# Sorry I have to ask again.



## Anton Bruckner (Dec 6, 2006)

Can the parents here give me a typical schedule of how the study the word flows in their house according to the following categories.
1. The family. (Family Altar)
2. Privately (Individually)
3. With spouse
4. With your children.

Sorry for asking this again, I just want to be the best husband (when that time comes again if God willing), and the best parent I can be.

1. Is the family altar once a week, as well as study of the word with your spouse, whereas with the children, it is almost every night before they go to bed?

2. How does one prepare for the family study. Is it socratic, or is it in the sermon type?

3. If the Mom stays at home, does she take the lead in teaching the kids with the father only confirming what she taught, but with the father taking the principal lead at the family altar.

4. Is the Bible study systematic, or on a needs basis?

5. How much is typically covered in a year?


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## LadyFlynt (Dec 6, 2006)

Depends on how you want to do it. Family devotions is our big time. Hubby leads and lectures. Right now we've back tracked and are catechizing from the Shorter Catechism, then we sing out of the psalter. If daddy is gone, I go over the catechism portions we have already studied and sing children's songs with them. We have Bible as part of our schoolday. Daddy gets his reading in on his work break and for a short time in the evenings. I've been doing mine in the evenings after everyone else is in bed. Hubby and I talk all the time. He is constantly pointing stuff out with me...while I cook, when he's studying and finds something, etc).


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## Anton Bruckner (Dec 7, 2006)

thanks for the info Colleen.


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## ChristopherPaul (Dec 7, 2006)

Slippery said:


> Can the parents here give me a typical schedule of how the study the word flows in their house according to the following categories.



1. The family. (Family Altar):

Everyday minus Lord’s day (and Wednesday evening Bible study) sometime after dinner and before bedtime.​
2. Privately (Individually):

Every day minus Lord’s day in the early morning, while it is still dark (Mark 1:35). I would like to say we practice this regularly, but personally I need more discipline to do this. Other alternatives are to go to work early and do private devotions then and there.​
3. With spouse:

Everyday minus Lord’s day (and Wednesday evening Bible study) after the kids go to bed.​
4. With your children:

Everyday after the kids are “tucked in” for bed. Prayer and informal catechism (basically questions and answers). This ends with an exhortation for them to do their private prayers and a benediction.​


1. Is the family altar once a week, as well as study of the word with your spouse, whereas with the children, it is almost every night before they go to bed?

Family worship is everyday along with the spouse, but don’t put on sackcloth and roll in ashes if for whatever reason you have to miss a day here and there.​
2. How does one prepare for the family study. Is it socratic, or is it in the sermon type?

I am still stirring different ideas around in my head over this. Currently I start by reading a Psalm, then we sing a Hymn, we review yesterday’s family worship, I pray and then we read a story from the redemptive accounts. I start at Genesis and simply tell the stories of the Bible with additional insight regarding Christ and the gospel. It is good for them to start knowing the word of God (of course), and the stories along with questions work well for all age levels. Formal catechizing is done during school time in the day with discussion and clarification at the dinner table. After the reading of the word along with questions and answers, the entire family prays and then we sing a closing hymn.​
3. If the Mom stays at home, does she take the lead in teaching the kids with the father only confirming what she taught, but with the father taking the principal lead at the family altar.

Yes​
4. Is the Bible study systematic, or on a needs basis?

Systematic in that the family is guided through the scriptures from Adam through Abraham, Moses, David and Christ incarnate.​
5. How much is typically covered in a year? 

That always depends on what is being covered be that catechism questions or Bible study. If it takes a week to learn one verse or a month to learn the entire Bible, the goal is always understanding over quantity of content. We just take one day at a time.​
Blessings Keon!


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## jenney (Dec 7, 2006)

Slippery said:


> Can the parents here give me a typical schedule of how the study the word flows in their house according to the following categories.


This is what we do:

1. The family. (Family Altar)
Evening devotions with Daddy leading every night but the Lord's Day (because we don't get home from church until after 9:30 most Sundays). We pray as a family and he reads consecutively through the Bible and teaches on the passage. It is what he has studied privately that morning. We also sing a hymn. We use it as time to learn hymns so we'll sing the same one all week.

2. Privately (Individually)
First thing in the a.m. Both of us parents and the older children (the ones who can read) are expected to have devotions but each has the freedom to choose what to read. For instance, my 8 year old wanted to read through the Bible so she just started that and is in Exodus. If she has Q's she asks at some point during the day. My 11 year old is studying Jay Adams Overcoming Evil which is pretty lightweight expositionally but it is helping her in a relationship where she is teased by an unbelieving child for her faith. They are also expected to pray about things we've talked about in the everyday living together--sibling harmony, academic challenges, obedience, struggles with remaining sin.

3. With spouse
Oooh, i hate to confess we are pretty weak on this. our desire is to pray together nightly but we often fail to make it happen. Just writing this convicts me of the need. (I'd love if someone would pm me in a week to ask if we've acted on that conviction!)

4. With your children.
I pray with them when there is a need (after a spanking, after one of us sins against the other, when we discover a particular area that needs grace and the power of God to deal with, etc) I (the mama) lead morning devotions before we start our schoolday after my husband leaves for work (or starts work on the days he telecommutes). We study the shorter catechism and re-read the passage my dh taught on the night before, in case any Q's have come up. 

