Owen's First Day of BSF

On September 11th, I started my first year of Bible Study Fellowship.  I have always wonderful things about the organization, but people always preface their rave reviews with a warning about "the rules."  I've heard, "if you miss more than three times, you are kicked out" and "if you don't do your homework, you aren't allowed to speak in small group" and "you have to wear a dress or skirt."  All of those rules made me too anxious to try BSF.  Recently, BSF, as an organization, has changed and all of those rules have been covered by a whole lot of grace.  In light of that, I decided to give it a try.  :)

Owen goes to the kid's program while I am in the adult small group and lecture.  The kid's program is awesome!!!  I cannot say enough about what a good job they do with these little ones.  Owen LOVES it!  He calls it "my school."  ;)  His teachers are so welcoming and friendly - always saying, "I love you, Buddy!" before we leave.  The children's curriculum follows the adult study - teaching the kids what we are learning, but on their level.  We are studying Matthew this year.  A few weeks ago, we were in Matthew 3 studying John the Baptist.  Owen's lesson was about John the Baptist, as well.  When I picked him up, his teachers shared a cute story.  They said that they had taught the lesson and then asked a few review questions.  They asked, "What was the name of the man who told people about Jesus?"  They said that Owen got super excited and said, "I do!  I do!"  Ha ha!  I hope that boy grows to tell everyone that he knows about Jesus!  That would delight my heart like nothing else.  :)

We decided that these two hours away from Mommy warranted a chalkboard photo session.  ;)

 He asked for a picture with his puppy, of course.  That boy is crazy about his stuffed animals!  He sleeps with 8 in his crib.  Ha!

If you have a child in the kid's program, they ask that you volunteer 3 times a year.  I got to help out a couple of weeks ago, and I was amazed by how much they teach even the little toddlers.  They have tons of rhymes and songs to instill the Truth in these tiny children.  It was pretty amazing.  I recorded a video of Owen doing one of his rhymes a few nights ago.

Obviously, he doesn't fully understand the Gospel message yet, but that is quite a seed that has been planted in his little heart.  I love that the Word is being spoken over him by these sweet ladies to reinforce our biblical teaching at home.