Joshua is 2 years & 2 months old. As a mother, my heart’s desire is for my children to know God and for them to follow God all throughout their lives. I started to research how I could teach my son about God. I found some materials on the internet. But I felt like the materials might take an extra effort for comprehension at this time.

Then, friends of ours, Manny and Lisa, encouraged us to start teaching our toddler bible verses that would be easy to memorize. Manny told us to try Deuteronomy 6:5 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength”.  Manny gave us a book by Larry Fowler called “Raising a Modern Day Joseph”. It says  in the book that the most important years in a child’s life that will impact his future are the developmental years from ages 2-12 years old. If we intentionally invest in our children’s character and knowledge of God then they can go through life without compromising.

So I took the challenge and I decided to teach Joshua to memorize a bible verse in Deuteronomy 6:5 by doing actions.  Joshua would put his hands on his chest when I say, “Love God with all your heart”. Then he would put his hands on his head when I say, “with all your mind”. Then he would muscle up his biceps when I say, “with all your strength”. And he would run and hug when I say, “and love your neighbour as yourself.”  We would do this activity again and again at the start.  Then we practice it about 2-3 times a day. Here is a sample video of this bible verse.

I bought Joshua a toddlers bible when he was born.  I am trying to familiarize him with bible stories just by using my own words.  We started with Adam and Eve, the story in Exodus when Moses prayed to God and how God parted the Red Sea for the Israelites to Pass, and David and Goliath.  I am praying one day as we continue to talk about God, pray to God, and live out the grace of God, that my children will follow as well.