Browsing Tag

Family Bible Time

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Family Bible Time…It’s THAT Important! (Bookmark this one if you have little people in your life!)

Posted on January 28, 2026

I always love it when a young mom comes asking for Family Bible Time help. “What materials would you recommend?” …”I’ve never done this and my baby is now two. How do I begin?” … “Can you help me know what a five-year-old should know?”

If you’re a young mom trying to mold hearts for him, I think age-appropriate informal time in God’s Word every day is your greatest tool. Today, I want to throw just a few ideas your way. Let me know if I can further help, because there’s no greater calling, Mom, than yours –to put the souls in those little bodies you’ve borne (or adopted, or fostered) around HIs throne for eternity. YOU are key in that forever accomplishment. You really are more than “key.” You are primary.

Here goes:

  1. The fundamental purpose of the book “Picking Melons and Mates” is to give parents a 21-day guide for beginning Family Bible Time. You can’t mess this up. It’s step-by-step instructions and they are in the back of this colorful story book. https://thecolleyhouse.org/
  2. Kids Sing cards. Kids love the drill and reward system. This is not wasted rote memorization. I know middle-aged people who routinely use what they have learned from these cards in their evangelism. If kids repeat, they retain. You can watch a video about how to use these cards here: https://westhuntsville.org/kid-sing/
  3. That They May Have Hope” and “That They May Believe” series by Caleb and Rebekah Colley.

    One night, they got to jump on bubble wrap if they answered correctly. That was epic!

    These have study guides, timelines, flash cards, a memory game, etc…And I have watched pre-schoolers get very excited about Bible characters and accounts when mastering this material. https://thecolleyhouse.org/ 

  4. Hannah’s Hundred for Bible memorization through songs. This one’s classic by now: https://thecolleyhouse.org/ 
  5. In my blog, search for “Family Ties in the Social Distance,” Created during the 2020 Covid isolation time, each of these segments are catered to rich Family Bible Time. They have step-by-step instructions. https://thecolleyhouse.org/category/bless-your-heart
  6. Use one night a week for service. Also in the blog, search Mama’s K.I.S.S. You will find just under 100 ideas for kids to develop servant hearts. You don’t have to fit all of a project in your short FBT. You can introduce it there and incorporate into your week.https://thecolleyhouse.org/category/bless-your-heart
  7. But in all of the doing and learning and getting, don’t miss the ordinary games like Twenty Questions, Charades,  “Who am I?”, and scavenger hunts Kids love to play Bible guessing games and they are such  great family bonding tools!
  8. Then turn your board games into FBT tools, too. Kids get to move or spin or collect or toss when they answer correctly. All the classic games can be turned  into spiritual “play” that’s not really play at all. And you can adapt the questions/challenges to the age of each child.
  9. Those AP Discovery trading cards. I can’t really say enough good things about these for your elementary and middle-school kids. Each card can easily become a Bible Time. http://www.apologeticspress.org

    This night was the lame man in Acts 3–out on the trampoline.

  10. Don’t discount the value of good sound Bible story books. Face it. Every now and then, we need a little chill time, and it’s pretty nice to cuddle up and read what someone else has put together for us. https://sainpublications.com/product/bible-stories-from-a-rocking-chair/
  11. Finally, check out the treasure trove at Families of Faith. This young mama is busy, but she’s packing this little store with very valuable tools for people like herself! https://familiesoffaith.store/?srsltid=AfmBOorzzIX_RPrqE8zX6KEWdw8JQuJ4wsZ54wl9p4g3N1FEKVKryTXU 
Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Making my day!…New (and, oh so useful) Tool Coming July 19th!

Posted on June 11, 2025

(I hope you can read to the bottom, because there’s money-saving news there…)

This! I’ve been waiting for this, but I had no idea until just a few days ago that it will be completely ready to drop onto our site on July 19th at 1 pm.  Simultaneously, with the Digging Deep reveal in Branson  and first availability of all the Digging Deep stuff, the brand new “That We May Believe” products will be available at Branson and on the Colley House website! All of this will also be physically available at both PTP sites.  (I hyperventilate thinking about that table in Sevierville on that Saturday.)

