Bedtime Stories

Bedtime Stories

Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren. Deuteronomy 4:9

One of the great moments of raising children is the bedtime routine. There are those who have it down to a science. Within a brief span of fifteen minutes, their child is bathed, brushed, tucked, prayed over, and off to sleep. Then there are the rest of us. For an ever-changing set of reasons, we never fit within that time frame.

We like to think of ourselves as efficient, regimented; we’ve had plenty of practice. But once our kids learned that we are malleable, especially when it comes to bedtime stories and books, we are lucky if they’re off to sleep within forty-five minutes or an hour. Meanwhile, we prepare our defense to our spouse for the extended bedtime ritual.

Just when we think things are all set and seem to be moving quickly, the words “Tell me a story” cut the night air. And off we go. Sometimes the stories are about a little girl or boy whose experiences are amazingly similar to those of Cinderella, Peter Pan, or Pinocchio, or about the little girl who grew up to become anything she wanted to be. At other times, the stories are about when they were younger and how cute they were. About the time the family went to the zoo and waved at the monkeys, howled with the wolves, or squealed when the dolphins splashed them. It’s a time for children to hear something about their roots—where they were born, how Mommy and Daddy met, the country Granddad came from, when Grandma first heard about Jesus. All those stories matter and never grow old.

Through the spoken word, children learn about their personal history and how it has helped shape who they are now and will become in the future.

Take advantage of the opportunities to tell stories to your children, as much as possible. They are some of the sweetest times you’ll ever have and a great time to plant spiritual seeds, tell your children about Christ, or include God in some of those bedtime stories.

Uncommon Key > We all need to remember who we are and where we came from, and eventually, Whose we are. Bedtime is an opportune time to do that.