Discipling Little Ones

by Crystal Paine

How you are "discipling" your little one now? How are you preparing her to follow Jesus? -MM

Hi, MM! Thanks for the great question. Although I feel wholly inadequate to give out parenting advice (maybe in 25 years from now?), I'd be glad to share some things we are doing with Kathrynne. These are just very simple things, nothing profound!

1. We are praying with her on a daily basis and also praying for her -- privately and together. We pray for her salvation, for her future, for her spouse, marriage, for our future generations. We also pray earnestly that the Lord would give us His wisdom to train her and raise her in the ways of the Lord. When we pray with her, we try to keep it short and simple and explain to her why we are praying and what prayer is. She may not completely understand right now, but we hope that she will soon.

2. We read Scripture to her on a daily basis -- I am reading to her from beginning to end of the Bible, a chapter or two per day. Jesse often reads the Bible to her in the morning, and then she is usually present for our family worship time.

3. We talk to her about the Lord -- As I go about the day, I try to use every opportunity to talk to her about God, to acknowledge God, and to teach her to have a reverential fear of the Lord. We also talk to her about our goals and desires for her -- that she would love the Lord with all of her heart, soul, mind, and strength.

A few of the other things we do with her:

We play and sing hymns to her on an almost daily basis -- we want to instill in her a love for God-honoring music. We have a verse book with 10 simple Bible verses and catechism cards with 20 questions and one word answers that we try to review everyday with her. We also read to her from good books on a near-daily basis.

Crystal Paine is a 24-year-old homeschool graduate from Topeka, Kansas. She is the blessed wife of Jesse and joyful mother of Kathrynne. Visit her site, Biblical Womanhood, for books, articles, encouragement, and inspiration!

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