"All I can recall is saying the 'Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep' prayer at bedtime and going to church every now and then in a white, starchy shirt that made my neck itch," said Greg Hughes, author and local youth director, about his religious upbringing. A lack of spiritual mentoring in his life was a key element in creating The Shapes & Colors Bible.

While in seminary, God blessed Greg and his wife with two daughters in two years. Suddenly the couple felt a sense of duty to spiritually nurture their preschool daughters. Even so, the man of the house lacked direction in how to fulfill Deuteronomy 11:19a, "And you must teach My words to your children, talking about them when you are at home." (Paraphrased) So he did what many Americans do when they're stumped, Greg went shopping and bought a Bible written and illustrated for children. The Hughes family regularly sat down and read the Bible stories together.

By the time Greg and his family moved to Chillicothe, their enthusiasm for children's Bibles had grown immensely. Additional books were purchased and read. Later Greg had the idea of giving children's Bibles as gifts to families in the church with newborn babies. After a while, this youth minister wrestled with the fact that most children's Bibles skip a lot of the Bible. Greg felt like kids needed to learn more about the Bible at an early age.

Greg didn't get much help from shopping this time, so he was stuck with a new challenge. So he started to pray. Eventually, Greg felt like God was leading him to summarize all 66 books of the Bible in a product for children. After a couple of years, the written piece was finished, so Greg went searching for an artist. Most were either too expensive or lacked motivation. So his next trial was to figure out how to illustrate the printed work. Finally after much reflection, the aspiring author decided to illustrate the project himself, using shapes and colors to show a major object highlighted within each book of the Bible. With the help of a computer, Greg was on his way to finishing the book.

Because the author has the goal of reaching every child in the world with a copy of The Shapes and Colors Bible, Greg created The Smart Life Ministries, a non-profit, 501 (c) (3) organization, with the help of some local professionals. Once the necessary finances were raised from generous individuals and trusts, the first 3,000 hardback copies of The Shapes & Colors Bible were created through Walsworth Publishing in February.

Since then, over 700 copies of The Shapes & Colors Bible are in the hands of children throughout the United States. Whitney Wiegel, summer intern and MU student, was instrumental in securing The Shapes & Colors Bible into several area retail businesses as well as www.discountbible.com and www.integritybibles.com in 2004.

"The interest and feedback regarding The Shapes & Colors Bible has been amazing," said Greg. "It's wonderful to witness how God can use my spiritual neglect as a child to bless a new generation of children with spiritual mentoring. God is truly bigger than bad!" And now The Shapes & Colors Bible is an answer to one hopeful author's prayer.

If you would like to help children, around the world, learn to trust God and walk with Him through The Shapes & Colors Bible, please send your tax deductible gift to:

The Smart Life Ministries, Inc.
1649 Springhill St.
Chillicothe, MO 64601
info@thesmartlife.org

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