That Testimony Thing

First, a little background. Most, if not all, of you know that I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In our church, we are asked to serve in different capacities within our church without pay, we call these “jobs” callings. I have learned through the years that these callings are not last-ditch efforts to give somebody something to do, nor given to someone just to have a vacancy filled; I truly believe in revelation and that the Lord guides people on earth, and I know through personal experience that the Lord prepares those He calls. That being said, my calling for the last several years has been to work in the Primary with the children (ages 18 months – 12). I regularly teach in front of large groups of children (sometimes 50 of them) and while I try to have fun with them and teach with a variety of methods, I always bear my testimony to them. I want them to know that I know that God lives and that He loves them, and I hope and pray that their testimonies are strengthened through mine.

Anyways, we started a new devotional technique at our house – with the new school year and all. We’ve tried a variety of things through the years, and hopefully that’s okay. (A favourite for all was with a book my sister gave me that included an item that corresponded to a scripture story or thought. We had a box at dinner time that magically held a new item each night – the kids loved it, and we had their attention for a few moments!) Our church has come out with a new manual for teaching the nursery children, and I picked one up for pnly $5.50 when we were in St. Louis. It is fabulous, and I am so excited for this to be used at church come January. It is called “Behold Your Little Ones” and is full of not only lessons, stories, teaching techniques and more, but full-page beautiful color pictures and handouts or activity sheets for each lesson. So each morning before breakfast the kids gather and we have a short (5-10 minute) devotional straight out of this little manual. Sure, the lessons are a little “young” for my kids, but they are sweet and have sparked sincere interest and brought more questions from our little ones – which results in more religious conversation. The best part, though, is that it requires me to bear my testimony with my children every day – something I have never done before. Looking into my own children’s eyes and telling them that we share love with others as Jesus did, and that Heavenly Father wants them to be happy – has brought me peace and happiness too. There is a special spirit in our home in the mornings now, and the rush is less so and peace more apparent (I only wish it stayed that way ALL day).

Yesterday as we were finishing the lesson and I was briefly sharing my testimony, Mr. T looked all embarrassed and asked me, “Why do you do that thing from church at home now?” I was confused and asked him what thing he was talking about. He replied, “That testimony thing!” It was a funny moment. He admitted he liked that I did, but he sometimes felt funny inside and wasn’t sure what that meant. I think he may be sprouting a little testimony seed right now! It was sweet.

This book only has 30 lessons… what other ideas do you have or do with your families for a daily devotional?