My grandson and I were working on his homework last week. He is studying the Inuit people. It took us five chapters before I realized that what we now call Inuit is what my old textbooks used to call Eskimos. Once I realized that, things made so much more sense!
Another of the very intriguing things we learned about these fascinating and very hardy peoples is that for centuries they used story telling and songs to pass their history on from generation to generation, since they only recently have developed a written language. As we were talking about the Inuits, I pointed out to my grandchild that we were doing a similar thing now. I love to sing to my grandkids when giving them a bath or a shower. We started doing it to keep one of my grandkids from getting scared in the water and realized it was a delight for all of them. They get clean and I get to plant seeds of God’s Word and truth in their hearts.
Some of our favorite songs include:
- Trust and obey
- I surrender all
- Turn (Fix) Your Eyes Upon Jesus
- The B-I-B-L-E
- Jesus Loves Me
- I’ve Been Redeemed and other choruses from Vacation Bible School
- Sweet old Christian hymns like Amazing Grace and What a Friend
- Christmas and Easter carols (even when it’s not Christmas and Easter)
I especially love songs that are based partially or totally on Scripture such as those from:
- Have I Not Commanded You Be Strong and Courageous and other songs from the “GT & The Halo Express” series
- The NIV Kids Club CDs and DVDs
- Steve Green and his “Hide’Em In Your Heart” CDs
The nice thing about this is that we don’t have to be the world’s greatest singers to share the stories of these songs. Our younger grandkids will love the extra time and attention and, if soap doesn’t get in the way, may even start singing the songs with us. Even if they just listen, we are helping them to hide the seeds of God’s Word and principles deep in their hearts – and we’re doing it for ourselves as well. Studies have shown that to be excellent brain food for growing brains as well as aging brains – a great way to help stave off Alzheimers Disease for the whole family.
Unlike the Inuit of old, we already have a written language. It’s still wise, though, to use oral stories and songs to pass on the great gospel stories with our families, including your young children or grandchildren. It’s a precious way of creating special family memories that will, prayerfully, last for an eternity.
