I Declare!

So for today's blog I really wanted to share with you one of my very favorite things I do everyday.....I declare! And I use Joel Osteen's book "I Declare: 31 Promises to Speak Over Your Life" to do it. It is an amazing, amazing book with incredible truths that you NEED to know and have declared over you every. single. day. And the best part about spending my mornings with "I Declare" is that my children are also a part of my "I Declare" mornings!

I actually stumbled upon this book for my mornings so I can't take credit for this. My husband had bought it for himself (he is a huge Joel Osteen fan) and was reading it daily on his own. When the new daily devotions book I had purchased to do with the kids ended up being a dud he suggested that we just try and read this with the kids each morning instead. Our kids get up and leave in shifts (5 kids in 4 different schools and 3 different buses!) so it would mean he would read it with one "shift" and I would read it with the other. 

We read the declaration that coincides with the day of the month that it is. So for example today we read the "Day Twenty-Six" declaration.  I am typically reading with my 9 year old and my two 3  year old (almost 4 y/o) daughters every day.  I have my son read the actual declaration (you can see how it is laid out in the pic below) and then I read the short message that comes after it (usually a page or two with an uplifting message and/or practical application of the declaration).  My son really loves this and has come home several days this month excited to tell  me that he remembered what he declared before leaving school and he knows it helped him in a specific situation. **Oh, be still my heart**

We plan to continue to read this through each day of every month throughout 2016.  I do believe in the power of your words and how much more powerful can your words be when you are speaking God's Word into your heart. And to do it out loud with your children in a deliberate way like this is absolutely life changing! In just under a month of doing this we have seen my once very negative, always thinks the sky is falling child turn into a very positive, life speaking little man. 

We keep it here - a basket in the center of our breakfast table. Easy to go back to anytime of the day that you need to repeat the message to yourself!

I  can't recommend this book enough and specifically when reading it with your children - whatever their age. It is never too young and it is never too late to begin declaring greatness in their lives!

Have a fantastic day!

Jessy