It has long been my desire to have some one on one time with each of my children.  I have envisaged that during this time I would be able to speak into their lives, build memories and have some fun times too.  But it has always been hard to find time to make this happen.

Just recently I’ve looked again at our weekly schedule and with the desire to make sure we have time for the important things on my heart, I have taken a bold step and dropped some studies that we were working on in order to make room for this one on one time.  The time is right.

I was talking to my children the other day about the word intrapersonal – it means the things that make us tick, the inner things, the things that make us a person.  The dictionary gives the meaning of “existing or occurring within the individual self or mind.”   We were talking that none of these areas of self, can be improved (at least not long term changes) without the power of the Holy Spirit.  God is into changing us and we need to recognise that instead of racing off doing a self-improvement study.

So with that in mind it is with great excitement that we are sitting down, one on one, a few times a month, to work on these inner-self issues based on bible study.  I have chosen four different resources to use with my four different children because I want to meet them where they are at.  Not only is the resource I’m using different so is the method.

Daniel:  I’m using An Honourable Boy by Michelle Zoppa.    My main goal with Daniel is to lift his level of seeing how the Bible applies to every day life and relationships.  As we study he will also become more familiar with finding his way around the Bible.  Though this resource is a worksheet type book, lots of fill in the blanks and write your response – we will be doing this orally, discussing the questions together.

Naomi:  I’m using a book from Focus on the Family – Appleseeds.  I’ve had it on my shelf for many years.  My main goal with Nomi is to confirm her understandings with the foundations of our faith and in doing so she too will learn (or be strengthened) that God has something to do with every area of her life – thought, word and actions.  Though our time together will be oral discussions I will expect Nomi to do some written work after our discussion to record her learning.

Jessica & Josh:  I’m using Polished Cornerstones for Jessica and Plants Grown Up for Josh. These come from the same publisher and are the same layout and purpose (one for girls and one for boys) so though we are doing them separately, we are doing them the same way.

Josh, Jess and I have gone through their respective books, chosen an issue to work on and chosen 3-8 assignments.  Both Peter and I have a copy of these assignments and we have incorporated these into our personal Bible study time.  The idea is that Josh, Jess, Peter and I will study these things ourselves and then when we get together (one on one) we will share what we have both been learning.  I’m excited about this prospect – that Jess and I, or Josh and I can come together as sisters/brothers in the Lord and share what God is saying to us.  It is a completely different way of study than with the younger two but like I said, I want to meet the kids where they are at.  I’ll write again on the type of assignments this resource sets out for us to study.