Deuteronomy chapter 6 calls on God’s people to love the Lord and to repeat what He tells us to our children. “Talk about it when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up!” (Deuteronomy 6:7). Sometimes it can be hard for parents to know how to do that. Sometimes Bible and church stuff can feel like chores to kids. How can we do more than spend our time and money on Christian resources for our loved ones? How can we make engaging family conversation the centerpiece that Deuteronomy 6 envisions?

Gallery is designed as a personal tool for family discipleship—a fun and intentional way of making Deuteronomy 6 happen in the modern world of work schedules and flashy distractions. Once kids start to grasp the meaning of the pictures that unpack what Jesus is like through the games and the stories, that's just the beginning. That becomes a platform for adults to pass on personal reflections and memories.

Every Gallery bag comes with two sets of wooden picture tiles, and one set is blank on the back. On the back of the dinner host tile, parents and caretakers can write a summary of how they've experienced Jesus as a welcoming host. Maybe that brings to mind the high school student who warmly invited you to church for the first time, and so you write "Phil's Invitation" on the back of the tile. On the back of the doctor tile, Grandpa can jot down how Jesus healed what was broken inside of him - "Grandpa's Addiction," he writes.

But what if we don't feel qualified for this kind of thing? What if we can't seem to think of anything to write down? Here are some tips for how you can start sharing these reflections with more confidence and excitement:

• Use the Gallery story takeaways (the italic one-liner punchlines at the end of every story) to help you focus on the heart of what each image is getting at. You can read the Scripture references to help you reflect and jog your memory, but don't feel like you need seminary training to start talking with your kids about what matters most.
• Break up the soul searching and write down one reflection, one day at a time. If you're reading the Gallery stories as part of a bedtime routine or holiday countdown, you can take each night after the kids are asleep to pray about how you've experienced Jesus in the way the story described. That way, when you've finished the twenty Gallery stories, you're ready with twenty personal reflections to share!
• If you can't think of any memories, stories, habits, or examples from your life relating to an aspect of who Jesus is, pray that the Lord would help you experience that in the month ahead. Reflecting and sharing with children isn't just important for them. It's a powerful way of shaping your own spiritual journey. So don't be shy about what you feel like you're missing. Lean in and see how you grow!
• If you're still struggling to come up with reflections for a particular tile, call on other family members to add their own reflections. It takes a village, right? Who says babysitting and house projects should be the only areas of life where we lend each other a hand? If a child can look at their Gallery tiles and think, "This is our story," then including more loved ones' experiences will only make it more special.