Family Church

Each evening in the Canney household, we gather together on the couch to worship our Lord. It is usually sometime shortly after dinner but before the girls begin their evening play. We conduct our family worship time as a mini-church service. I begin by reading an introductory passage, such as Psalm 100 and then we sing the Doxology. This is followed by an opening prayer, reciting The Apostles' Creed and singing Gloria Patri. At the conclusion of this I begin to read the Bible. With two young daughters I have chosen to work my way through the Bible reading the 'big' stories to them. For example, in the recent weeks we have read through Creation with Adam and Eve, the Flood with Noah and we are currently working our way through the story of Abraham. I usually read one chapter a night from my New King Jame Version translation and we close our time with prayer. One important point about the Bible reading is that I am focused on my children learning the stories they hear. I want them to know the people and the places, the good guys and the bad guys, and who wins. The important distinction is that I do not try to relate or teach a moral with any of our Bible readings. The goal at this age (3 years and 1 year) is for them to learn the story of the Bible.

We have found this time to be a great blessing to our family. One added bonus is that some evenings my wife and I will stay seated on the couch as the girls crawl off. They begin to play, dance, sing and be silly while the four of us are all together in the Living Room. It is these small moments when I see the Mighty Hand of blessing on my family.