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More than anything in the world I want my kids to love Jesus and enjoy Him forever.
I know there aren’t any equations or how-to articles that will guarantee my child’s salvation, but there are steps that I can take to be a good steward of the Good News I have in Christ. After all, when Jesus ascended to heaven, He gave us one final command – to go and make disciples. Who better to focus on than my kids – starting right from birth. But what are some ways we can do that?
The most common answers might include go to church, memorize Scriptures together, listen to worship music, etc.
Today I want to share with you 3 simple ways that you might not have considered before when it comes to shepherding your child’s heart from the moment they are born.
Say Grace Before Every Feed
We are encouraged in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to, “pray continually.” The believer’s gift is access to the Father all day every day and we can enjoy that with our children. But one specific time to pray that I want to focus on is saying grace before a meal. Saying grace is a common practice for believers that humbly acknowledges the Lord as the giver of all good things. It is a time to say thanks and to, once again, submit our whole selves to God. Jesus models this for us several times in the Bible (Matthew 14:15-21, Matthew 15:32-38, Luke 24:13-35).
A baby eats every 2-3 hours (or every 45-90 minutes like Baby Z – SEND HELP – ha!). A simple, “Thank you, Lord, for this food,” before a bottle or nursing session is a sweet way to teach baby where our nourishment comes from – both physically and spiritually. How wonderful to have mamas from all over bow their heads every time they bring their babies close to eat! A powerful habit to instill right from the beginning!
Keep Your Perfect Peace Face
I recently discovered a wonderful resource for new moms called Moms On Call. One of the things that they encourage is for moms to use a “confident face” when interacting with their babies. Studies have shown that babies can differentiate between a variety of emotions. When shown an image of a joyful face, babies will stare at it longer, showing their preference for that expression. If babies take their cues from us, then consider what kind of face you are sharing with them each day.
When I was a new mom with our firstborn, Noah, I am pretty sure that 90% of the time he saw me with a super anxious and worried face. I freaked out about everything and would often stand or sit over my new baby fretting. I worried about everything from breastfeeding to what kind of laundry detergent to use.
Isaiah 26:2 says, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you.” When we trust in the Lord and command our thoughts according to what His Word says, then our fear turns into faith, and our panic becomes peace. Detergent worries melt away when we preach to ourselves about God’s sovereign, loving hand in all things.
Sometimes I wonder if all of those worried faces shaped who Noah is today – an amazing young man who is kind, creative, and smart, but who also struggles a great deal with anxiety. There is grace for every season and no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus when it comes to our past mistakes, but if I can encourage anyone out there how to be free of the Fret Face and embrace the Perfect Peace Face, especially in those early days of motherhood, then thanks be to God!
What a gift we can give our little ones as they learn to trust God, too!
Talk about Him Always
Deuteronomy 6:5-6 says, “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.”
These verses tell us to talk about the Lord all throughout the day. Not just on Sunday mornings. We can talk about Jesus when we are having breakfast, tying shoes, and driving to school. We can talk about Jesus when we are changing a diaper, doing tummy time, and giving a bath. All of these moments are opportunities to share about His light and love. Even though they are babies, they are hearing and learning every word you say.
Sometimes, though, as much as I love the Lord, mama is TIRED and my brain doesn’t always know how to best communicate all of the things about faith that I want my children to know. That is why I am so thankful for resources available to moms that help teach little ones about the holy Word of God.
My latest favorite resource is The Beginner’s Bible First 100 Bible Words
**Click HERE to purchase The Beginner’s Bible First 100 Bible Words**
I love having a tool to spark conversations with my baby about simple Bible truths he will need for the rest of his life. Zion loves to read his copy of The Beginner’s Bible First 100 Bible Words
Another great time of day to talk about God with your kids is at bedtime. I don’t know about you, but my kids always get super chatty and vulnerable right before bed. We love to use that time to read a Christ-centered story that helps my kids grow in and talk about their faith.