Now I am a huge fan of Caleb and Rebekah Colley’s That We May Have Hope set (and not just because their name is Colley!). I have seen those little cards (up close and personally) put eternal truth into five little souls that I’m very much counting on being around the throne with me. I’ve seen the timeline on more than one wall (last night, on my daughter’s kitchen wall, even) where kids were pretty adept at recounting character stories that are foundations of faith. I know of congregations that are stronger because of a year with some divinely inspired life stories.

But I’m even more impressed with this new That We May Believe series. For several years, Caleb Colley has introduced a 52-week congregational study on the first Sunday of January in the church where he preaches. On that first Sunday, every member of the local church is given a three-ring binder in which to keep each week’s new outline of the study. Every week of the year, a new study sheet is placed on the welcome desk or in some convenient location. At the end of the year, the congregation has a whole book about a particular topic or survey. And, they have heard a lesson, in class or from the pulpit, many of these weeks, about that topic.

So this book That We May Believe is the result of a whole year’s study and it is an excellent resource for your family. This book presents an overview of every one of the 66 books of the Bible. Sixty-six books about the redemption of man. That’s all we have , in the whole world, that’s written by God. This book-by-book travel guide through the Bible is a reference book I want to keep handy for the rest of my life. As I dig deep with women, I want to be able to quickly ascertain and remember the purpose and the general content of each of these books. I will be judged by the words of the Bible (John 4:28). I want to be intentional about learning every part of the Word of God. So I can’t wait to have this book on the shelf nearest to my digging place.

sample: back of flash card…

front of card…

For my grandchildren (and really, for me, too) I want the timeline and the flash cards. At home and in the Bible classes, we need visuals. My good friend, Kathy Plante, has beautifully illustrated the theme of every book of the Bible on flash cards for our children. These sturdy and beautiful cards are the 66 flash frames that will stick in your kids’ heads. On the back of each card, are listed the key themes and key verses of the books. We have one four-year-old grandson who, to be sure, at the end of a year with these cards will know the theme of every book of the Bible. I pray he will carry that through his life. It’s the most important memorization he will do in the coming year. And he will have fun in family games and competitions as he does it!

extracted portion of the timeline…

See the timeline size here on Hannah’s wall. The new one will be vertical.

Finally, the timeline is invaluable. These are sturdy–not too big, but just the right size for little eyes. Our kids hang theirs at eye level for the children. To be honest, I have often wished that our Bibles were all chronologically ordered. But they are not. I struggle sometimes, to get Job in his proper place in the Genesis time frame, to put prophets with the right kings, and to figure out which epistles were written first. I’m going to use this timeline, to be able to glance and tell where the study I’m doing fits into the complete narrative of the Word. It’s going to be a quick game-changer for me, let alone for the kids I love.

Here’s the good news for those who may not have purchased the first set, That We May Have Hope, but would still like to cover it in Bible time. While hard copies are still available, the authors have decided to make it available digitally. At the same time the new product drops to the site on July 19th at 1 pm, the HOPE set will be digitally available, along with the new BELIEF set. We are hoping digital pricing will make these affordable for both families and congregations. Here are the prices for both sets:

PRICING:

For individual or family use at home (Physical products shipped to you):

  • That We May Believe or That We May Have Hope (Book): $20
  • That We May Believe or That We May Have Hope  (Memorization Cards): $20
  • That We May Believe or That We May Have Hope (Timeline): $15
  • Bundle of all three shipped to you: $45

Either Belief or Hope set (all three products)– Digitally downloadable and printable bundle of all three products for single-family or individual use: $35

Digital book only–for congregational use–$200.00. (Printable for your congregational groups.)

All of this will be available at both Polishing the Pulpit conventions, along with all Digging Deep materials, beginning at 1 pm on July 19th in Branson! They will be on the website at that time, as well. Mark your calendar. Mine is cluttered, but I’ll be all up in this, if He wills!

 

 

 

 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

The Things you Find under the Dryer…

Posted on May 23, 2025

The hot water heater stopped heating my water on Tuesday. We kept waiting for it to heat back up, after our power loss, due to a nearby tornado touch-down on Tuesday night…but it didn’t. Just as my husband and I were about to leave for a short anniversary trip, we came to terms with the fact that the schedule we were facing upon returning was not conducive to the absence of  hot water in our bathrooms (or dishwasher or washing machine).  My man is a handyman par excellence. He is NOT a man who can easily pay someone else to do, while we are gone, what he knows how to do himself. So, of course, we didn’t go. (It was my decision, in view of my schedule, for the record. (It’s podcast week, company week, and a four-day-out-of-town trip week, for me.)

