Please share your thoughts!
We have our family worship in the morning right after breakfast.
At the minute we are reading through the book of Acts. Paul just reads some then explains it.
We learn a catechism for Sunday school at this time too and if we have time we will read from another book, the one we are currently reading from is called Taking Root by Diana Kleyn (Conversational stories for Children).
Hi Elaine,
I know a lot of people that have their family devotional/worship time in the mornings. We always had ours in the evening until last spring and we changed it to morning time as well (most of the time). It seems to flow better that way too, so I'm glad we did that.
Thanks for sharing.
Just thinking there about a devotional book I have called "Gentle Rain on Tender Grass" - daily readings from the Pentateuch. It's by Sharon James from England.
It doesn't state that it's specifically for women but as her other books are mostly for women I would say that was the idea behind it. It's a good devotional I used it in the Postnatal days when you kind of need spoon fed. The readings are about the same length as Spurgeon's morning and evening.
(Sinclair Ferguson has endorsed it)
It could certainly be used for older kids.
Another one quite a few members of our church would have used is Marian Schooland's "Leading little ones to God".
We have also used the Gofors & Grumps series a couple of times in the past, published by Day One, written by Derek Prime. Good for young children.
That's enough for now - can't you tell I'm back in the study just gazing at the shelves!
I'll be interested to see what others suggest.
My husband and I read scripture in the morning, but not in the same place in the bible and not together as he wakes up super early (3 am early) for work. He'll read scripture aloud after dinner and is also incorporating short books (where he can read a chapter). Right now we are working on The Heart of the Bible by John MacArthur.
We are actually wanting to read together as a couple, perhaps before bed. It's been pressing on us for some time now but really don't know where to begin. We'll try to read a book from the bible together but it seems like it's hit-or-miss as we are in a busy season right now with 2 little children.
Anyway, that is what we've been doing as far as devotional reading time goes.
Elaine: thanks so much for those recommendations, I'm going to look them up this evening.
Susie: your home life sounds like mine did a few years ago when it seemed like everyone I knew was in diapers or still on the bottle. 
That's a rough time for sure, and I remember well the time/schedule juggling.
One of the things that helped us during that time was to use devotional material written specifically for children. Believe it or not, even us grown ups can glean some solid insight from those kinds of books, and the kids love them.
Carla--
The boys and I try to read a chapter out of Pilgrim's Progress out loud, then I do a devotional from a book that starts with a passage of scripture and a children's devotional written around it.
It's a special time with them that I hate to rush through, no matter how tired I feel at the time.
We have a bible reading schedule that we follow. We get together and read the verses out loud and discuss them.
I am not a big fan of devotionals, either, because they don't often cover very many verses. When we have our family bible readings, we like to take a larger context into consideration.
When the kids were younger we used Starr Mead's book based on the catechism, but as they have become older, there is room for more discussion about the Scripture passage.
For families with older kids, I think the books by D.A. Carson, For the Love of God, would be good. Lots of reading, but it would be worth it.
LG: I like the idea of reading Pilgrim's Progress together. I've been wanting to get it on audio book for a while now. I think the kids would really like it (and I know I would).
You're right, it is a special time that shouldn't be rushed through at all.
Kim: that's the one thing about a lot of devotionals that I've noticed as well, the shortage of Scripture verses.
Maybe it's just me, but I've read (correction, tried to read) DA Carson and I'm wondering if he's the kind of author that even older kids would be suited for? Again, maybe it's just me.
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