It’s very important to us that our children read the Bible daily and many times we have set out to do it together as a family daily.  But, with busy schedules and long work days we just kept coming up empty handed and feeling guilty.  So, to change that negative into a positive we decided to try and implement Bible time and our weekly family meeting together.  So far, it works out perfectly for us to combine the two.  We have the family, the Bible and the time so we just needed one other thing, a plan or devotional.  Recently I found the Family Time Training Total Access Subscription from Family Time Training.

Family Time Training offers more than 300 fun and spiritual lessons to teach children Christian values, character qualities, and principles.  When I first looked at it I thought it was going to be just the same type of devotional program online that we have done off and on for years.  But, I was surprised to see that it was so much more than just reading a one-page devotion.  Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with going through a devotional with your kiddos.  My dilemma is my kids are spread out age wise, from 10-23 years old with one in the middle.  I needed something to pull everyone together and the Family Time Training Total Access Subscription did just that.  With each lesson you have the teaching goal, Scriptures and materials needed for the activity all laid out for you.  Only twice have I had to go out and buy materials for the study, usually everything is already right here at home.

One of the things that I love about this online resource is that I can simply go on and search for something specific like theme, age group, book from the Bible or Biblical character.  It’s that simple, with a click of a few buttons I am presented with several lessons to choose from for our weekly family time together.  I’m not the most organized Mom out there, so I need all the help I can get.  Family Time Training has stepped up to the challenge.  Each week I have been able to pull together some really fun evenings that are sure to be cherished memories for a long time to come.

Let me share a few off the things we have done so far.  Our favorite was creating memory stones with puffy paint and glitter while learning how God has used stones many times in the Bible to remind us of what he has done for us.  We read in the book of Joshua and took turns reading and sharing our memory verse from the previous week.  I printed out the lesson which has everything I need in advance, the scriptures, the activity directions and even words to say during the lesson and activity to help guide me as we work through the lesson together.  Sometimes I have found I get emotional and sidetracked when we are doing a Bible lesson.  This keeps me focused and on track, even if I do go out in left field for a moment.  There is a little guidance on how to conduct your time together; we did not go by their timeline for our evenings, only because we also added our family meeting time and dinner or dessert time.  You can customize the lessons for you and what your family needs; the important part is time with your family in God’s Word.

Some of the other lessons we completed had us creating our very own family mission statement, witnessing an explosive visual about dealing with anger and we even hosted our first blessing relay race.  This has honestly become a weekly necessity that I didn’t even know I needed.  By using this terrific resource I’ve been able to get the whole family involved during Bible time.  Nobody is complaining or trying to get out of it.  The kids are involved and engaged, we aren’t just reading a passage to hurry and get finished.  Everyone is participating in the different activities together and even encouraging each other.  Each week I usually pick a different helper to set up and hand out supplies while the others take turns reading and looking up scriptures.  I love the interactions we are having and the conversations that get started by the thought provoking questions peppered throughout the lessons.

If you are looking for some quality family time along with your devotion, this is for you.  Maybe you are more like me, filled with the desire to do a devotional time with my family, but feel blocked or unable to pull it all together, this is perfect for you.  You too can experience quality Bible time with your family.

-Product review by Sheila Quach, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, October, 2017