My friend Vanessa creates some of the best family faith resources out there! I love using her “Family Faith Kits” and I was a huge fan of her last devotional – Breakfast with Jesus.
So, when Vanessa touched base asking if I’d like to check out her newest devotional, the answer was simple – Absolutely!
Vanessa’s brand-new book, The Bible Food Truck, did not disappoint.
When I look at family devotionals, there are 3 main things I look for:
- Fun for kids
- Age-appropriate but not cheesy
- Biblically accurate and theologically deep
I have to be honest with you, it isn’t easy to find devotionals that accomplish all of these things! I have stacks of devotionals (digital and physical) in my office and on my bookshelves that I’ve bought and thrown to one side because they were boring, lame, surface-level, or sometimes, all-of-the-above.
Vanessa’s devotional is a gift to all of us who work with kids – in that it hits it out of the park in all 3 of these areas!
The Bible Food Truck Devotional is:
Fun
As soon as I saw the cover of Vanessa’s devotional, I knew it was going to be fun for kids! It’s colorful and beautifully designed. Beyond that, though, the activities inside are so fun for kids to do (and let’s be honest, adults too!). Throughout the devotional, your kids will get to participate in activities like creating their own food truck menu, draw an illustration of the equipment in their food truck, and even brainstorm about what having their own food truck ministry would look like.
Beyond that, the daily “faith-to-go” activity prompts are ones that kids (and families!) will enjoy together. They can be adapted for a variety of ages, and engage all sorts of learning styles.
Age-Appropriate
If there’s one thing I know about kids of any age – it’s that most of them love food! Think about preschoolers’ fascination with play kitchens, older kids’ desire to create recipes in the kitchen, and how much food you’ve seen kids of all ages create with playdoh or modelling clay.
Vanessa plays on this interest by walking kids through 75 food-related stories in the Old and New Testament. Each of these stories remains faithful to the text, while providing kids with age-appropriate applications and “food for thought.” Vanessa does this in a way that is conversational, or not at all lame! I think you could use this as a family devotional (by reading a loud!) with kids as young as late preschool-Kindergarten, or hand it to your preteen to explore on their own over the summer!
Biblically & Theologically Sound
Vanessa does an amazing job of communicating biblical truths in a way that kids will understand – and that remains true to the Scripture! Here’s a quick excerpt from one of her devotions, on the breakfast the disciples ate with Jesus after the resurrection:
“When the other disciples came ashore, Jesus invited them to
eat breakfast with Him. He was already cooking some fish and
bread over a fire. Breakfast with Jesus was served!
What a memorable meal the disciples must have had with their
risen Savior! It was a peaceful morning on the beach. A fire was
blazing, cooking fish for everyone. But the most memorable thing
about this breakfast wasn’t the food. It was the presence of Jesus.
He made this a breakfast the disciples would never forget.
Jesus’s presence is still with us today. We can’t see Him with
our eyes, but we know He is there because the Bible tells us He is
always with us. I am so grateful for that!”
This is honestly one of my favourite devotionals in the whole book, but they are all great. Vanessa takes a powerful Biblical truth and puts it in accessible language that kids can understand.
This is so important to me when reading and recommending a devotional, which is why I love this one so much!
I cannot recommend Vanessa’s new devotional enough!
We are planning to use Cokesbury’s “Food Truck Party” VBS this summer, and if you are too, this would make a great take-home gift for families to continue the journey!
Even without the VBS, this would be a great resource to share with families to use in the summer months. Give them a devotional and challenge them to check out some food trucks during their vacation!
It would also make a great gift to tuck into Easter baskets, or as a “school’s out!” gift!
Vanessa’s book is available on Amazon or for bulk ordering directly through her. (Good news, Canadian friends! – it’s available on Amazon.ca too!)
I’m excited to be giving away a copy of Vanessa’s book (paperback for USA friends & digital copy for international friends) over on Instagram this week – head on over to check out how to win!
You can find another book giveaway & more on Vanessa’s book next week from Heidy De La Cruz!