Mom's Old Testament Bible Stories

About the Book

Build a boat in a desert? Do What? Go where? Not me, God! Why would a frightened king let a teenager fight a giant? Strong enough to bench press 1000 pounds! Why not compromise? Who needs a den of lions or a fiery furnace? So nasty, even a fish spits him out! Do you know your Bible heroes? Do your kids know these heroes worth following, and the scoundrels to avoid? This book has stories from the Bible about heroes from our culture, and a few scoundrels. These are stories that I taught to my kids while they were growing up. I read them in the Bible, then told them while we were doing dishes. I think telling them is much better than just reading them to kids. It means more. It says that mom or dad actually know and believe what they are telling. It imprints a child’s mind to hear stories of heroes who dared to stand for God in spite of temptations to give in. That is what makes a hero.

About the Author

I grew up in Mitchell, South Dakota where my father was the YMCA secretary and my mother was YWCA secretary all my growing up years.  At home, my mother told us Bible stories, so interestingly that I began to read the Bible for myself at an early age. I found the Old Testament stories fascinating. They explained how others had dealt, both good ways and bad, with some of the problems that I was having growing up. These are the heroes from our culture. The greatest art and music of the past is based on them. Our kids need to know about them.

My husband, Maynard, and I raised four children on our farm about 10 miles north of Fulton, SD. With 6 of us in the family, we had a lot of dirty dishes. My kids hated to dry dishes, so I started using that time to tell them Bible stories. It kept them interested and willing to help. My son later said that he never heard a Bible story in church that he hadn’t first heard at home.

I have taught Sunday School classes to children, quizzing to teens, and adult Sunday school class for 60 years. I love the Bible. It has been a joy trying to put it into language our kids will understand, empathize with, and hopefully, find a hero they can learn from and copy, as it fits their own lives.

Kids need heroes. They are finding too many of them who lead them astray. Bible heroes lead them to a life that is useful, loving, and Godly. Christian young people need to know about these Jewish Heroes who kept the faith, so that God could bring Jesus into the world. Jewish young people need to know their own history. All of us need heroes.