Verses to Memorize

One of the biggest perks about homeschooling is the opportunity to learn right alongside my children. Probably the most significant example of this at the moment (since my oldest is only four ;) is Scripture. Up until last year I would have to admit that I only knew maybe a handful of Scripture verses by heart and I certainly could not give their whereabouts in the Bible.

Around the time when my mom died I personally experienced how powerful the Word of God can be especially at times of spiritual struggle. In the days following her death I was plagued with feelings of doubt, fear, and despair so much so that I dreaded going to bed each night. A good friend of my mom's recommended that I recite James 4:7 any time those thoughts entered my mind and, not surprisingly, it worked.

After that experience I knew I wanted my children to be able to walk through life armed in the Word of God. The verses I teach them to memorize now will stay with them regardless of what comes to them in life and that is of utmost importance to me, especially in the days we are living in now.

The following five verses are some of my favorites for kids (and adults) to commit to memory:

Children, obey your parents unto the Lord for this is right.

Ephesians  6:1

This is the first verse my oldest son memorized (at my husband's suggestion) the Summer he turned three and I still refer to it when necessary! Convenient to have God on your side! ;)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 

- Genesis 1:1

Such a simple and short but essential verse, this one naturally came next in my son's list once he had mastered the first verse I taught him.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

- Phillipians 4:13

I knew this one by heart, having grown up listening to The Donut Man. Plus my mom liked to use this verse against us any time my sisters and I wanted to give up in any of endeavors! ;)

Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you!

- James 4:7

As mentioned above, this is an excellent verse to know by heart and recite any time you feel under any type of interior attack from the adversary.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that he whoever believes in Him may not die but have eternal life.

- John 3:16

Another verse that is essential to our faith, this one took a little longer for my son to memorize but he eventually got it.

Every morning we recite each of these verses, along with a bunch of other verses, prayers and poems that we have worked towards memorizing, while marching around the kitchen table. :)

-----

Linking up with Ashley today:

The Journey Begins

Last week marked the first week of preschool in this house. In attendance were my 3-year-old and 16-month-old boys.

While I am not a teacher and pretty much have no idea what I am doing, after a little research on the internet and a couple days now under my belt, I'm feeling pretty confident about teaching letters, shapes, and counting. 

Being home-schooled myself, I have the added advantage of memories that come flooding back to me the moment we begin each morning. While I did not begin homeschooling until 8th grade, my little sister (8 years my junior) began kindergarden that same year and she had the added bonus of being personally tutored by my mom, a preschool, grammar school and special education certified teacher!

Not only was my mom (she passed away almost a year ago) a teacher, but she was an outstanding one who put her all into it. Singing, dancing, acting, demonstrating, and most importantly, a whole lot of patience!

It is amazing how much I remember as I go about our lessons. Something as simple as teaching my son the difference between the letters 'B' and 'E' brings back the memory from 17 years ago of my mom using her lips to exaggerate the sound each of these rhyming letters make.

My mom and I had always planned on, to some extent, homeschooling my children together. Unwittingly, I think I had expected her to do all the teaching while I just watched! Since her death was somewhat sudden and a bit of a shock to me, I had a little crisis of confidence once reality hit that I'd be doing this on my own: no mom to help with the littler ones, no mom to call and ask questions, no mom ask her opinion about different resources offered.

So while this journey has a bittersweet quality to it, enough time has now passed since that initial shock that I am able to focus more on the 'sweetness' of these precious memories of my mom that are being brought to life, and less the 'bitterness' of that never ending ache in my heart.

"For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven." 
-Ecclesiastes 3:1