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one of the things i love most about the kidmin community is the way that most ministries understand that we are on the same team and are open to sharing any ideas, successes or failures. this is exactly how i stumbled across one of the programs i am most excited to launch today.

i was reading the blog post “imagine this: children in love with the Bible” on wearekidmin.com. i was so blown away and excited and it wasn’t a coincidence that our church was focusing on Bible reading this year. so, i clicked the link to learn more about the eat this book challenge. that’s when i knew that i didn’t need to recreate the wheel on helping kids read the Bible, dema had already done an amazing job and was providing the resource to others.

in my opinion, it was worth every penny. we received a digital file that could be customized (so don’t worry you can start this program anytime), great promotional resources, emails, facebook group, and more. i am sharing this information because several people have seen our promotional posts and have thought i came up with this idea. i wish!!!!

so kidmin friends, if you are looking for a way to get your kids and families into daily Bible reading and memorization so they will fall in love with God through His Word, i can’t recommend eat this book more. i can’t wait to see the way God uses this challenge in the lives of families in dawson kids. thank you dema for your faithfulness and sharing your passion with other kidmin leaders.

i feel in love with Jesus through his word and i truly believe as hebrews 4:12 states that God’s Word is “alive and active” and it changes lives. and as a kidmin leader, i want kids to not only know His word, but apply it to their lives. that’s why i am so excited that we discovered the honeyword Bible and devotional.

it has been fun for me to work with these folks recently and get to learn more about their method. they even said i can give away a Bible and a devotional on my blog. (instructions for that are at the bottom of this post.)

the honeyword appraoch takes scripture and ties it to a “clicker” – something that kids see or think about. this allows a bridge to be built from abstract concepts to the concrete truths that kids can grasp and apply to their lives. i love that they rhyme, because let’s be honest us adults could also use some memorization help.

each book of the Bible features an animal with a sound-alike-Bible book name. this animal might be like the person who wrote this book of the Bible or it may be like the person the book is written about. just another fun way to help kids remember the book and the message it contains.

i couldn’t wait for an opportunity to put these unique Bibles into the hands of our families. so, we gave away honeyword Bibles to each family at a vine family worship night last year. these families have loved them and have come back for more to give to unchurched families that are seeking truth. you have to love when you are asked for another copy of God’s Word to pass along to someone that might not know Jesus.

not only did we give away Bibles, we gave the devotional book to every family on first grade Bible sunday. we believe parents want to lead their family in Biblical devotions, they just need the tools to help guide them. that’s why this devotional book was such a neat gift to help them succeed in leading their kids in Bible-based leaning that lasts.

but who doesn’t like free stuff right? be sure to check out the honeyword app. i have it on my phone.  this is a great resource to give to all of your parents so they can carry the honeyword devotionals with them everywhere they go. here are the links to download the app:
                    itunes app
                    android app

honeyword also sends out a weekly devotional. you can encourage your families to subscribe to that here.

okay, here’s how you can win a copy of either the Bible or the devotional book.  comment below with the first scripture you memorized and how you memorized it. (was it by song? in vbs? at home?) on march 11th i will randomly draw a name for the Bible and another for the devotional and will ship them to you.

thanks honeywod for asking me to share and giving me free resources to give away.


congrats to our winners:
Bible – becky
devotional – kate

1897653_909626389051867_4223503321497007697_neach year we present our first graders with a new Bible. we have a special family brunch where we share the importance of God’s Word to families. (you can read more about that here.) we also give the children a small gift bag. it usually contains some sort of family faith discussion product and a bookmark. you would think the purchased family-talk product would be the biggest hit, and they are great, but this year the real fruit of Bible reading came from our simple bookmark.

the bookmark is not an expensive item, but this year we saw its eternal value like never before. the idea for this bookmark came from the thought that Screen Shot 2014-09-29 at 7.13.44 PM while we are presenting children with God’s Word it can be incredibly daunting to know just where to begin. so many books. so many verses. so many words. so we thought what if we give them a jumping off point? what if we help children with some suggestions for verses and passages to seek as they begin their Bible reading? so we asked all the ministerial staff and first grade teachers to share with us the scriptures/passages that have meant the most to them. that’s all. we typed them neatly on a bookmark, laminated them really thick, and challenged the kids to use them to begin to find verses to read.

this year there was an overwhelming response. kids were so proud of their Bibles. they wanted them with them as much asScreen Shot 2014-09-29 at 7.14.24 PM possible. we even heard a story of a child choosing to read God’s Word over playing games on an ipad.

here is what one father emailed in to say,
What a wonderful Sunday!  You gave a powerful (and challenging!) message on the importance of the Bible and each family’s role in it.  Kaleb was so excited after church that his Bible did not leave his side the rest of the day! I could go on and on about all the impressive things but I think the one that was most special to me was the bookmark.  That all those people took the time to share, y’all put it together so clearly, and that it gives us a starting point to read with him is just awesome. “

if you are like me you know that sometimes we make things too hard. we think money has to be spent, bells and whistles must blow, and mountains must move. we simply gave them a bookmark with a challenge to use it as a resource to read God’s Word. kids accepted the challenge, so in my mind and heart i believe there is a great potential for the moving of mountains and changed lives for eternity.

how do you encourage children to read’s God’s Word? i would love to hear your ideas.



recently many of our dawson kids participated in the “experiencing God kids” Bible study.  i loved watching them process and begin to grasp the seven realities shared in this study.

  • reality 1 – God is always at work around me.
  • reality 2 – God wants a personal relationship with me.
  • reality 3 – God wants me to be a part of His work.
  • reality 4 – God speaks and shows me what He wants me to do.
  • reality 5 – i must have faith and take action to follow God and join in His work.
  • reality 6 – i must be willing to make changes in my life to follow God’s plan.
  • reality 7 – i know and experience God when i obey Him.

i also realize the short time we have exploring these truths within the church walls simply isn’t enough.  we must help children and families understand that each reality is to be a part of our everyday life.  so, i went to one of the most humble, godly men i know, claude king, who just also happens to be the co-author of experiencing God.  because i see Him not only talk about these truths but genuinely live them out daily, i ask him to share some thoughts for children and families about the importance of experiencing God each day. below is the video he shared:

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/87676560[/vimeo]



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