Today I am partnering with Zonderkidz to do a GIVEAWAY that will allow you to spend meaningful time with your babies as you establish a nighttime routine!
GIVE THE GIFT OF BEDTIME BIBLE!
One (1) winner receives:
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a copy of The Beginner’s Bible First 100 Bible Words,
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and an ultra soft baby blanket to snuggle up for bedtime Bible study.
Open to US addresses only. Prizing and samples provided by Zonderkidz. Giveaway will run from Friday, May 24 – Monday, May 27. at 11:59 pm.
HOW TO ENTER >>
Leave a comment below sharing YOUR favorite way to share Jesus with the babies in your life!
I can’t wait to hear and learn from your responses!
Joyfully,
Julie 🙂
I had a Baby’s First Bible that I kept in a basket next to my chair. When I nursed I would read to them. I’m due tomorrow with #4 and have the basket waiting for his arrival!
Mindy! You are the winner! Enjoy with your new little one!!
Please email me your mailing address! Thank you! Happyhomefairy at gmail.com
These are great ideas! Such good reminders! Another way we like to pour into our kiddos is by using scripture lullabies. Our favorite is “Hidden in my Heart: A Lullaby Journey through Scripture “ by Jay Stocker. It’s straight up Gods word put to incredible lullaby worship music . It does not disappoint! It’s wonderful to have Gods words washing over you and your little one as you’re rocking him back to sleep for the 100th time during the night 😂.
Greetings! When my 7 year old (Toni,girl) comes home from school, usually what we do is put on Listener Kids on Youtube and we sing songs like Jesus Loves Me, There is a Star, This Little Light of Mine, Praise Ye the Lord, Praise like a River, and other fun s0ngs. Eventually these songs get stuck in our heads and we sing them all day. This has sort of become a family routine. My 8 month old (Silas, boy) sees this and loves the animated videos, especially the Jesus Loves Me! He’s like captivated when it comes on! We also have devotion time through the Jesus Storybook Bible with Toni at the dinner table and Silas sits in his high chair and snacks while we interact. Super fun! Thanks for all you do Happy Home Fairy!
Justine <3
We love to sing songs about Jesus to our little babies – “Jesus Loves Me”, “Jesus Loves the Little Children”, etc…
We also love “Praise Baby” DVDs
I like to sing church hymns and read Bible stories.
I love to sing about Jesus and constantly tell them that Jesus loves you and mommy loves you. Thank you for sharing !!
Whenever we hear an ambulance, police car, or fire engine siren, my 2 year old gets very excited because he likes vehicles. Lately I try to pray with him when we hear a sire because a siren means something is wrong. Now he sometimes asks to pray when we hear a siren!
I love to sing songs about Jesus during play time, bath time, swinging on the swing. Praying with them when they get a booboo or when we see emergency vehicles. Also when we observe creation thanking and praising God for all His creation.
We love to pray outloud together.
Singing songs about God or His Word, praying before we eat. Talking about His creation, especially when we are outside
I am in awe at how beautiful our church is and I talk and sing to my babies about all the wonderful stained glass windows and smells in our church each time we attend .
I love to hold my baby while we worship in church! We sway and raise our hands (well I can only raise one arm!). But it’s such a special time of lifting our voices and hands towards God and I’m so thankful she gets to be surrounded in the beautiful music. I can’t wait until I can hear her sing the songs she’s been hearing even while I was pregnant with her!
I love to say short spontaneous prayers about things they are interested in, like when we see an airplane flying overhead, “Thanks, God, for airplanes!”
I, like the others, sang to my little babies. I, however, sang songs from Childrens Church. “Jesus Loves Me”, “Jesus Loves the Little Cildren”, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”, “Deep and Wide”, the gamut of what I knew(as I was a new believer, it was a short list and always included “Amazing Grace”). And as we grew in our faith together, a friend from church told us to get ” The Beginners Bible” by Zondervan, and I did and read it every night before bed to all 4 of my kids. Now I am a Oma(Grandmother), I love that this book is out! I can send it to each of my grandbabies. It is a great start!
