When my children were little, I faithfully incorporated Bible story time in our homeschooling lesson plans. Each year, I read from a new children’s Bible. Some of the publications were lengthier, including more stories than others.  

Because we were active in our local church, my children had the blessing of Scripture and Bible stories reinforced in Sunday School and midweek children’s activities. I loved that they received the gift of God’s Word in many fashions.  

Interestingly, my kids were most fascinated by the lesser-known stories of the Bible. We often thought of these as the “little” stories of the Bible, though we emphasized the fact that nothing in God’s Word is trivial or small. 

I like to encourage parents and homeschooling families to make sure not to forget the lesser-known stories of the Bible when sharing God’s Word with their kids. One of my children’s most memorable readings occurred when we came to the story of Absalom in 2 Samuel 18.  

You may remember that Absalom, one of King David’s sons was quite handsome according to the Bible, and apparently his most beautiful quality was his locks of hair. Absalom, who suffered from vanity and pride, boasted about the weight of his hair.  

Well, as the story goes in Samuel, Absalom rebelled against his father, and rode his mule fast and furious through the forest. Verse 9 says, “Now Absalom happened to meet David’s men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s hair got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going.”  

Having never heard that story in Sunday School or preached from the pulpit, my children were fascinated by the turn of events. When I asked them what could we learn from the story, expecting them to expound words of wisdom about pride or disobedience, my son piped up with this response: “If you’re going to ride a mule through the woods with long hair, you’d probably better pull it back in a ponytail first.”  

Though that’s not the spiritual takeaway I expected, we still giggle about their comment now that all of my kids are adults. 

In my book, Children’s Bible Stories for Bedtime, I tried to include some of the lesser-known stories in God’s Word. Limited to 52 stories by my publisher, I couldn’t include as many as I would have preferred but I enjoyed writing about Miriam’s part in the story of Baby Moses, Naaman’s servant girl, and Rhoda’s shock at Peter’s knock. 

Are your kids intrigued by the “little” stories of the Bible like my kids were?  

Here’s a sampling of lesser-known stories below that stand out in my mind that you might consider sharing with your kids during Bible time. 

* Zelophehad’s Daughters 

* David’s kindness to Mephibosheth 

* Abigail’s approach to King David with humility and wisdom 

* The Widow of Zarephath 

* The Floating Ax Handle 

* Eight-year-old King Josiah 

* Ehud, the Left-Handed Judge 

* Hezekiah’s Tunnel 

God’s Word is anything but trivial and minor. In fact, it’s the greatest words we’ll ever read. However, some stories are shared less often in Sunday School and from pulpits. Consider studying some of those stories with your kids. They’ll treasure the lessons they learn from these “little” stories, and if you’re like me, you will too. 

BIO: Julie Lavender is the author of Children’s Bible Stories for Bedtime and other books. She is married to her high school and college sweetheart, David, and they have four adult children, two sons-in-love, and three grandtreasures. 

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