I'm also really relational with the children and it is a good time for them to tell me what is on their hearts so we can pray about those things. Sometimes that turns into a whole separate deal. Example: my 11 year old shared that she felt ugly. She started crying and saying that she knows she'll never marry because she is ugly. i said "Of course I think you are beautiful, but then I'm your mom and I'd think the same thing if you were a warthog-faced buffoon, but I know it is important to a girl to be pretty. God made us to be physically pleasing to our husbands and it is healthy for you to want to be lovely. That's why Daddy buys me pretty dresses, and for you girls, too. Because God made us to love loveliness..." and it naturally led into a study of vanity, making an idol of our appearance, and looking at what God's Word says about beauty (specifically about our humble submission being what godly women did to be truly beautiful). She found vanity that needed repentance and a need to make Christ her identity as well as a place to look for encouragement when she feels ugly (the word of God!) That became devotions for the day. So we aren't super-rigid in form!

1. Is the family altar once a week, as well as study of the word with your spouse, whereas with the children, it is almost every night before they go to bed?
Ideally, for us, it is every night as a family and as a couple (separately from the children, after they've gone to bed). This is hard when you are first married! There is another person there and, well, not to be too blunt, but the whole marriage-bed-thing also. I mean, married life is fabulous, but you have to recognize that spiritual life requires a discipline that hanging out with your delightful spouse does not!

2. How does one prepare for the family study. Is it socratic, or is it in the sermon type?
We do both. My husband reads the Bible aloud (or often has the older three read it. they are 6, 8, and 11) after he studied it in his private devotions that morning. Usually he has a point (or a few of them!) he wants to get to with the children. His method varies, sometimes asking them questions and other times just teaching.

3. If the Mom stays at home, does she take the lead in teaching the kids with the father only confirming what she taught, but with the father taking the principal lead at the family altar.
I said how we do this. My husband takes the lead at night, but I lead a separate deal in the a.m. 

4. Is the Bible study systematic, or on a needs basis?
Both. We're finishing up the Gospel of John right now in pm devotions and that's where started five years ago. Then we're going to move into a topical study on prayer because our older girls have said they struggle in knowing "what to say". And with my vanity-ugliness-Godly beauty answer up above, you can see we do both!

5. How much is typically covered in a year?
We don't stick hard and fast to this, but we try to cover the whole Bible in five years. That seems like a long time, but we are trying to make God's Word meaningful to a range of ages and it takes time to do that.

Hope that helps some. It has worked for us for years, but your mileage may vary!

All I can say is that the time to be preparing is _now_! You are wise to consider it before it is an issue! Neither of us had any preparation for family worship before we were married. We prayed together as a couple but that was it. As my husband has been more convicted about needing to up his role and followed through on that, i have found it to be the means the Lord uses to *sustain me* in very busy days of training children and going through the often-tedious cycle of laundry, cooking and dishes. A side benefit has been that it has strengthened our marriage and kept me madly in love with him as I see him lead our daughters and see the fruit of his efforts. There is little more delightful to a wife's heart than seeing her husband care for the needs of her soul.

Oh, I hear fighting sisters now. gotta go! 
hth,


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## Anton Bruckner (Dec 7, 2006)

thanks a lot guys. The spiritual commitment that you guys have with your family, is making me envious. Thank you very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very much for sharing your private homelife as it revolves around the study of the word, with me.
Now I know how far I'm lacking in this area and what I ought to do.

You guys are true heroes of the faith. You guys are really fulfilling the commandment, "Train up a child in the way he should go".

Thanks and may God richly bless you.

ps. I'm going to be printing out your responses, since I will need to start formulating my own. 

Chris as a man, you are on the money in the way you lead your household.  I feel small compared to you.

Colleen and Jenny, you are proof that cloning should not be banned.


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## Croghanite (Dec 7, 2006)

Is anyone else as disciplined as the ones who posted. I am also curious as to what others do. I am trying to come up with a good discipline myself.


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## Pergamum (Dec 8, 2006)

We pray at meals and before bed for my 2 year old son. 

As you can imagine, our practice is pretty limited thus far. 

When we pray I purposely pray slow and with words he knows and he repeats back some of the prayer..."help daddy, help mommy, help Peanut [his nickname]...." 

I also ask, "Who made you" and he responds "God" and then I ask, "Why did God make you?" and he responds, "His glory..." This is enough for right now.

Trevor


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## jenney (Dec 9, 2006)

trevorjohnson said:


> I also ask, "Who made you" and he responds "God" and then I ask, "Why did God make you?" and he responds, "His glory..." This is enough for right now.
> Trevor



We used to use a children's catechism with the following:
Q--Why did God make you and all things?
A--For His own glory!

Frequently when my girls ask why I did something for them I'll answer "because I love you!" Once I made a dress for my two year old and she was making a dramatic entrance down the stairs for my mother-in-law to see it. She said "Mama made this!" and I asked her "do you know _why_ I made it?" 

Instead of "because you love me!" she proclaimed:
"_For your own glory!_"

ouch.

Trevor, where are you in Indonesia? I used to live on the island of Borneo, north of Kalimantan, in the Malaysian state of Sabah. I speak some bahasa melayu (bahasa kampung sahaja!) and understand Indonesian but it is different enough that I can't really say I speak it. Also, the spellings are different, so I really can't write it. Saya merindui tempat itu, dan keluargaku juga. Kami ada kawan kawan disana masah. I think I'm still a Sabahan at heart.

all the best,
jenney


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## ChristopherPaul (Dec 9, 2006)

Keon:

I got a long way to go yet brother. I fumble along day by day beating my flesh into submission (some days the flesh wins).

Semper Reformanda


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## bookslover (Dec 10, 2006)

ChristopherPaul said:


> 2. Privately (Individually): Every day minus Lord’s day in the early morning, while it is still dark (Mark 1:35).



Of course, this only works for those who are "morning people". Take it from someone who's tried the early morning approach and failed!


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