When I was a little girl, I was very blessed to have grown up going to church, Christian school and AWANA. Memorizing Bible verses was just a natural part of life. When I was a teenager I committed my life to Christ. The verses that I had memorized as a child now had a new meaning to me. Through the darkest moments in my life God's sweet words brought comfort, hope and promise.
When I became a mother I knew that I wanted my children to have the same start. I have been amazed at how much they have memorized and understood already.
One thing that has really made it fun for the kids is to make up hand motions for some of the words in their verses. Sometimes we will use actual sign language, other times they will create their own. Giving them something to do with their hands really helps them focus.
Another thing that has made memorization come naturally is to use music. Have you ever had a song stuck in your head? Or heard a song that you hadn't heard in years and you still knew all the words? It's amazing how powerful music can be. We have made up a lot of our own Scripture songs, but here are a few CD's that we love:
GodRocks!
These are so fun and definitely a favorite!
ABC Bible Verse Songs
This is one of the first ones I had ever used. It is very simple and sweet. Great for little ones because there is a Bible verse for each letter of the alphabet.
Word of God Speak
I can just have it playing in the background of my busy day and before I know it, I've memorized lots of new Bible verses.
Something else that has really helped me is to write down the verses that I want to learn and place them somewhere where I will see it often. for me, this is on my kitchen windowsill. As I am washing dishes or cooking I can glance at it and meditate on my verses.
I would encourage you to try to memorize Scripture. Start small and work together as a family. Make it fun and don't stress. Just take it one verse at a time.
"Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise, apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart. And have all of them ready on your lips. So that your trust may be in the Lord..." ~Proverbs 22:17-19
Crystal, this is so crazy that you posted this yesterday!!! Yesterday, I was reading this paper that Terri Sheptock gave us, on scripture memorization and it's results :)
ReplyDeleteI was much more vigilant in doing this with Tobia, but I feel like I haven't done much with the others. Talk about confirmation!!!
Thank you for the encouragement <3
I've been learning with the kids, but I'm trying to do more personally. I think I posted this to keep myself accountible too! I would love to read that paper too. :)
ReplyDelete