Bible Reading with Gabe

Today I sat down during my lunch break to grab some extra Bible time. My son Gabe sat next to me on the couch (My office is 16 blocks form my house). I decided I would read out loud for him. After a few minutes he began (without any provocation) to repeat what I was reading.

I slowed down. We read about one page of Genesis together today. It was amazing to hear him verbalizing the Scriptures at 4 years old, even though he can not yet read.

Let me take this time to encourage you to do two things.

First, make sure you read to your kids. Reading is Fundamental has information about the necessity of family involvement in reading. If you only watch T.V. and play video games with your children they will be far lees likely to succeed in School. My hunger for knowledge was fueled by a father who built a wall of bookshelves in our home and then filled them with great books. On those shelves were two sets of encyclopedias, an encyclopedia called How it Works, dealing with mechanical engineering. There was a 54 volume set by J. Mordimer Adler called, "The Great Books," which covered all the major works of the Western world. When I graduated from my Master's program I took what little money I had left and purchased that set for myself. You need to read with your kids.

Second, with a regular reading plan in place for your children, begin reading the Word of God to them. As a child my mother would read The Living Bible to my brother and me as we were going to sleep at night. We were very young. However, I still remember hearing some Bible stories for the very first time when my mother read them to me straight from the Bible.

All four of Gary and Brenda's kids graduated college. Two of us continued beyond college. I love to read my Bible, I am on my 14th time through it. These accomplishments are due, in part, to the fact that we learned to like books very young.