So the Coronavirus has hit and you are stuck at home trying to find ways to redeem this time together. Your kids’ schools are shut down. Your work is in jeopardy. And life feels very unsettled.
As I first heard the news “school is canceled” due to the Corona virus, my initial inclination was to figure out a schedule for our day and try to get a bit of “control” back into our daily agenda. It was probably your first inclination as well.
As I started dreaming of pressing into the academic side of life, the Lord pulled me to his Word and I was struck with the thought “What I put the most focus on during this “break” from school, will teach my kids what is most valuable as they walk through the uncertainties of life and self-quarantine due to Corona”.
And suddenly, I realized what I really want to make sure I do over these next weeks where God has suddenly given us an abundance of time together, is to redeem this time being stuck at home during the Coronavirus and regroup us around the Word of God.
Maybe you feel the same. If so, here is one easy way to reorder your life around the Word of God.
Here Is The Plan
Put a Bible in the middle of your kitchen table
Find the most reader friendly Bible you have and keep it in the middle of the table from here on out as a visible reminder. Put it in a ziplock bag if you’re scared it will get ruined, but it needs to be put in the middle of the table for easy and quick access. .
Vote as a family what book in the Bible you’ve been curious about or like to read.
The book of the Bible with the most votes wins. Just a little hint, maybe start with a narrative book like Exodus, Ruth, Esther, Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.
Every time you sit down for a meal or a snack, read a few paragraphs from the book of the Bible you chose.
Use expression. Try new accents. If your kids can read, pass it around the table for everyone to have a turn. And when attention spans start to wander, be done reading for that meal. The goal isn’t a certain amount of reading. The goal is to read something from God’s Word together every time you sit to eat.
How does this look in real life:
We are using the Reader’s Bible because there aren’t any verse numbers or chapter numbers. This helps all of us simply engage in the story and not worry about how many verses or chapters we are reading.
We are currently reading through the book of Luke which starts with the familiar story of Jesus’ birth. In order to keep our minds engaged, I’ll interject imaginary questions into the story as we’re reading. “Umm Mary is 15, that’s like Avery’s age. What would you do/feel/think if an angel showed up in your bedroom tonight Avery?!!” Finding ways to engage their imagination stimulates conversation.
This isn’t necessarily a “Bible Study” time for us. We are simply reading through the book of Luke and if any questions arise, we talk through them. If questions don’t arise and we need to be done, we are simply done until the next time we sit at the table.
I usually ask the most squirrely kid at the moment to start our reading. This helps the one who would most likely distract all the others, focus on what we are doing. They get to choose how much they read and when they feel done reading, they pass it to the next person to keep reading or we are done reading for that meal or snack.
Key things to remember:
This is low stress and the only preparation you need is to pray the Lord creates conversation while you’re reading.
You also don’t have an agenda. Sometimes you will read for 10 minutes and sometimes you will read for 3 minutes. Any amount of reading God’s Word is beneficial so there is no agenda and no frustration. Just accept whatever amount you get. The longer you practice, the more the kids expect this to happen AND the more positive you are, the easier this will become.
God has given you the time. It’s a gift. Let’s use it to create some new habits together that will point us to God instead of fear of the Corona virus and the impact it might have.
For other fun ideas to do during this time, check out 10 Free Ways to Make your Self-Quarantine more Bearable
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