Amazing Parenting Tool! The Child Training Bible

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
2 Timothy 3:16-17

I've been meaning to make this post for a couple days now. I wanted to show everyone my newest and most wonderful parenting tool.
Like most Christian parents, I really strive to use Scripture in our daily lives - especially for teaching and correcting when the kids are being a bit ornery (which lately, seems like all.the.time). But so many days I fail. Ok.....most days I fail. Like...everyday. I either don't have the Bible memorized like I should or I don't know where to go in the Bible for the specific topic I'm trying to teach on and by the time I DO have it figured out, then the teaching moment has passed. And let's be honest, in the moment when I should be spouting off a great Bible verse and being mom of the year, instead I'm normally dealing with my own sin of anger and frustration which means I'm snapping at the kids or yelling at them not to yell. Yea....not so much mom of the year status. I'm always in search for something else that'll help. We do Bible Verses weekly and I have a white board on the inside of our coat closet where I write a Bible Verse that covers a topic we're trying to deal with (for instance, right now it's Fruits of the Spirit. I like it because it covers a multitude of subjects. :) yay for more bang for your buck).

Awhile back, I noticed a family friend of ours had developed a really great tool for using Scripture for parenting and I loved it. A couple weeks ago I finally took the plunge and purchased their "kit" to make my own. Enter the Child Training Bible

Photo Courtesy ChildTrainingBible.com

Mindy and Nathan Dunn created this to help themselves parent their 4 children. They really wanted to speak Scripture directly to their children but found themselves in the same spot of having the desire but not knowing how to apply that in an easy and daily way. So they came up with this FANTASTIC way to organize their Bible. Everything is even color-coded. It makes my heart swoon. :) You can learn more about how to make your own at www.ChildTrainingBible.com.

Like I said, I purchased their "kit" which included 4 items: The main key card that you keep in the front of the Bible (which was nicely laminated), 3 cards they call "tabbers" which explain the behavior and the Scripture references on one side and on the other side it lists discussion questions and a sample prayer for each behavior. It also comes with a little instruction paper. :) It was only $9 plus shipping ($13 total) and it was shipped pretty fast!

So here's my own Child Training Bible (CTB) and a little picture tutorial on how I made it:

So first of all - Mindy and Nathan suggest using the ESV version. But I really wanted more of a kids Bible and I prefer either a NIV or NKJV or something like that. The CTB Key and tabbers are made for a 9X6 Bible, which is actually larger than your normal run-of-the-mill Bible. Didn't realize that until I went to go purchase one. I ended up first getting a KJV because that's all the store had that was a kids Bible and 9X6, but after looking through it - I decided that even though it was "technically" for kids, it's already hard enough trying to explain to a 3-year-old about sinful behaviors and I really didn't need the extra work of explaining words like "exalteth" too. So back it went and I ended up with this HCSB one. I like it! :) You can use whatever 9X6 Bible you want.


Here's everything you need to get started -- the main key and tabbers, instruction paper, Bible of choice, post it flags and Sharpie Highlighters (in at least 7 different colors. You can get the value pack of Post It flags and of highlighters that has all the correct colors in it. I found both the correct flags and highlighter pack at Officemax. FYI - I could NOT find them at Target, Walmart or Staples. Only Officemax or online. Lame, I know.)


Once you have all your needed supplies, you start highlighting. Using the correct tabber card, you look up each verse and highlight it in the appropriate color that matches the behavior for that verse. Then you use the coordinating Post It flag to flag the page in the correct spot that correlates with the main key. This part take a lot of time. It took me several days to get this done. But it was a HUGE blessing to do it. I loved looking up Scripture for each behavior and to be reminded of what God says on each issue. Because let's be honest - this might say "Child Training Bible" but Scripture is Scripture and I deal with all these same issues too. I was extremely blessed going through, highlighting each verse and really meditating on what it said. I even had Rylee help me a bit. I sat highlighting and she would give me the flag I needed. I loved sitting together, reading God's word and talking about each verse with her. It was a really special time.




