Deciding on a Devotional @FamilyChristian
As we gear up to start a new year I find myself looking for a new devotional book to use with the kids. It’s sometimes hard to find a good one at a price you can afford. I find that deciding on a devotional is always much harder than I anticipated.
There are so many to choose from! And so many factors to consider. For me I have to make sure it’s something that will work for a wide age range. When you have nine kids ages nine and under you want to make sure you can keep the most of them occupied at the same time.
Another factor that affects my deciding on a devotional is how many days it covers. I want one that covers the whole year. A 365 day devotional book, not a monthly or weekly one. A great way to make sure that we keep on task and do it daily is if we’re going to be very thrown off if we skip a day! This does it for me! Keeps me on my toes and keeps us on schedule with our devotionals.
When I was browsing the Family Christian online store the other day I found two that were reaching out to me! Now I just have to choose between the two of them.
The first is a little devotional book titled God and Me by Penny Boshoff. It’s published by Thomas Nelson Publishers who happens to be a favorite of ours. So I knew I’d need to check it out! It also fits my criteria of being a 365 day devotional so that we can start on January 1st and end on December 31st next year. Now the age factor is harder to fit with devotionals. This one is for children ages 5 and up. I have three littles under that age range. But I think from what I have read of the devotional that it will still be a great fit for our family. As I’m reading about the devotional and searching online I found that people were recommending in their reviews that it is really geared towards ages 3-7. So my older few may not be highly entertained, but they will still learn from it just like the younger ones. Win win situation in my book!
The second devotional that I found is Grace for the Moment: 365 Devotions for kids which is written by Max Lucado and adapted to children by Tama Fortner. This is another devotional that covers a whole years worth of time but that is undated so that you can easily start on December 1st and end on November 30th if you want to. We love the works of Max Lucado in our house and know that this is going to be good quality. On the website is says ages 6 and up, but in a review they recommend for grades 2nd through 5th. This would mean that it would appeal more towards my older children and less to the younger ones. As I dug deeper other places suggest ages 6-10 for this devotional. Again I only have three that are under the 6 year marker so it would still cover the same amount.
So there you have it. I found two devotionals. Now comes the hard part. The actual deciding on a devotional part. I of course couldn’t make this decision on my own. I went to my husband and had him check out the two that I was looking at. He liked them both too! Then he asked me about price. Because you know, we’re a single income family and we do have to do some price checking at times. This is the part that you want to pay attention to!
Right now Family Christian is having a sale where select Children’s Bibles and Devotionals are 50% off! These are both on that list! Would you believe me if I said that God and Me is only $9.99 during the sale? What about that Grace for the Moment is only $7.99? Those are some awesome prices! The sale is running December 5th through December 24th so you can a few weeks to get those purchases in and even time to get them here by Christmas(which is my plan!).
My oldest caught saw me looking online at the devotionals and put in her vote for one. She wanted the God’s Little Princess Bedtime Devotional book. Gigi is such a precocious little girl and a creation of Sheila Walsh and Tama Fortner. We have a few Gigi books in our house and one video. This is on sale as well. It’s only $7.49. There really is a little something for every child in the sale.
So now that you know about the great sale and the great deals you can find make sure you head over to Family Christian. In the meantime I’m going to keep counting down the days until our new devotional arrives and I can safely wrap it up and hide it away for a Christmas present for our family. You ask which I chose? We finally decided on Grace for the Moment because we do want something that will work for all ages and it tends to be easier in our house to get something geared towards the older children and then find ways to make it work for the younger ones. Who knows, maybe I’ll end up getting the other one before the sale is over and we’ll do two!
This post does contain affiliate links. If you use those links to make a purchase I will receive a small commission. This is also a sponsored post, meaning I am being compensated for the post in a monetary way. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own. I have not been coerced or told what to write. This content of this post is solely owned by me.
Missi
Thanks so much for these resources. It’s always so hard to find a good devotional for my girls
Erin S.
I know! As a mom of girls and boys I don’t want them to be too gender geared but I love that little Gigi one!
Vicki F
This is great information about Children’s Devotionals! Thanks for sharing about Family Christian Stores’ great deals!
Erin S.
They have lots of other great deals right now so feel free to check them out!
Jessica Jones
My niece is almost 3 years old, and she absolutely LOVES going to church. She asks to go every single day, and is really sad when we explain to her that she goes on Wednesdays and Sundays only. She would really love “God and Me” so I will be mentioning it to my sister! Thanks so much!
Erin S.
Oh what a sweet girl! I hope that she does get a devotional! I think she’d love it!
Lani @ Life Anchored
Love these! We have been trying to decide how to address this as our little guy gets older. Right now we do songs from BSF and he does the lessons there each week.
Erin S.
How fun! How old is he? They have devotionals for toddlers as well!
Tricia W.
Thank you for sharing about these books. I have noticed this month (December) that people are speaking more about religious books. I think that books like these should be promoted all the time,and I am glad to see that you are one the bloggers who help to do so.
Erin S.
Thanks so much! I do feel that we should promote what we believe year round. For us that is a deep Christian faith and I hope my posts do reflect that.
