There are days in ministry when you plan something big… and there are days when something small ends up feeling big.
Today was one of those days.
I wasn’t trying to create a “product.” I wasn’t mapping out a curriculum or building a series. I just had this simple thought that kept nagging at me:
What if every kid in my ministry actually knew how to use their Bible?
Not just carry it. Not just bring it. Not just hear stories from it.
But open it… find things in it… understand it… and feel like it wasn’t confusing or overwhelming.
Because if we’re honest, the Bible can feel like a pretty big book to a kid. (Let’s be honest… it can feel that way to adults too.) Sixty-six books, big words, tiny numbers, and somewhere in there is John 3:16 and the story of Jonah and something about Leviticus that we all quietly skip. 😄
I started thinking about the moments I’ve had with kids:
Hey, turn to Matthew…
And I see the page flipping… the hesitation… the scanning… the whisper to a friend… “Where is that?”
Or when a child asks, “What does that mean?” and you realize they don’t even have a framework yet for how the Bible is put together.
And it hit me: we assume a lot.
We assume kids know how to use the Bible… but most of them have never actually been shown in a simple, clear, visual way.
So today, I made something for them.
Not a workbook. Not a lesson. Not a multi-week thing.
Just a single sheet I could hand to a child and say:
This will help you.
It turned into a fun, adventure-style guide—like a trail through a national park—with wooden signs along the path. Each sign points to something important:
What the Bible is (a collection of books)
How it’s organized (Old Testament, New Testament, History, Poetry, Prophecy, Letters)
How to find a verse (Book, Chapter, Verse)
How to read it (simple questions they can actually remember)
And then I added some “wow” moments—because kids love those:
That the Bible was written over 1,600 years…
By 40 different authors…
Across 3 continents…
And yet it tells one big story about God’s love and how we can know Him.
I also wanted to give them something they could carry with them mentally, not just physically—so I included simple word pictures:
The Bible is your MAP
The Bible is your LIGHT
The Bible is your SWORD
The Bible is your FOOD
Not just information… but imagination.
Because if a kid starts to see the Bible that way, they’ll start to use it that way.
At the bottom, I added a gentle challenge:
Read it every day.
Nothing overwhelming. Just a starting point. A nudge toward a habit that could shape their entire life.
One of the things I’m most excited about is how flexible this ended up being.
I ended up creating three versions, after the first one I thought older kids might not like the little kids – so one without any kids – then one with older kids. I couldn’t decide which to keep, then said, “I’ll just keep all three!”
One with no characters at all—clean and simple, great for printing in bulk or different settings.
One with younger kids—perfect for early elementary, where everything still feels like a storybook adventure.
And one with older elementary kids—so it doesn’t feel “babyish” to the kids who are starting to outgrow the little-kid look but still need simple tools.
Same content. Same message. Just different entry points.
And honestly, that part matters more than we sometimes realize. Kids engage differently depending on what they see.
My heart behind this is really simple.
I want to hand this out with new Bibles.
I want to slip it into guest welcome bags.
I want a kid to take it home, tuck it into their Bible, and pull it out when they forget how to find something.
I want fewer blank stares when I say, “Turn to…” and more confidence.
More ownership.
More curiosity.
Because the goal isn’t just that kids hear the Bible from us.
The goal is that they learn to go to it themselves.
There’s something powerful about a child realizing, “I can find this. I can understand this. God can speak to me.”
That’s a moment worth building toward.
And if a simple one-page guide can help spark that?
Then today was a really good day.
Or as Psalm 119:105 reminds us…
His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.
And maybe—just maybe—this little sheet helps a few more kids take their first confident steps down that path.
