Some of my favorite Christian chapter books for kids (and for myself) are allegories.  There is something special about a good allegorical story with a hidden message that not only draws the reader into the adventure, but also teaches Biblical truths in powerful ways.  Jesus used parables (similar to allegories) as one of His primary ways of teaching, and look at the impact the stories have made on so many!  I don’t think I would appreciate Jesus’ heart for “the lost” if it wasn’t for the story of The Lost Sheep, or God’s overwhelming forgiveness if it wasn’t for The Prodigal Son, or even our call to truly serve others without hearing the story of The Good Samaritan. These stories help us understand and connect on an emotional level with the heart of God.  Similarly, there are also many great chapter books written as allegories to help our children understand God and His ways. 

Have you ever wished you could eliminate those countless hours of screen time on long road trips?  What if you could give your kids a constructive activity that the whole family enjoys? I know books are great, and we encourage our kids to read in the car as much as possible. It’s also important to use some car time to talk or play family games, but it’s nice to have other options as well. One of the activities we enjoy on road trips and when traveling around town is listening to audio dramas: stories that come to life through the character’s voices and sound affects without the visual input.

Recently the Lord connected me with Charmé Fletcher, founder of the blog, Covenant Heirs, and coauthor with her husband of Making a Spiritual Discipleship Plan.  My husband and I enjoyed using her spiritual discipleship plan resource to come up with our own discipleship plan for our family.  It is an amazing tool and really helped us develop a vision for our family, so we stay centered on what matters most in life.  I asked her to guest blog for us to tell you more about this wonderful tool… 

While it’s fun to buy chocolates and other Valentine’s gifts that show our kids we love them, we can also buy gifts that remind them how much their Heavenly Father loves them!  With this in mind, here are my  favorite Valentine’s gifts for kids to lead them closer to the Lord!