Here's the main key card. You attach it to the front inside cover of your Bible with double sided tape. You can see how each Post It flag correlates with the behaviors on the key. This makes it EXTREMELY easy to find the behavior you want to discuss and immediately be able flip to a couple verses. And with the verses highlighted in the corresponding color, you don't even have to look for the verse on the page. Just look for the correct colored verse.


And here's a shot of the inside when it's all done. Now, because there's 7 colors and all three sides use all 7 colors - there's bound to be some color overlap. On the same page you might have several different verses highlighted in one color but for different topics. So they just suggest writing the behavior in the margin, which is what I did. This makes it easy to quickly look and find the behavior you're discussing. I also found myself making little notes to reference other parts of the Bible. Like "see the story of the Isrealites wandering the desert in Numbers" by a verse in the New Testament that talks about how God refused to let an entire generation of His people into the Promise Land because of their grumbling and complaining.

I have a couple of favorite parts to the CTB. One is the "Gospel" section. It's quite a large section with lots of verses and is broken down to 4 parts (Man, God, Jesus and What Now). This is a wonderful section because although we want to use the Scripture to help our children understand their wrongful behaviors and how God wants us to act -- it all boils down to us being sinful and needing Christ's salvation. We ALL fall short and need God's grace. The Gospel section is a great way to point back to what Jesus did for us on the cross and remind our children that although we are not perfect, God is and we are made perfect in Him. The Gospel is what it's all about and I'm so happy that Mindy and Nathan did not forget to include this very important part! It's not just about acting a certain way - it's about God's Salvation!!

My other favorite part of this whole system is the discussion guides on the back of the tabbers. I don't know about other people, but sometimes I need help in knowing what to say to my kids after we talk about a Bible Verse. So this guide is GREAT for me. It has 3 sections for each behavior -- questions dealing with the heart ("How did you disobey? How does God want you to obey?"), questions about how Jesus acted concerning the behavior ("Did Jesus disobey his parents?" with a Scripture reference) and then a sample prayer to help you as you end your discussion time. This is a FABULOUS resource for me and really helps me as we're sitting down and discussing the situation.

So there you go! The Child Training Bible in a nutshell. :) I really cannot rave more about this little system. We've only had it for about a week and I seriously use it on a daily basis. And you know what the best part is? God uses it to minister to me too. With each behavior that I'm dealing with my kids - I'm constantly reminded of how God wants me to act as well. God's Word is living and active -- and it teaches me just as it teaches my children. How cool is that? God's pretty awesome. :)

Oh and one more plus - you kind of get to feel like "mom of the year" status for a minute. :) "Why yes, I do sit down nicely with my children sharing Scripture and teaching them straight from the Bible instead of yelling at them like a psychotic lunatic." ;) ok maybe that's a little far fetched but I have found that God uses it to remind me that parenting is hard but with Him - my kids will grow to learn how to act according to His Word. It's funny - because before this I noticed Satan using hard parenting situations to tear myself down. When my kids acted up, I turned it on myself "I'm not a good parent" and Satan was right there whispering the same lies into my ears and my head. "You fail. Constantly." "You aren't cut out for this. Look how they just fight and bicker all the time. If you had things under control - they wouldn't act this way." But since I'm using Scripture on a very frequent basis now - God is there speaking truth to me. He's giving me verses to help with this crazy parenting journey. He's reminding me that HE CHOSE Darrin and I to be the parents of our children and He gives us the resources needed to do the job. That I am not perfect - but His grace is sufficient and He can and will guide us on the right path. Glory be to God!

If you want to make your Child Training Bible -- visit Mindy and Nathan's website at www.ChildTrainingBible.com. You can watch a video where they explain step by step how to make your own CTB, check out the supplies needed and even order your own kit. :) Enjoy!!