It would be awesome to win this to start the first little reading God’s Word”,
I sing Jesus Loves Me and Jesus Loves the Little Children to my son when I’m rocking him to sleep. It’s so calming for both of us.
I love to hold my baby during worship service at church! It’s such a special time of raising our voices and hands (I can only raise one hand!) to God and I am so thankful she gets to experience that and be surrounded by people who truly love God and show it in this way. I can’t wait for the day I get to hear her little voice sing the songs she has been hearing for so long (even when I was pregnant with her!).
Greetings! When my 7 year old comes home from school, usually what we do is put on Listener Kids on Youtube and we sing songs like Jesus Loves Me, There is a Star, This Little Light of Mine, Praise Ye the Lord, Praise like a River, and other fun s0ngs. Eventually these songs get stuck in our heads and we sing them throughout the day. My 8 month old sees this and loves the animated videos! We also have devotion time through our childrens Bible with Toni at the dinner table and Silas sits in his high chair and snacks while we interact. Super fun!
Thanks for all you do Happy Home Fairy!
Justine
Singing Bible songs and hymns, and reading Bible stories! Mentioning God and His handiwork — making sure the children know that this is God’s world and He made everything, including *them*! How many ways can we work in Law and Gospel? 🙂
We read, sing, pray and love Jesus with all our hearts. I even read and sing to my unborn child daily. I want her to love God like her 18 month old sister does.
What great ideas!!! I’m getting ready for baby #3, and I really want to implement praying before each feeding with the baby. Thank you so much for sharing these ideas 😀
I made a lullaby song for each child (to the tune of “Twinkle, twinkle little star” and for both kids, one part I sing is “Jesus loves you and so do we.” I also try to remember when I pray before bedtime with them to include “Thank you for loving him or her so so much!” Spring has also been SUCH a great time too to be outside and talk about all the things God has made!
I love sharing the love of Jesus with all my grandchildren! when they are little my favorite way to share is through song. I now have two older grandchildren and a brand new baby! I have written a book that explains salvation in a way that six to 12 year olds seem to enjoy. This “book” was written for my grandchild and isn’t a published book. I love using the lost art of storytelling instead of just reading it to them.
they are truly blessings from God.
In the past year and a half I lost my husband, our home and have dealt with serious medical issues, but the love of God living in me and my precious grandchild have helped me make it through! Jesus is the only way.
We sing to our little one and tell him how much Jesus loves him. We pray with him and just make a relationship part of normal life! 🙂
I like singing songs such as “Jesus Loves Me”.
At bedtime, we’ll gather as a family on the “big bed” and his two older siblings will read bible stories or from their devotionals to the littlest one.
I have books with Bible stories for kids
What helped me as a young girl was having my very own picture of the Savior in my bedroom. As a mother then, I had pictures of the Savior in our home, and talked about Him as I carried my young children and babies about the house. Becoming familiar with the pictures helps children to begin asking questions about His life and also to become very familiar with His teachings and ministry. Pictures on the walls are a constant reminder of who the Savior is and His love for us, just like photos of our family and friends.
I sing Bible songs, say grace and tell him that I love him but Jesus loves him more!
We pray before each meal and at bed time. Our oldest has taken over prayer at mealtimes and I love it! Worship music has always played a huge role in my life and I sing all throughout the day and especially at naps/bedtime. We love to read in our home and love to sit and read/look at our children Bibles.
We played worship music and read from the Jesus story book Bible
At bedtime we tell our daughter that mummy loves her, daddy loves her, but that Jesus loves her more and died for her.
At bedtime we tell our daughter, Mummy loves you
Daddy loves you
But Jesus loves you more and he died for you.
What great ideas! Thanks so much for sharing these! 🙂 We’re expecting our 3rd in a week, and I plan to implement praying before each feeding.
