Teaching Early Literacy with Wherever I Go: Psalm 139 for Kids
Wherever I Go: Psalm 139 for Kids, by Becky Cerling Powers, illustrated by Karen Vermeulen
Flare Books, 2026
As Christian adults, our great privilege is raising children to know that this spinning world of ours is upheld in the hands of a mighty, loving, and personal God. For us, the primary task of adult life is raising the next generation—teaching our young the skills and attitudes they will need in order to survive and thrive as adults outside the protection of the homes they are growing up in. (Bears, lions, cats, and dogs … all other mammals know this. Our culture, tragically, seems to have lost sight of it.)
Giving children access to books that talk about God is like giving them access to books that talk about other invisible realities, like germs. We teach children to take baths and to wash their hands after they use the toilet, even though they can’t see germs except with a microscope. Germs affect our lives every day. The spiritual realm also affects our lives every day.
Ignorance of the microscopic world of germs can kill you. Ignorance of the spiritual realm can also lead to death of different kinds and in different ways. Without age-appropriate information, children may live in fear, stumble into social and spiritual danger, fail to recognize the good, and fail to embrace it. So, just as we need to help them develop good sanitary habits and an understanding of a world with germs, we need to help them develop good spiritual habits and an understanding of the spiritual realm.
Teaching Unconditional Love with Wherever I Go: Psalm 139 for Kids
I grew up in an exceptionally warm and wise Christian home with an older sister and four younger brothers. Thinking back, I realize that I did not pick up the same sense of consistent, unconditional love in school and church that I experienced at home. I was very competitive academically, and despite my parents’ complete acceptance at home, I moved into adult responsibilities in the world with a great load of performance anxiety, which affected my relationship with God.
Today I would want my younger self to thoroughly absorb the idea that God loves me the way our family loved each new baby brother that came along after me and my sister. We didn’t love the new baby because he gave us material possessions or did things for us. He didn’t help us with our work. In fact, he created a lot more work.
No, we just delighted in our baby. We loved that first smile, that first laugh. And the second. And the next and the next. When he first started crawling or walking—we were excited! Yet, at the same time that we delighted in our baby brother, we took care to teach him, as he grew and developed, how to treat other people well, how to take on appropriate responsibilities and do his share of the work, how to be a good sport, how to contribute to making our family—and our community—peaceful, healthy, and strong.
All children need the sense that they are unconditionally loved—which is the number one message of Wherever I Go: Psalm 139 for Kids.
All children need the sense that they are unconditionally loved—which is the number one message of Wherever I Go: Psalm 139 for Kids. Through poetry and quirky, luminous drawings, this rhyming paraphrase of King David’s Psalm 139 reflects on God’s intimate awareness of kids, balancing delight in their daily thoughts and activities with his concern for the development of their sense of right and wrong. The book ends with a heartwarming drawing of children living in unity with each other and God’s creation.
Wherever I Go presents an intricate weave of Psalm 139’s theological themes:
It emphasizes God’s divine omniscience, omnipresence, and involvement in creation.
It reassures believers of God’s constant care and purpose in their lives.
It brings thoughtful readers and listeners comfort and a sense of accountability.
In this way, the affectionate drawings and simple rhymes, along with classroom activities like memorizing, reciting, and miming the poem—all creative activities that help them to really take in the ideas—unite to plant spiritual seeds of faith in children’s hearts, seeds that we pray will one day sprout, bloom, grow, and bear fruit.
Wherever I Go is loaded with possibilities for learning not only inside the classroom but beyond the classroom through the development of workshops and programs for parents and other family members.
In the Classroom: Reading and Body Movement
I teach this poem to my class in children’s church, so I know that kids really like it. They enjoy seeing the pictures and hearing the rhymes, but what they like best is reciting the poem with motions. This is an abridged version of this article. To read more, subscribe to Christian Educators Journal.
Becky Cerling Powers is a retired journalist and parenting columnist and the author or compiler of four books: Forbidden Orphanage Outside the Forbidden City(narrative nonfiction); Wherever I Go: Psalm 139 for Kids(illustrated picture book); Sticky Fingers, Sticky Minds(parenting insights);and My Roots Go Back to Loving(El Paso family stories). Becky loves to listen to people’s stories and teach kids to write. As a teaching artist in local public schools, she taught poetry writing to K–3rd grade and special education students. She also developed the Family StoryPower Writing Workshop for children and family members, teaching kids to write through the sharing of family stories. You can find more about Becky at www.beckypowers.com.
