Baby Noah in a Basket & Moses in the Big Boat!!!

On the way to school earlier this week, an interesting conversation was going on behind my head. We spend way too much time in the close quarters of our van early in the morning. Therefore, a wide variety of activities go on behind my head during that time. This morning, the discussion was spiritual in nature (my children are VERY advanced).

We have an awesome storyBible. Each night, the boys take turns picking a story, and this author does a remarkable job of re-telling the stories -- not just for kids, because I get a whole lot out of them too. But, this particular morning, I heard Caleb and Collin discussing one of the Bible stories we had read recently. Caleb was saying something about it being Baby Jesus in the basket, and I'm not sure the origin of this conversation. Collin was arguing that, "It was NOT!" By the way, that is generally how Collin responds to anything that Caleb says that early in the morning. He loves the response he gets from Caleb.

Rather than argue any more, Caleb says, "Mom, Collin said it wasn't Baby Jesus in the basket." I thought for a minute. Again, I'm not sure exactly what we are discussing. But, I said, "Well, Caleb, I don't remember Jesus being in a basket. We have read a story about Moses' sister putting him in a basket when he was a baby."

Caleb answers me, "Oh yeah." And, I think we are straight on our Bible trivia. Not quite. He then says, "Oh, and then, he grew up and got on the big boat?" Uh-oh. Where did I go wrong?

"No, Caleb." NOAH built the boat to prepare for the flood. I was a little concerned that we were headed for the cross since we did begin the conversation with Jesus. We did not go full circle, though. We ended with Noah.

It's difficult to know how much or how little of the Bible to discuss with our young children. This conversation is evidence to the fact that they can't really grasp all of it. If we're honest, we don't really grasp all of it, either. But, as I thought about that conversation later, I realized that there are many, many characters of study throughout the Bible. Each one of them has his/her own background, particular circumstance and encounter with God. I can see how it would be difficult to keep all of the details organized correctly. BUT, God, in each story is exactly the same.

And, it hit me. That is my job as their mother right now. To introduce them to the God that is to them exactly who He was to each person in the Bible. In every story, I want them to see God as their Father, the One who created them for a relationship with Himself. The God that knew we were going to mess it all up and devised our rescue mission before the first of His creation ever breathed a breath. For me, it doesn't matter so much that they get every detail of every story exactly right. It doesn't matter that they be able to recite hundreds of verses with reference following. I want them to KNOW the character of our God. I believe, in the long run, this knowledge will be far more effective in leading them to a relationship of dependence on their Heavenly Father. And, that is my prayer for each of them.

***Our wonderful Bible is called, The Jesus Storybook Bible. Caleb's best buddy John David was given one by his Aunt Casey. We have read through it several times and have given it to a couple of friends as a gift. If you are looking for a Children's Bible, it is a great one.