heyo!
one thing i love in this life is resources that help me be a gospel driven parent. i feel completely clueless most days. luckily for us, Jessica thompson has kicked out an amazing family devotional that will help guide you and your kiddos through a gospel centered worldview. listen, i need all the help i can get. when it comes down to it, i feel lost in being intentional with my kids...i typically let things happen and then discuss them. so i'm excited to dig into this devotional with the kids, for the direction, and for any help i can get in the intentional department.

maybe you're like me?

so i interviewed the author (ok, and she happens to my very good friend), to give us more details about the book.

1) tell us a little bit about Exploring Grace Together: 40 Devotionals for the Family

and what age group it's for.

This book is 40 devotionals for the entire family to read together. The target age is 5-10 year olds, but I have read them to my kids (15-10) and they all enjoyed them. Or, maybe I should rephrase that, they all said they enjoyed it. In hindsight, they were probably scared of me or didn't want to hurt my feelings. So, maybe let's go with 5-10 year olds.

2) why did you decide to write this?

I travel around the country with my mother and we talk about Give Them Grace, a book I co-authored with her in 2007. The premise of the book is that we need to give our children more than morals, we need to give them the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. After every conference several parents would come up and ask us if we knew of any curriculum or devotionals that weren't just focused on morals, and bible super-hero but rather focused on Jesus Christ and what he has done for us. We always recommended The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally-Lloyd Jones, but didn't know of any devotionals or books that explained how the gospel applied to situations kids went through at school, home, church or on the sports field (Jami, sports is something that most people enjoy). So my mom pressured me a bunch and I finally decided to write the book. And also I wanted to get super rich. I found out you can't get rich writing a book. Surprise!

3) did you or did you not do devotionals with your children when they were little? if not, why. if so, what can we expect from our (rambunctious) children.

I did do devotions with my kids when I homeschooled them. It was part of our curriculum, I am not really sure if I would have done it if it hadn't been something we were supposed to do every day. But we never all sat down with my husband after a meal and had a formal devotional time.(keeping it real)

As far as what to expect you could always just look at how you do your Bible reading every day and see how your own heart reacts. Are you always interested? Do you end up getting distracted even while you are ready? Do you want to read your Bible every day? Take all the answers to those questions and then remember that your kids are just that… kids. They aren't even as mature as you are.

4) what would you say is the most valuable take away from this devotional?

My hope and prayer is that moms, dads, children, and possibly family pets would walk away knowing that God's love for us in Christ is not about what we do or don't do it is about Christ's perfect finished work on our behalf. I would also hope that families would learn that the gospel really does have an impact on every single circumstance that we face.

5) my kids aren't really interested in deep readings. how can i make this fun for them or is there something i should avoid doing?

Possibly bribe them. Avoid bribing with sugar and then expecting them to sit still.

6) corn dogs. yea or nay?

Corn dogs are my favorite fruit.

7) what's your favorite craft? (jess hates crafting) Those things that people knit to cover toilet paper rolls.

thanks for your time and wisdom, jess! i didn't even know there was such a thing as knitted toilet paper covers. your knowledge is vast...
would you like a book? we're giving away 2 books! just leave a comment letting us know how you make time to be intentional with your kiddos. we'll randomly pick on tuesday!

AND you can purchase Exploring Grace Together: 40 Devotionals for the Family

today on amazon for $8!