What can I do or what can I use to make God real to my children on a daily basis?

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A parentasks: We have two little girls—Pamela turned six yesterday and Patty was four last October. Every evening my husband and I try to have a quiet time with the kids. We read from the Bible storybook; then we share what we did throughout the day. And we also pray. We’re trying to teach the kids that the Lord is always with them, every moment of the day. He is not somebody who has to be “officially” approached—"Oh-my-let’s go-before-God!" But I'm still looking for more ways to make God real for my kids.

Well, I think you're already doing a great job by reading to the girls from Christian books and praying with them. Little sentence prayers about simple things the children think about are best.

As for other things you can do, you might occasionally read a story to your girls and then act out the story to apply the message to their lives. And if you read a story about being kind just before going to bed, try to do something nice for someone the very next morning as you remind them,

Remember our story last night before bed? Let’s be kind to Mrs. Jones next door today, shall we?

Also, one of the best tools you can invest in is a little tape recorder children can have right by their beds so they can play Scripture tapes and Bible stories. And, oh, yes, if you have a DVD player, don't forget the wonderful videos that are available now. Some have biblical settings and others are contemporary stories in which the main characters depend on God to get them out of all kinds of difficulties.

Should quiet time with the children emphasize entertainment? We should certainly make it fun for them, but our primary goal shouldn't be entertainment. Kids are constantly entertained anyway, so what we need are tools and techniques to have them settle down and have some quiet moments with God.

A tape recorder is a great tool for quieting them down because it has a calming effect. And sometimes, if the child is acting up, you can use it as a means of Reality Discipline—just remove the tape recorder for a night or two to let the child know that misbehavior results in losing something he or she really enjoys.

Author: Parent Talk by Dr. Kevin Leman and Randy Carlson of Family Life Communications

For further help, see…

Our Kid Explorers children's story, Do you want to see God?
The greatest story of all, God's Story
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