The Journal of an Honest Mom

They say your oldest child makes you a mom.
That also means every milestone with them is your first milestone too.
Today was one of those days.
My oldest got his first Bible.
Yes, he’s only six, but he loves Bible stories. We read them together every day, and now that he’s learning to read, he wants to read the Bible himself.
The other morning he came to me holding a Bible and proudly announced,
“Mom! I read this all by myself!”
Well…
Not exactly.
He “read” Genesis 1:1-5.
Except he hadn’t actually read it.
He had memorized it.
He knows the story of creation so well that he was simply repeating what he’d heard over and over again. We’ve been reading those stories together for years now.
Honestly, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.
In fact, I think it’s beautiful.
But it also made me realize something.
It was time for him to have a Bible that felt like his.
Not because I expect him to understand everything in it today.
Not because I expect him to sit down and read it cover to cover.
But because I want him to know that God’s Word belongs in his hands too.
I want him to open it.
To be curious.
To ask questions.
To slowly learn that the stories we’ve been reading together aren’t just bedtime stories or stories we read around the table.
They’re God’s story.
And they’re for him too.
Somewhere between handing him that Bible and watching him flip through the pages, it hit me.
When did he get this big?
When did we go from me reading every word to him… to him wanting to read them for himself?
I knew this day would come.
He can’t stay little forever.
I just didn’t think it would come this soon.
It’s bittersweet.
Because every milestone means he’s growing a little more independent.
But if he’s growing toward loving God and loving His Word…
I guess this is one milestone worth celebrating.