Weekly
Inspiration
Resolution
One: I will live for God.
Resolution
Two: If no one else does, I still will.
~
Jonathan Edwards
Family
Closeness
Game:
Mute Spelling
This game is suitable for al family members as long
as they can spell. Each player begins with a score of "A". The first
person is given a suitable word for them to spell but they can only say the
consonants. Vowels must be spelled using the following hand actions.
"A" - raise your right hand
"E" - raise your left hand
"I" - point to your eye
"O" - point to your open mouth
"U" - point to any other player.
For example, the word "APPLE" would begin
with the player raising their right hand (A) then saying P-P-L before raising
their left hand (E). The score of any player who makes a mistake goes from
"A" to "E" and so on through the vowels (I, O, U) until
they get out on their fifth mistake.
Sharing:
Questions for stimulating discussion in your family.
- What was the hardest thing about this year?
- What is something that you achieved this year?
- What is something you want to give thanks for this last year?
- What are your hopes for next year?
- What do you hope to do, experience, discover or be next year?
Story
With your family
read Luke 2.41-52
(for a way of
explaining/talking about this reading with children look at
Questions for
Discussion:
- How do you think Mary and Joseph felt when they couldn’t find Jesus?
- What surprises you about this story?
- What do you think Jesus words meant?
Prayer
and Celebration
People like to celebrate New Year’s Day in many
different ways. Some people like to stay up until the clock strikes midnight –
others like to go to bed so they can be up fresh for the first day of the year.
Whatever you like to do, may you be encouraged this New Years to think about
how God might be honoured, remembered and shared in your family. Pray together,
either at midnight or on getting up on the first of January. Give thanks for
the year ahead. Ask God to guide you and your family in all you do…and dedicate
yourselves to serving Christ in the year to come.
Service
As a family
discuss how you might service your community and world in 2013. Talk about some
of the things happening in the world you would like to change and decide how to
make a difference. Make a commitment to give a certain amount of money to a
charity or cause. Work out how your family might raise money or give time or
talents to help a local charity.
Family
Time
Big Dreams 2013
One day an expert was
speaking to a group of students and on time management and he used this
illustration. Firstly he took out a wide mouthed jar, then he produced about a
dozen large rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.
When the jar was filled to
the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar
full?" Everyone in the class said, "Yes."
Then he said,
"Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of
gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar
causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the
big rocks. Then he smiled and asked the group once more, "Is the jar
full?" By this time the class was onto him. "Probably
not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied. And
he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping
the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the
gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"
"No!" the
class shouted. Once again he said, "Good!" Then he
grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to
the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked, "What is the
point of this illustration?" One eager beaver raised his hand and said,
"The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really
hard, you can always fit some more things into it!"
"No," the speaker replied,
"that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches is this:
If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."
I wonder…what are the big rocks you wish
to fit into your family life next year. Sit down with your family and dreams
some dreams and make some plans for 2013. What things would you like to do?
What places would you like to see? What habits would you like to make together?
(This material is based on and draws from earlier Faithful Families emails by Stephen Harrison & Richard Browning: An Unless Ideas Production.) Unless otherwise noted all material on this blog is copyright Stephen Harrison and Richard Browning
