Kevin Alton - Dont Forget to Flush: A Bathroom Devotional for Kids

Dont Forget to Flush is the Diary of a Wimpy Kid of devotionals. Each entry is simple and succinct yet full of humor and inspiration to help encourage a preteen in their spiritual growth. Preteens (and people of all ages) will find themselves going to the bathroom more often, just so they can keep reading! Dont Forget to Flush encourages preteens to pray and reflect on their faith as part of their daily rhythms and routines. And if a preteen can find God while theyre going to the bathroom, they can probably find God anywhere and everywhere!

Jim Keat, Associate Minister at The Riverside Church,
product developer for Connect, and founding member of FourFiveSix

Lets face it. Most devotional books for young teens are written so that only the most devoted Hermione Grangers of Sunday school would even consider picking them up. But Dont Forget to Flush puts inspiring, accessible, faith-building content in the very space where young people are guaranteed to be spending time each day. Easily digestible chapters, just the right amount of off-color, and a little silliness tucked into the bottom of each each make this the kind of book that even kids who hate to read just might pick up. I want to start giving this book to every confirmation student I know!

Mark DeVries, Permissionary with Ministry Incubators,
author of Sustainable Youth Ministry, and founder of Ministry Architects

Ive always said that parenting is so easy in the theoretical, and so hard in practice. Thats why we all need this book! Dont Forget to Flush is both fun and formative. I think your kids will enjoy it, and Im sure youll love it. It promises to open up many conversations between you and your child about faith.

Andrew Root, Author of The Grace of Dogs: A Boy, a Black Lab,
and Fathers Search for the Canine Soul

Dont Forget to Flush is a humorous and inviting introduction to a daily habit that will help kids connect the teachings of the Bible to the situations of their everyday lives. Whimsical drawings, stories, and thoughtful prompts delivered in the time it takes to visit the bathroom!

Mark and Lisa Scandrette, authors of Belonging and Becoming: Creating a Thriving Family Culture and Free: Spending Your Time and Money on what Matters Most

Copyright 2017 Sparkhouse Family. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. Email copyright@1517.media.

First edition published 2017

Printed in the United States of America

23 22 21 20 19 18 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

ISBN: 9781506427010

Ebook ISBN: 9781506427027

Written by Kevin and Britta Alton

Illustrated by Graham Ross

Designed by Hillspring Books

eBook developed by Kris Vetter Tomes

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Alton, Kevin, author.

Title: Dont forget to flush : a bathroom devotional for kids / by Kevin and Britta Alton ; illustrated by Graham Ross.

Description: First edition. | Minneapolis : Sparkhouse Family, 2017.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017025194 (print) | LCCN 2017033635 (ebook) | ISBN 9781506427027 (Ebook) | ISBN 9781506427010 (pbk. : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Christian children--Prayers and devotions--Juvenile literature. | Christian children-- Religious life--Juvenile literature. | Etiquette for children and teenagers--Juvenile literature.

Classification: LCC BV4870 (ebook) | LCC BV4870 .A324 2017 (print) | DDC 242/.62--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017025194

V63474; 9781506427010; AUG2017

Sparkhouse Family

510 Marquette Avenue

Minneapolis, MN 55402

sparkhouse.org

How to R ead This Book

Step 1: Go into the bathroom.

Step 2: Close the door (see chapter 1).

Step 3: Read at least one chapter per bathroom visit.

Step 4: Enjoy the fun facts and jokes at the end of the chapters.

Step 5: Dont forget to flush.

A Message from Eli

If you happen to be reading this at, say, your kitchen table or on your bed, this would be a good time to let you know this is a bathroom devotional. Sure, its in the title, but maybe you were in a hurry and just opened the book right up because its your birthday or Christmas or something. Stop; take it to the bathroom and keep reading. Ill wait here.

Im waiting. Seriously.

The idea is for this book to be your go-to (get it?) reading companion when you spend a little time in the throne room each day. Youll want to keep it in here. After all, this is where I did all the thinking for these stories anyway.

See, you and I both know that we all go to the bathroom every day. Its biology. Just like God intended. Even if God hadnt thought of it, food would probably insist on it anyway. Thats why it occurred to me that the bathroom might be the perfect place to start a new daily habitlike attaching something I want to do to something I have to do. Its worked, too! Just the click of the bathroom door closing gets my mind popping with thoughts about God.

So I decided to share my top-secret method with a select group of friends well call people who can read. Welcome to the club, dear reader. I figure if we get in the habit now of having some divine input on a daily basis, it can only be a good thing when you think of all the years of growing, being, and doing that weve got ahead of us.

I have a hard time remembering everything Im supposed to do each day. I know that one of my chores is to take out the trash, but its not until trash dumps all over the floor when I open the lid that I remember it actually needs to be done. Im also supposed to take my dog, Muttley, for a walk, but sometimes I get sidetracked by building structurally questionable towers out of boxes and empty cans from the recycle bin. Luckily Mom always seems willing to give my memory a helping hand. She calls it a brain nudge . But the point is thisyou sometimes need a reminder to do the things that are important. Reading the Bible and figuring out how it applies to life right now is important. Learning to pray and finding out about how the people you love have grown in faith is super important. But its also easy to get distracted, spending your day worrying over things like being on time, getting homework turned in, avoiding bullies in the hallway, and trying to be nice to your sister. Or whoever. Then all of the sudden youre lying in bed trying to fall asleep and realize that you never took any time out of the chaos for something called a quiet time in order to stay closer to God.

To be honest, the idea of quiet time can sound a little boring, and most of my stories arent really quiet either. Good news: as you read, you dont even have to