Hi and welcome to Bible Babies. It is so much harder to write about this than I had anticipated. My brain is all over the place. So I guess in true teacher fashion, I’ll just respond to some W’s.
Who:
My name is Rebecca Turnbough and I am a Christian wife, mother, nanny, and a teacher. I have worked with children for most of my life. As I am getting older, my walk with God is pulling me more strongly to share God’s message in a meaningful way.
I have taught for 28 years, most of these years were spent in pre-k, kindergarten, and first grade. I have my masters in early childhood education. It was during this time that I first learned about how children learn.
Why:
My husband and I have three children. We introduced our two sons to God’s love on the day I gave birth to them. Their walk with God continued throughout their lives. They went to Sunday school and we talked about God daily in our homes. However, as I reflect, I realize there was so much more we could have easily done to teach them about God’s love (more about this later). One very special memory is our nightly routine. I would tell them every night how I had always thought I wanted a little girl, but then God gave me two amazing boys and they are my “special gifts from God.” And honestly without these two wonderful gifts from God, I’m not sure how we would have made it through some difficult years ahead.
My daughter joined our family about a month before she turned 11, much later in our lives. Her knowledge of God was different from what my sons had experienced. We weren’t really sure how or where to start, so at night when I would go spend time with her to wind down before bed, I shared stories about my great, great, great, great grandma who became a queen and helped her family. I also shared about my great, great, great uncle who was sold as a slave and later helped save his family. Then, one day I was telling her about Jonah. When I got to the part about him being swallowed by a fish, she stopped me and said that’s impossible. It can’t happen. And that’s when we started talking about God’s amazing love and power. I shared with her my own rescue story and how I tried at times to hide from God.
What:
These stories have helped me and my daughter connect with Bible heroes because each of their stories are our own stories.
They resonate with us as we learn to lead like Moses, hope like Hannah, dream like Joseph, and shine like Esther.