Lessons from the Animals

James loves animals. He likes to see them on TV, at the movies and the museum, in the backyard and in books.

One of our favorites is the Berenstain Bears. James LOVES them! And so do I! We have a growing collection of the books that started when he was a baby. We most recently ordered 3: Count Their Blessings, Strangers and A Case of the Gimmies. James loves the books so much that when we have read the acutal story, he wants me to read the inside of the back page which lists all the titles...there are 54! THEN, I have to read the titles on the back page that have pictures of the books that are featured. He can almost list them all by himself because he has memorized them. Our most treasured book is a hard-back book that used to belong to his Daddy.

In addition to the Berenstain Bears and since we haven't found a church to call home yet, I bought a kid's devotional book over the weekend. The Big Book of Animal Devotions is one I found in the bookstore. I like it. I read one story each day usually at nap time or bedtime. Each devotion includes a featured animal, a short Bible verse and a moral of the story. One is already sticking with James. The first devotion was about "thinking before speaking" and the moral of the story was "guard your tongue". The devotion taught that our words should be like medicine to people....helpful rather than hurtful. So, ever since, James has been asking if his words are like medicine. I like that. Another one that was recommended to me that I didn't find in the bookstore is Listen to the Animals. We may end up with 2 books of devotion. I will post about church another day. Lots to write about there. But for now, James is getting some education about God and what is expected of him. This is character building. This is habits as talked about by Charlotte Mason.