Michelle F.
Those all look like some great books. MY daughter would love all those characters while also learning.
Erin S.
I know! I love how they can make learning fun.
kristi@ishouldbemoppingthefloor
I love Family Christian…we always get fantastic gifts there!! And my boys want that Max Lucado book…Max went to our alma mater so we try to get all of his stuff!
Erin S.
That is so neat! I love when you can have a connection with an author!
Nicole Howell
My boys say the standard night time prayer. I think the devotional book would be a good way to get them praying about different things.
Erin S.
I think it would be a great fit for you! It will also get those little minds working overtime!
Karie
I love Max Lucado books, I had no idea he did children’s. I do a daily devotional on my bible and would love to have my daughter and sons involved. I might have to check these out for sure.
Erin S.
Yes we have several of his children’s books. He also has some videos as well for children.
Jeanine
Those books are so cute. Thanks for sharing!
Erin S.
Thanks for visiting. I hope you check them out.
Tea
I really like childrens book-and these look interesting:)
Erin S.
They are amazing! It’s so wonderful how much children can learn when they’re young.
Kungphoo
Sounds like a good book for those who need it.. If anyone asks i will pass it onto them.
Erin S.
Please do pass it along!
LauraOinAK
I totally agree that Family Christian has an awesome selection of devotionals. Now is the perfect time to get ready for 2015 and start the new year off on the ‘right foot.’
Erin S.
They do have a great selection! So hard to choose!
Harriet
Every family needs something to believe it it seems.
Erin S.
I think we do. I think even those who don’t have a “belief” still have something they believe in. It’s an innate human desire.
Heather
I’ve read a few Max Lacado books. I’ll have to keep the “God and Me” book in mind for my five year old.
Erin S.
I think it would be a great one! Hope you remember it when you’re ready to get one!
vidya sudarsan
Belief in God is good for the children 🙂
Erin S.
I think so too!
Cindy (Vegetarian Mamma)
I have been looking for a devotional for my kiddos. My boys specifically! Thanks for the recs!
Erin S.
So glad this is the perfect timing for you! Hope you enjoy!
Terri Ramsey Beavers
Those are some really cute books for devotion. Thanks so much for sharing, I’ll look for them the next time I go to the book store.
Erin S.
That is awesome you have a store close! These sales are only good until the 24th of this month!
Jamie
These are some great devotionals. Time with family and the Lord is so important!! Great post!
Erin S.
Thanks so much and glad you agree.
kungphoo
Good luck in your decision.. they both seem like great books. I like that they cover 365 days a year.
Erin S.
That was one of my requirements for a good devotional for us next year was a once a day book.
Giveaways 4 Mom
Thanks for sharing this wonderful devotional resources with us.
Erin S.
Thanks for checking them out!
Stephanie Keeping
Sounds like great books! I actually need to get a new one for my son.
Erin S.
They are awesome books and I’m sure he’d enjoy one!
Jenn
Thanks for sharing these I love how child friendly they look to teach great devotions.
Erin S.
They really are child friendly. The older kids can read them themselves and yet they’re still interesting enough to hold the younger ones attention.
agatapokutycka
Thank you for doing a hard work for us. They would make a lovely gift for my friend Ann.
Erin S.
I’m so glad you like them. Hope your friend does as well!
Melissa Smith
These all seem like such great devotional books. I know my youngest would love the Princess one for sure.
Erin S.
It really is a sweet book for a little girl!
Krista
There are so many great ones to choose from! I love Family Christian!
Erin S.
I know! They have such a great selection! I can’t wait to visit one of their stores some day!
Caitlin
Oh this is an awesome idea! I love getting to do devotionals! These look like really good ones!
Erin S.
I happen to think they’re the cream of the crop for kids!
Debra
That’s great that there is a whole book to help out! We usually just wing it every day!
Erin S.
I’ve tried winging it but we normally end up forgetting or getting too busy when I don’t have a plan of action to follow.
Liz Mays
I’m thinking these could really make nice gifts for people this year! I like the 365 ones too.
Erin S.
They would be great gifts! They have adult ones too!
Holly @ Woman Tribune
Looks like a huge selection for Christian families looking to stock up on Christmas gifts for the kids and start 2015 off right.
Erin S.
They really do have a giant selection!
Mistee Dawn
I think my daughter would really like the nighttime devotional. Thanks for sharing.
Erin S.
Thanks for visiting! Let me know what you think if you try it out!
Dhemz Apdian - Dias
how awesome! what an awesome gift guidel
Erin S.
Thanks so much! Feel free to share!
Danielle
I don’t think I have heard of any of these but I will definitely look into them.
Erin S.
I think you’ll love them!
Kristin
Thanks for the recs! I would love to beef up the kids’ book collection with more books like these!
Erin S.
Keep watch as I share more kid friendly books soon!
Eliz Frank
You picked out a nice selection of books for kids to read this season. I love anything Max Lucado writes… inspiring
Erin S.
Yes we really like his works as well.
Patranila
Good choices. When I was little, we had the Upper Room.
Erin S.
And the memories stay with you still!