At our home, there are a couple of things I try to do to talk about God and Jesus. Each weekday morning, I try to read out of a devotional that talks about a verse (very preschool oriented – I love it!) Also, I made up a lullaby (to the tune of “Twinkle, twinkle…”) for each of my kids, and in each of their songs there’s a part that goes “Jesus loves you and so do we…” When we pray at bedtime, I try to remember to thank Jesus for loving them so so much. Spring time has been such a good way to talk about all the things God has made.
My favourite way of sharing Jesus with babies is by singing to them.
What great ideas! This was refreshing to read as I’m on the look out for new ideas to bring Jesus into daily conversation with my kids.
A couple of things that we do at our home – 1. I made a lullaby for each child to the tune of “twinkle, twinkle…” and in each song there’s a line that goes, “Jesus loves you and so do we.” When I pray at night with them, I try to remember to include “Thank you so much for loving _______. And now that it’s spring and we’re outside more, there are so many things we can talk about that God made!
I love to sing children’s Christian songs with my grandson and he also loves Bible stories.
I love to sing songs to my babies from birth. My 3yo still asks me to sing her a song before bed. A repeat favorite is “How Deep the Father’s Love” which of course, directly speaks to God’s love, but I’d like to think that as they get older, they will meditate on the lyrics and find how many truths they contain!
How deep the Father’s love for us,
how vast beyond all measure,
that He should give His only Son
to make a wretch His treasure!
We also read the Jesus Storybook Bible and gift it to as many pregnant friends as we can!
Lastly, our family strives to mimic Jesus’ servant heart by serving each other, and there are so many opportunities to serve when there’s a baby around 😂🙏😴🤗💩🤱🏽🍼
We keep a box of simple scriptures to read aloud at meal times. We always have our physical food with a light dose of spiritual food.
We read a few verses a day and she has her own picture scriptures!
We love reading from our children’s Bibles and listening to “praise music” as the bigs like to call it. Thankful for more ideas of how to incorporate Jesus into our everyday, especially with the littlest member of our family.
My one-year-old granddaughter stays with me while her mommy and daddy work. We love to sing Sunday school songs while we take walks. And when she plays, I tell her how God has made her. For example, when we use playdoh, I tell her that God gave her strong fingers.
These are such great ideas! Thanks so much for passing these helpful, creative ideas along 🙂 We’re expecting our 3rd here in less than a week, and I’m looking forward to implementing praying before feedings.
A couple of things we do at our home – I made up a lullaby for each child (to the tune of “Twinkle, twinkle…”) and in each song there’s a line that goes, “Jesus loves you and so do we.” I also try to remember when I pray with my kids at night to thank Jesus for loving them so so much 🙂
One of my most favorite things right now is on the way to school in the morning each child gets a turn to DJ. They choose their favorite worship song and everyone in the car prepares their hearts for the day. Alot of times, especially when my 5 year old is in charge this includes action songs and then It becomes a dance party but it’s for His glory anyway!
We love acting out Bible stories!
We play “find the Bible” with the babies in my babysitting group or church nursery. I hide a Bible under a blanket or behind a toy, etc. Depending on the age of the babies, I might leave a corner of the Bible peeking out. Then I say, “find the Bible!” They love to go pull it out! One of the earliest ways to share with them the joy of seeking out the Word of God!
This is the CUTEST idea!
I just had my first child, only 3 months currently. My favorite way to share Jesus with him is to read to him out of the Bible when I’m doing my devotions. We also have a kid’s Bible that I read before naps and bedtime. They’re good for him and me 🙂 Praying for him as well.
I like to sing songs! My 22 month old can sing some of them. I have kids CDs playing also.
Thanks for all the great ideas you share!
We believe our babies are sent to us from Heaven. Of course. So I enjoy talking to them about what they seen in Heaven & the family members I like to think took part in picking our perfect babies for us!
we read kid bible stories and sing songs from church!
thanks for the chance! xoxo
I enjoy singing songs with our grandkids.