The Bedtime Family Devotional

For the past twenty years, you will find me on a couch, in a kid’s bed, or even in a tent in my backyard reading with children before bedtime. We’ve cycled through so many wonderful stories, devotionals, and children’s Bibles that I have bookshelves in every room in our home stuffed with options. However, we’re always up for trying something new. When The Bedtime Family Devotional arrived from the publisher, my kids and I sat down with some blankets and stuffies to see how this one landed. 

The Bedtime Family Devotional contains 90 separate devotions, organized around three sections; what do I want my child to know, what do I want my child to be, and what do I want my child to do. It is adult driven, meant to be read by a parent to a child. It is a snuggly time of faith formation. Each devotion begins with a key verse from Scripture, a key idea to focus the reading, a short devotion on the passage and key idea, an action step based on the reading, and a short prayer. The language is gendered; God is He. The lessons are in easily accessible language and of an appropriate duration for younger elementary aged children. The text is large enough to be comfortable for the eyes, and there is enough white space on each two-page devotion spread to make sure it isn’t overwhelming. 

This devotional could have several uses in your ministry beyond recommending it to families looking for a bedtime devotional guide. Each devotion stands alone and could make a good basis for a Sunday School time, a 6 week themed class on a designated subject, or even as the inspiration for children’s moment during worship. What I would like to do most with this is to gather families for a multigenerational collaboration to write their own responses to the devotional. The format is wonderfully accessible, and following the patterning from the authors, families could write their own key ideas, devotions, action step, and prayer using whatever Scripture your congregation is using during worship for a season. Don’t keep this resource in one category- it can flex into many uses!