What happens in your mind when you hear these words: “I am stuck on bandaids cause a bandaid’s stuck on me”. How about this, “My bologna has a first name….” Or this, “Like a good neighbor, _________.” Did you finish that line? Did you sing them? OF COURSE YOU DID! And why? Because it is MUSIC – and music lives in our brain in an INDELIBLE way.
I, like most other children, learned this early. Many of my earliest memories are musical – my mother tells stories of me at age 3 singing “Jesus Loves Me” at the top of my lungs to anyone who would listen, at the grocery store, at the gas station, out the window to passersby. I would lie in bed at night and recount the events of the day in a “song”.
Later, as a mother of preschool children, I always looked for a way to make “the job a game.” AND MY METHOD IS ALWAYS MUSIC! (Mary Poppins helped)
Probably, you know all this – so why am I reminding you? Because we, as parents, have a job – a responsibility:
TELL YOUR CHILDREN ABOUT THE LORD. (Deut 6:7)
Using music is the fastest, and most permanent way to get information and God’s truth into the hearts and minds of little ones. Find a melody – any tune – make it up or use one you know – and SING what you want to say – and then, THEY WILL LISTEN! It does not have to rhyme – or be anything particularly lovely, just SING.
With my own children, I always sang a direction: “time to take a bath now, a bath now, a bath now, and you will have some splash now and have big FUN” (did you make up a melody to that?) I think this is what the Word of God means about a “new song”. Ps.33:3
“Sing to the Lord a new song….. “
Did you know: a 2year old can sing a melody! They may not be able to pronounce all the words of a song, but they can sing – they are BRILLIANT!
Start early! Find Bible verses that you think your little ones should know – and sing them. Do you think they can understand? Consider this:
“From infancy you have known the holy scriptures, which were able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” 2Tim. 3:15
What a priviledge we have to sing to our children about the Lord – to teach them songs to sing about the Lord – and to teach them songs to sing TO the Lord.
“It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to SING praises to His name.” Ps 92:1
“O come let us SING for joy to the Lord, let us SHOUT JOYFULLY to the rock of our salvation.” Ps 95:1
“Shout joyfully to the Lord all the earth... Come to Him with joyful SINGING” Ps.100:1-2
“Sing songs from your heart to Jesus. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ.” Eph 5:19 (THE MESSAGE)
Start today! SING YOUR WAY THROUGH YOUR DAY! I promise, you will see a difference in yourself, in your children, and in your home:)
I absolutely agree! Even with my very tone deaf voice, my girls enjoy when I sing a "real" song or make up my own. I sing about everything from dusting, to bathing, to cleaning up dog poo, to playing doll house, to cooking dinner. And thanks to Miss Pattycake, we know lots of FUN songs to sing about Jesus and His Word!
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