We spend a lot of time in the car. I’m not a “stay at home” kind of person, so although I’m a stay at home mom, I like to get out of the house at least a few times a week. We drive about thirty minutes to get to Grandma’s house every other week, we drive 10 or 20 minutes to get to Walmart, 10 minutes to the other grandma’s house, and so on. The time really adds up. So what do we do with that time? We listen to music!! The first thing the girls say when we get in the car is, “Songs on please?” Lately, it’s gotten more specific. For M, it’s “Bible School songs please?” For H, it’s “Can we listen to the choir songs?” So we switch back and forth between those CD’s and a couple others when I get tired of them.
http://youtu.be/z6w6VDdmh6w
Growing up, I was only introduced to (and when I got older, only ALLOWED to) listen to Christian music. It’s made such a huge impact in my life and I know that I’ll be raising my children the same way. Today, I want to share two little stories that have really shown me that the time in the car listening to music is well spent.
One of MY favorite CD’s to listen to is Michael Card’s Come to the Cradle. The girls call it, “The Night-Night Songs” because we listen to it when we’re driving home at bedtime. It’s calming and wonderful. I HIGHLY recommend it! One of the songs on the disk is called, “Asleep in the Bow” and it tells the story of Jesus sleeping through the storm while his disciples were fighting the storm. A few of MY favorite lyrics are below.
You totally trusted your Father, that’s how You slept through the storm in the bow
Were You simply fearless, a sleeper so sound
That You could find rest with a storm all around?
Was it simple trust in Your Father that made
The danger seem like a charade?Sweet Jesus the storms of this life rage and howl,
So sometimes for little ones, sleep’s disallowed
Raise up now and speak that these storms may be gone,
And make my ways calm now from darkness ’till dawn.
These words give me the chills every time I hear them. They’re definitely written more for the mama than the child, reminding us as parents how important it is to trust our Father through these tough times with little ones.
Anyway, we’ve stopped the CD on a couple occasions to discuss what this song is talking about. H especially loves to hear the story of Jesus calming the storm. Last time we stopped to talk about it, she told me, “This is in my pink Bible!” She went on to explain that there’s a picture of Jesus asleep on the boat in the storm in her pink Bible. When we got home, she ran and found it for me.
Wow! I love being able to recognize that she’s making connections and really understanding the stories she’s hearing.
The second story I want to share takes this concept of children making connections with what they’re hearing a little farther. This video is H singing one of the songs from my choir CD. It’s one of her favorites.
The key here is that we really haven’t stopped to talk about this song in a long, long time. At least since last Christmas. But she gets it! Here’s how I know.
I walked in her room the other day and she was sitting on her floor “reading” her pink Bible. (Did I mention she LOVES that Bible? It’s called The Sweetest Storybook Bible and it’s amazing!) She was open to the page where the angels were filling to the sky speaking to the shepherds. And guess what she was singing. “Rise Up!”
Time spent with our children is never futile.
They are picking up on everything. They’re learning. Ingesting. Thinking.
Fill every minute with something that will fill their souls.
Listening to choir songs in the car wasn’t something I had thought about much, but it’s helping H and M learn Bible stories in a new way. It’s different than just reading to them. They’re hiding them in their hearts. Praise the Lord!
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