Our family has moved a lot over the years. I put it down to being in construction. It seems my husband and I are always looking for a more appropriate, not necessarily bigger, house. Builders always need to be building. If we weren’t building or renovating our house we were redoing the landscaping in the backyard. I remember our son, as a child, saying, "Our backyard is always under construction." I'm sure our grand plans disrupted his play area.

We moved into our present two-storey home a couple of years ago. This time there was no remodeling or building to be done. It suited us just fine. Ed was busy working for a kitchen center and I was busy writing and helping to home school our grandchildren. Fine! But builders build and if there is no avenue, they make one. A couple of months later our basement boasted a model railroad construction site.

Recently, Ed was working on his railroad empire, expanding the site. He needed more mountains on the far side of the table. He built the basic mountain forms using plywood, wire screen and foam insulation board. He then covered the surfaces with plaster cloth.

Our two and a half year old twin grandsons stood watching. "What’s that for, Grandpa?" Sam asked.

"I’m making the Rocky Mountain range," he informed our grandson.

"That’s not a mountain." Sam and Jack's camping experiences in the Crowsnest Pass had taught them mountains were much grander than their grandpa's white plaster cloth.

Ed took a minute to explain.

"The mountains you see in the Crowsnest Pass when you go camping are God's mountains. He made the real mountains. In summer when you camp in them they're green with trees. In winter when your grandpa goes skiing, they’re white with snow. God made the mountains, the trees, the snow and even the animals you see. I’m trying to make my mountains look like God’s. After I paint my mountain and stick on the trees and animals you may see a resemblance to the mountains you go camping in."

"Freight cars go through the tunnel," Jack’s thoughts were side tracked.

Ed hoisted them up on the stools, placed his engineer hat on Jack’s head and guided Jack’s fingers to the control switches for the freight train. The boys shouted with delight as the train disappeared in the mountain tunnel and then appeared at the far end above the narrow gorge.

That's how easy it is to make God a part of your children’s every day life. In the middle of play Ed took his cue to direct Sam and Jack’s minds to what God does. In the next moment they were concentrating on the controls. But the thoughts had been planted in their impressionable minds like seeds ready to sprout. Within days they would be asking further questions about God’s mountains and His snow and animals. It was a perfect opportunity to share the story of creation.

There are many such times in your family life when you too can insert thoughts of God in your child’s mind. Your child has just won his first hockey game and is exuberantly boasting how he blocked that slap shot. Let him enjoy the glory of the moment. Then, in the quieter moments before bedtime, talk about how the apostle Paul compared athletics to living the Christian life.

What about that week, that is so busy with activities, you feel guilty that you haven’t even made time for family devotions for a few days? An ideal worship time for you and your child may be while driving to and from the activities that keep you so busy. Slide a worship CD into the player and then later talk about what God is doing in your lives. Take time to pray.

On family movie night choose a Christian DVD and discuss it while munching on popcorn. You can find information on Christian movies at www.dove.org . Do your kids like drama? After reading a Bible excerpt, like the account of the walls of Jericho falling down, or Queen Esther, do an impromptu drama. Let the kids be in charge and do their rendition of it. Make a lot of props available to them. You will quickly learn how much they absorbed and their interpretation of it. You will probably want to discuss the account after to make it relevant and straighten out any faulty thinking that revealed itself during the play acting.

I believe you will be blessed as you see new interest in the things of God in your children as you practice some of these ideas. Don’t forget to have fun doing it and let your kids be kids.

My novel The Lion Tree offers good ideas of Bible accounts; for example, Jonah and the Whale. It will be interesting to see how your children interpret that one in drama!

Blessings,

Ruth