When I was a new mom, I read a book called Creative Family Times by Allen Hadidian and Will Wilson. The authors encouraged me to get in the habit of carrying on conversations with my children about God as often as possible.

In this blog series, I’m listing ideas to get the conversations started. I’ll just list verses straight from the Bible, then I’ll share beneath how we implement some of the ideas in our home.

What Scripture Says

In an age when Pinterest has captured the hearts of moms everywhere, I am thrilled to see that God also believes in “pinning” things to the walls of our hearts and homes.

“Hear, O Israel: YHVH our God, YHVH is one. Love YHVH your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

“Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then YHVH’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land YHVH is giving you. Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that YHVH swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth” (Deuteronomy 11:16-21).

“My son, keep my words
and store up my commands within you.
Keep my commands and you will live;
guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart” (Proverbs 7:1-3).

“Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things in your law” (Psalm 119:18).

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe” (Ephesians 1:18-19).

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life” (1 John 1:1).

Making It Practical

The keys verses in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Deuteronomy 11:16-21 tell us several key points about decorating our homes with Scripture.

• What? We are supposed to put specific parts of Scripture on our doorframes—the commands of God. I really thought about this lately and looked at the verses around my own home. I noticed something. I have quite a few verses on trust, on prayer, on good character, and on love, but I had very few that were “commands” of God. I kinda got the feeling that my walls were a little selfish and me-oriented, rather than obedient and God-oriented. I want to work on this.
• Where? The verses are to be written on our doorframes. The Hebrew word translated doorframes is mezuzah, which literally means wide or conspicuous place. This prompts us to write verses on all the “wide” and “conspicuous” places in our homes. I’ve got them lots of places, such as in picture frames, on bathroom walls, on the front of the refrigerator, and on 3×5 cards in the kitchen window.
• Why? The verses are to be written down so that we will talk about them! Many of the verses in my home were placed there intentionally to help me stop sinning, to remind me to pray, or to encourage me. Verses can be strategically placed to remind me to have conversations with my children.

There are many resources for decorating our home. My husband and I enjoy visiting furniture stores, antique shops, thrift stores, and art shops, especially on our date nights. Kraig is really good at seeing an old frame and repurposing it with a new interior. One of my personal favorites was the time he bought an ugly green frame, spray-painted it black, then simply printed out Joshua 24:15 and placed it inside the mat. We hung it near our front door, so it was a visible declaration to all of us each day: “We are Elliotts, and no matter what other families do, we’ll serve YHVH!”

I also keep a file folder filled with pages ripped from magazines, so that I can get ideas. (Another reason why I love Pinterest so much! It’s easier than cutting out and filing magazine pages.) I also have an album of ideas on my phone. I love to collect old calendar pages, especially ones with Bible verses printed on them. My favorites are adorable little animals with appropriate Scripture verses that were printed on a 1980s calendar from Friends of Israel. (Yes, I’ve saved them that long.)

Places to buy wall art online:

• Torah Sisters
• http://www.christiangiftsplace.com/FramedArt.html
• Please add more ideas in the comments!

Remember our discussion of creation (back in week 1), and how God displays His majesty by all He has made? Well, keep in mind that you were made in the image of this Creator. Do everything you can to display His majesty in the things you create for your home.

Next time we’ll talk about how copying the Bible together (yup, as in, “by hand”) can spark conversations with your children about God!

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