What role models does your child have?
Maybe it’s a CBeebies presenter, or their school teacher? Or perhaps Andy Murray, a cool uncle or Taylor Smith? It could be their church youth leader, or maybe Kate Middleton?
Stop and think about it for a second. Who does your child really look up to? Who do they copy? Who do they want to be like?
Role models are really important for all of us. Stories of inspiring people encourage us to make the most of our lives too. As adults, we need role models.
So imagine the potential there is in filling a child’s mind with countless stories of people who have made a difference. People who have loved God and followed him in extraordinary ways. People who have made the world a better place.
Wouldn’t filling their minds with stories like these inspire them to dream big, aim high and live for others as a result? Of course it would.
We’ve been trying to read more biographies of inspiring Christians of late. Reading these stories convicts and inspires us as we read of ordinary people being used by God in extraordinary ways. It helps us to see what is possible in God’s strength. And what happens if we’re willing to lay down our lives for the kingdom of God.
We had made the decision that when our boys were older, we would buy biographies written for children of inspiring Christian leaders, missionaries, medics, reformers and humanitarians. We’re excited for the day when our eldest is old enough to enjoy one of these books.
However, this week while we were away at Word Alive, a Christian conference, we were delighted to find out that new book has been released – a collection of short biographies, written for younger children.
“Everyone a child should know*” explains in simple language what different Christians have done for “their friend Jesus”. It includes “sporty people, arty people, brilliant people and very ordinary people. There are people from hundreds of years ago and people still living today[…] Jesus has always had, and always will have friends in all shapes, sizes and colours.” We’ve read several of the biographies in this book and they’re brilliant – they’re engaging, accessible and inspiring.
Every person included has a double-page spread, on one side is an illustration, and on the other is the biography – perfect for even young children, who can study the picture while a parent reads to them. We think our nearly four year old will love it – so we bought it as a birthday present.
Another book we bought while we were away was “Spurgeon: On the Christian Life*” by Michael Reeves. We love the author, we love Charles Spurgeon, and we love biographies, so we’re excited to get stuck in. We had already spent quite a bit in the bookshop(!) but then we decided to go ahead and buy this book as well. Because in the end, if we want our children to grow up to love reading Christian biographies, then we need to model that ourselves. And how lovely it will be to be able to summarise the life of inspiring individuals to our boys who are full of childlike ambition.
How wonderful it will be to ask them the question “what would you like to do for your friend Jesus?” And to tell them that anyone who is friends with Jesus can do remarkable things – because he lives in them and works through them.