Daily Bible Reading 4-29

Today we will read Genesis 46-48.  This reading has a lot of genealogy, which my kids enjoy.  They like to hear all the funny names and laugh.  This is OK with me.  We also see that the very young Israelite nation now numbered 70 people.  God's promise of making Abraham a great nation is being fulfilled.  Point this out to your children; God's promises aren't always instant.  


Another lesson that is worth talking about is the example of Ephraim and Manasseh.  So far we have seen a lot of sibling rivalry: Cain & Able, Isaac & Ishmael, Jacob & Esau, Joseph & his brothers, to name a few.  Now we come to the son's of Joseph and see the example of brotherly love.  There is no mention of them fighting.  In fact, when Jacob blesses them, he blesses the younger first and then the older to emphasizes the lack of hostility that these two had for one another.  As parents we could hope for nothing more than that our children would love each other unconditionally.  

Psalms 133:1 

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is 

for brethren to dwell together in unity! 

What works for you?  What things have you done to help encourage the sibling bond rather than rivalry?

Daily Bible Reading and Memory work 4-28

One thing my Grandpa taught me was that a keen  understanding of the New Testament begins with the knowledge of The Old Testament.  We have been reading two or three chapters from the Old Testament and have just gotten to the part where Joseph saves his brothers from the famine.  Today we will be reading Genesis 43-45.  This being the case, we will also begin memorizing the 12 tribes of Israel.  We will try to get this done within a week, but will most certainly take longer if necessary.   Feel free to copy, past, print this picture so you can take it on car rides and work on memorizing all week.  I found it helpful to keep a 3x5 index card box in the car for each child to keep current and past memory cards in.  Car rides are a great time for memory work because everyone is strapped down, mostly quiet, and sometimes sleeping!  Don't waste this time!!!

Today in our reading I tried to emphasize to the kids that Joseph wasn't angry at his brothers or God for allowing him to be in Egypt and enduring the hardships of his young life.  Rather, he was grateful to God for bringing him to Egypt so that he could prepare the country for the seven year famine and in doing so, save his own family.  He saw that he had a temporary sacrifice in God's plan and was rewarded greatly for it.  Remember this story and watch for times to remind your kids of it.  Whenever they feel sorry for themselves, remind them of Joseph's attitude.  Have them read Genesis 45:5-8 anytime  the pity party starts.  This will be a teachable moment.  Another good way to get this story ingrained into their memories is to let them watch it and then act it out.  Putting on skits is great fun!  You can follow this link to watch the Joseph story Joseph reveals himself.  Dig around on this youtube channel because this guy has several really good Bible stories to watch.  

The Beginning...

art provided by #1

In life there are many who will tell you what you should do, how you should do it, when you should do it, and so on.  It's a difficult thing, listening to others opinions and trying to filter out wether you should take their advice or leave it.  Many times you take advice from a good friend and the thing you were trying to make better gets worse.  Sometimes, you regret not following that little bit of really good advice Grandma gave you.  There comes a time when you have to put the opinions aside, set the books down, and just DO SOMETHING!  My hope is to create a place where we can share experiences and ideas.  I will share with you things that work for me and I would like to learn what has worked for you.  We will also have to laugh and forgive ourselves for things that don't work.