“I’m just not a good ‘Christian dad’,” I thought. “My kids just don’t like the Bible.” “I’m a disappointment to my wife.” “I guess they can just get it from Sunday school, Christian school, Youth group, or Awana.” Then God did something amazingly ordinary. He opened my eyes to see that all of the frustration I had in regards to our family devotional time was not due to techniques or skills that I didn’t have, or a curriculum that I had not yet purchased, but the result of a heart that needed to change.

My wife Jenny and I are not very good at family devotions. For the longest time a “perfect picture” of what family Bible time is supposed to be kept me from attempting it, or worse, attempting it and always failing.

I had this picture in my mind of a family that meets for 30-60 minutes a night. The dad stands proudly before his family and opens the Bible, the children can’t wait in anticipation, and the wife treasures the whole picture counting herself so blessed to have such a “godly” man and family. Ha!

At some point, after many attempts to reach my idolized picture of family Bible time and failing, I decided to give up. Instead of standing and explaining the Word to my kids I was refereeing their behavior. Instead of them sitting on the edge of their seats to listen, they were asking, “Are we done yet?” Instead my wife being proud, she was left consoling a defeated husband.

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