When my daughter was about four years old, I bought her a book called The Princess and the Kiss: A Story of God’s Gift of Purity by Jennie Bishop. This soon became one of our favorite books to read together–what little girl doesn’t like fairy tales about a beautiful princess?
A few years later, I was really excited to find it had a devotional-style companion book that goes with it, Life Lessons from the Princess and the Kiss. (I found out about this resource at a Pure In Heart Conference my daughter and I attended together a few years ago.)
The purity aspect represented in these books comes from the perspective of having a pure heart—a heart for God and aligned with Christ. It’s very much about identity, and honoring the Lord by understanding who we are in Him. As she has gotten older, now 8 (how did that happen!!??), it has been a wonderful tool for us to use together to go deeper into God’s Word.
I wanted to find a fun, easy, but also impactful way to weave these together and use them as a teaching tool with her. With a lot of help from the Holy Spirit, we came up with a little way that works for us.
Here’s how I use the Life Lessons book. My daughter has a composition book that has lines for writing at the bottom and room for drawing a picture at the top. There are 21 lessons, so I will choose one of them for us to focus on. In her notebook, I’ll select 2-4 Scripture verses and jot down a few questions that relate to the lesson. Here is what she will do:
- She will re-write the verses (copywork).
- Underline the words she doesn’t understand (these become vocabulary words)
- She’ll answer the questions and think about how they relate to her.
- Draw a picture about the lesson.
That night, before bed, we’ll talk together about the lesson and what it means to be God’s princess.
My daughter absolutely loves crafts, so her favorite parts are the fun craft ideas and activities in each lesson. These give great illustrations that help her understand purity—and they are really simple, easy ideas. Once we took a glass of water and sprinkled pepper in it. Then we talked about how just that little bit of pepper changed the water from something pure and refreshing into something that we thought was gross and nasty.
Following another suggested activity, she decorated a box with Jesus’ name on it, with a gift tag that had her name on it. She was learning that Jesus is a special gift that was given especially for her.
We pick and choose the things we want to do. Our goal is to enjoy this book and go deeper with God. We don’t use this book every day, but it is something that we use often and go back to frequently to pick up something else to do and learn from. I highly encourage these books for your daughters!
For boys: When my son is a little older, we’ll read The Squire and The Scroll: A Tale of the Rewards of a Pure Heart and Life Lessons from the Squire and the Scroll.
Attending the Pure In Heart Conference was a life-changing experience for my daughter and me. There’s one coming next month to Columbus, Georgia. Get the details HERE.
My grand daughters (two 17 & 13)have not been raised in church just as I was not. I didn’t go to church until my second marriage. When I spoke with m youngest grand daughter about Jesus she replie, Jesus isn’t her thing.
I didn’t take my only child, a son , to church (my first husband was against organized religion ) . So I am not sure how to address the situation. I want my son and his family to be saved, so they will have a life in glory with God our Father and Jesus our Lord.
I pray that someone will come into thier lives that will lead them to the Lord but I don’t know if that is enough. I have some guilt about not being in church or the Bible when my son was small. If you have any advice I would be most appreciated.
Thank you so much for your help.