In the process of pulling out the dryer to get to the hot water heater, lots of debris (a.k.a filthiness…and lost socks and tiny toys) emerged from beneath  the dryer. A sealed envelope with two love birds hand-stamped on the front emerged in the pile of dust and miscellanea. I opened the sealed envelope thinking, “I wonder what nice note I failed to give my husband…and on what anniversary?”

The envelope contained the following weeklong checklist I’d prepared for a homeschooling moms’ retreat several years back. It was a list I needed to see  while watching my husband laboriously removing that mammoth water heater from that small laundry hall, while I was working like crazy, too, and  bemoaning the fact that I was home rather than in the Westin, where we had planned to be that night. Maybe someone else needs the list, too.

Here’s the handout the ladies all received that year in their own sealed envelopes. Of course, this list is adaptable to all Christian families, homeschooling, or not.

For your faithful provider:

Pick a week in each month and complete the following: Then start over and pick a week next month. Fill your year with gratitude and respect for this man  who makes your homeschool possible: 

Massage Monday–Massage night. You’ve got this. Just five minutes while you thank him for making your home school possible. 

Text Tuesday–Text him, out of the blue, about how your world is better because he is a faithful provider. 

Wisdom Wednesday–Wisdom WonderMan. On the way to Bible class, thank him for trying so hard to be a wise spiritual leader. Then at Family Bible Time, have each child thank God for a wise dad who makes good decisions for your family. 

Thanking Thursday–Thank God. Spend five minutes in prayer while the kids are napping or working. Spend the whole five minutes thanking God for various attributes in that man that are good and praying about the ones that are challenging. 

Fix-up Friday–Fix-up day. Do casual Friday, but still make it a make-up day or a good-hair day. Think about three things you love about your husband’s appearance and tell him throughout the day, even if you have to text him. 

Suggestive Saturday–Suggestive day. Say or do one sexually suggestive thing. This will make his week-end. I know you can think of something he would love!

Servant Sunday–Servant day. Have each child think of one special thing he/she can do for Dad that day, and help him accomplish it. Coffee in bed. Brag on his sermon, if he is a preacher. New socks in his drawer. Money out of piggy banks for a milkshake on the way home from Sunday night services. Teens should write notes of appreciation or send a meme or GIF that says as much. Give dad a baseball that has a sweet note about how he’s the MVP (Most Valuable Parent) in the child’s world. Girls can ask dad for a breakfast date on Monday morning. Just be creative!

 

 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Superfluous Decor

Posted on May 19, 2025

We did a lot of talking about the Lord’s amazing creation (but we do that at home, too! His “footprints are everywhere.”)  We did a lot of catching (and then returning) creatures in the big pond. There were bi-daily trips to the dollar store, and, altogether, I’d estimate we had 40 showers, collectively, in three days. Glenn shelled and cooked shrimp, fresh from the gulf, for us one day, but, besides that shrimp dinner, I was the cook. That was a task, let me tell you!

On the last night, there were leftover hamburgers, hotdogs, and shrimp. There was steak and taco salad and lots of little bits of sides left over. But there was not enough of any one thing to feed the group. So everyone had to answer a Bible question, in turn, about the sea or fish. (There are lots of those in there). If successful on your turn, you’d get to pick a food for your plate. Shrimp went fast. Kids did not like to miss questions (Grown-ups weren’t crazy about it either!) Eliza Jane told us about Peter walking on “de sea and den he falled in, but Jesus dus pulled him wight back up.”

Last Thursday was Eliza’s birthday. I, personally, thought all decor was superfluous, since we were right there in the beach-themed party decorated by God, himself. But she was insistent that her cake be identical to the unicorn cake that her sister had, so we crammed all the unicorn things into the SUV and went with that. Kids are funny. All that sand, the crashing waves, the gorgeous sunset, a small angler in a pail, that her brother had caught in his net, a crab in a bowl that her sister had caught and brought home in a washed-up shoe, a tiny silverfish that her brother grabbed before it slipped through the holes in his net…All that, right there in the beach themed house, and she wanted to decorate with the mythical rather than the real!

Eliza buried her toys in the sand and promptly forgot where. (Maybe some other child will dig them up and be delighted at the buried treasure.) Colleyanna left a floating note for someone to find, with her contact info included. (I know, probably not a good idea for a variety of reasons; but the quest and the dream was so vivid in the eight-year-old’s little heart.) Ezra was all about rubbing seaweed on my leg under the water and making me think I was being fish-rubbed (or worse…jelly fish attacked!). 

