stage as he grew up.  What amazing faith Abraham had as he set out to make the most costly sacrifice he’d ever offered to God!  (Imagine also what poor Sarah must have gone through when she heard the whole story!  I’m sure Abraham waited until after Isaac was safely home to fill her in on what God had commanded.)

As far as our lessons, we still haven’t added much as far as daytime activities other than watching two movies: Abraham and Isaac and Sodom and Gomorrah (which covers Abraham’s whole life).  We haven’t worked on any new memory verses or added anything to our Bible notebook.  Our schedule this fall just started feeling too full, but over the last week I’ve made some changes, and I’m looking forward to getting back into our regular groove.  Of course, with the holidays upon us it will probably be a while before things feel normal again.  This was actually our last week with Long Story Short until after Christmas.  Instead our Bible Time is going to be a chance to help our children view Thanksgiving and Christmas through a biblical lens.  We’ve already started talking a lot about the holidays, and I’m looking forward to spending the season soaking in the Scriptures!