The iPod (i.e.: The Way I Gladly Cheat To Help My Son Love Quiet Time)

One thing I have learned through my journey of parenting is that I have to be willing to give in, yield, succumb, to change, evolve. Evolve sounds more palatable than other things, I guess.  I guess it is a way to save face.  Wow, I have been in Thailand for some time now.  Saving face is a huge value here.  

I posted once about leading Jeshurun in how to have a quiet time.  Since he became a new believer earlier this year, one of our chief parenting goals has been to help him learn more about who Jesus really is and that we can have a real relationship with Him.  I don't want my kids to know the Bible backwards and forwards, to pray eloquent prayers, or to play the guitar like a worship-leading rock star if they don't learn to really love Jesus first.  Check out 1st Corinthians 13 for more on that subject.

seriously awesome Bible for wiggly boys...some wiggly boys, at least!

So, when we bought a "real" Bible for Jeshurun while we were in the States, instead of relying on him reading bible story books for the rest of his life...we knew this journey wasn't going to be as easy as before when he needed a picture to go with everything he read. The Jesus Storybook Bible and all the other beautifully illustrated and highly paraphrased bible books are awesome!  I have cried through reading them myself and greatly value them for all my youngsters. But, they still don't hold a candle to the real, authoritative word of God.  We want our kiddos to learn to love The Word at a young age.

Fast forward to the last few months...

Jeshurun read through Genesis with no major reading problems (BTW: thanks, God, for that incredibly awkward story about Lot and his two daughters in the cave...I was so short on teaching points about sexual immorality).  *shudder*

But, as he started working though Exodus, I began noticing a reluctance every time we reminded him about spending time in the Word every morning.

"But it is hard!"

"I'm bored."

"Can't I just do something else instead?"

"I can't focus!"

And so on...

I started thinking that maybe we were missing something and that soon he was going to start dreading his quiet time rather than looking forward to it like he was before.  Enter...

...the iPod.

Ricky, Treavor's brother, graciously gave us his iPod because it was collecting dust in his house.  Treavor and I have been using this app from YouVersion...a free bible application that gives an almost endless option for translations.  Oh yeah, and a few of them have an audio bible option.  Perfect!

In observing that Jeshurun is more in love with audio books than I am in love with sitting for (extra) hours reading to him...Treavor had the genius idea to show Jeshurun how to use the audio bible on the iPod.  One catch, though...he has to listen to it two or three times in order to make sure he's actually catching the material rather than zoning out.  He's prone to zoning out.  He gets it from me.

What was I talking about?

Oh yeah...so, after "reading" through his chapter a day, Run spends time in prayer and worship (music already conveniently located on the iPod) and then finds me when he is all finished.  We go over what he is reading, ask him questions about it, answer his own inquiries, and then check up on what he senses God is speaking to him about each morning.  

We have seen a complete turn-around in his attitude and have actually noticed that he is "getting" more out of the Bible than he was before.

Thank you, YouVersion creators

Thank you, Steve Jobs.

Thank you, Treavor...for your great idea.  

Even at reading one chapter a day (if he sticks with it) Jeshurun will have read through the bible at the ripe old age of 9.  This isn't a comparison issue.  This isn't a competition.  It is just a really awesome opportunity for him to work through, daily, what he believes.  It is a chance to, daily, feast on the words of Life.  

What else helps you to focus in your time alone with God?  Got any tips for this distractable mom (and son)?  Leave your advice below in the comments...