The best thing is always God’s people wherever we go. We walked into a tiny church on Wednesday night and there were the diggers! “Aren’t you Cindy?” they said when we sat down in the back? And they had worn their “tears-in-a bottle” earrings (Month 8-Practically Speaking!) ! I had to get a picture of these diggers! I love the sisterhood! 

Then on Sunday, both morning and night, we were inland as we traveled home. Walking in on Sunday morning, where we thought we knew no one, we hugged old friends, some of whom are going to be with the grandkids at AP camp in a couple of weeks. We shared prayer requests and I gave away all of the frozen food that was left from our trip. Sunday night, we even went to Zaxby’s to eat with folks with whom we worshipped.

God’s people are everywhere and they are amazing. I hope you are not passing up the wonderful fellowship opportunities that can come your way when you worship wherever you are! Most of all, I hope you are not passing up the blessing of worshipping the Father as you travel. It’s not hard to plan and find a group that’s faithfully assembling and giving him praise in song and sermon, observing the strengthening communion with Him, and bowing in prayer. I never know how much I need to worship until I have been with His people. I praise Him for the obvious beauty that emanates from that first creation week. But I praise Him, even more, for the eternal beauty that was at the ready when the garden was marred by sin, a short time later. Being in the family of the redeemed on earth is a taste of the heavenly glory to come!

He IS everywhere and we obviously praise Him in all places, every day. But there is nothing like gathering with His people and lifting our voices to Him as a family! I love the church!

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

HOPE set featured in Christian Family Magazine

Posted on December 19, 2023

This is exciting news for the new HOPE set from The Colley House. Christian Family magazine featured the set in its winter issue. Thanks to editors, Moises Pinedo and Paul Holland, for capturing the purpose and plan for this family or congregational Bible study program for all ages. We’ve been excited for a while about this five part set. It’s a study guide, a game, a timeline, flash cards and an application card set. It’s at least a year of learning for your family (I’d say more like two years worth if you’re thorough with your kids.) It’s character-based and explores people and their place in history—from Adam on– through the pages of the Bible. It’s a blessing that others are seeing it now and being excited with us!

We’re grateful for the beautiful piece in Christian Family about these products.  And if you haven’t looked at Christian Family, you will want to subscribe. The best thing about it is, it’a great and very helpful tool for your family as you grow in Him. The second-best thing about it is that it’s written in English and Spanish and, thus, it’s a fantastic evangelism tool as you meet your Spanish speaking neighbors.  It’s a non-threatening, effective way to deliver the most important news of this lifetime to those who cannot yet just pick up any book or tract and comprehend the message. 

We are blessed to be a little part of this month’s issue of this good publication! You can read about Christian Family here: 

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5148b380e4b0106646129f8e/t/5fa460ca18199e491da36034/1604608207540/CF5-3.pdf

You can order the Hope set for your Family or Congregational study here: https://www.thecolleyhouse.org/store

Happy 2024! We pray it is a year of growth in the Word for your family!

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

It’s Christmas Contest Time!

Posted on November 27, 2023

The Colley House Christmas Contest is now! With a nod to the new HOPE series for families and congregations, we want to include children in the contest this year. You can win the entire HOPE set for Bible learning. There are two simple ways to enter. (Just pick one option and go with it! Here’s how:

1. Post a short video of your kids using the HOPE set in your family Bible time or in your kids’ class at church. We’d love to see how they are learning! Post to The Colley House Facebook page.

OR

2. Send an email to byhcontest@gmail.com describing your best and most effective Family Bible Time tip. This can be a “keeping kids’ attention” tip or an original song or an idea for a game. It can really be anything you have found effective in getting truth in kids. Feel free to include a photo, but it’s not required. 

All entries must be posted or submitted by December 5th at 11:00 pm. CST. 

The winning entry will receive the entire 5 item HOPE set just in time for gift-giving! You can see that here: https://thecolleyhouse.org/store#!/That-We-May-Have-Hope-5-Product-Bundle/p/605880179/category=0.

That bundle is a $60.00 value (but it’s really invaluable)! 

Have fun with this! (We have the most creative followers in the world!) 1…2…3…Go!

 

 

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