faithful families: October 2012

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Faithful Families Resources October 28 2012

Weekly Inspiration

The family circle is the supreme conductor of Christianity.

~ Henry Drummond

Family Closeness

Game:

Table Olympics – Part 1

The Olympics finished in London earlier this year but I always have my best ideas…or at least ideas, three months after the event. So over the next few weeks I bring the Olympics to your table with some simple Table Olympics Games. If you have any ideas I would love to see them.

Bean Racing

Give each family member a straw, a cup and ten dried chick peas. The aim of the game is be the fastest to transport your chick peas around the table and into your cup. This is done by picking up the chick pea on the end of the straw using suction, carrying it around the table still attached to the straw and not using hands to hold the chick pea and dropping it into the cup in front of your place. Each person does this with their ten chickpeas while another family member times them. Whoever is the fastest gets the gold. If a chickpea is dropped mid journey it must be sucked onto the straw before continuing.

Sharing

Questions for stimulating discussion in your family.

This week ask your family members:

What movie or book character would you like to be like?
When they answer ask them – what is it about that person that they want to be like?

Don’t let your family get away with an easy or silly answer, dig deep to find the truth.

Story

With your family read Mark 12.28-34

(for a way of explaining/talking about this reading with children look at http://www.sermons4kids.com/rules_to_live_by.htm

Questions for Discussion:

What do you think it looks like to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength?
What kinds of things might this mean doing?
Why do you think Jesus said this is the most important commandment?
How do you love your neighbour as yourself?

Prayer and Celebration

Fishing for Prayer' Net

This is something your family can use to pray for one other or for people you know. Get or make a fishing net and stick one end on the wall. Make and cut out little paper fish for your family to write things down they want prayer for. Stick them onto the net so other family members can read them and pray. One way to use this would be to take a fish away when you are going to pray for the thing on it. Alternatively the fish could be left up for a week and then cleared on a particular day when your family prays for all those things.

Family Time

15 Minute Fun Burst

Make a commitment to spend at least 15 minutes a day doing an activity your children choose. Too often the busyness of life means we end up not doing anything special with our children. Make the commitment to your children and put them in charge of deciding what to do. Make it a priority in your day.

(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

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Faithful Families Resources October 21 2012

Weekly Inspiration

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.

~ Chuck Swindoll

Family Closeness

Game:

Table Olympics – Part 1

Spoon Balancing

I am always amazed when I watch the gymnasts balancing on the beam or catapulting across the mat. In this Olympic event get your family members to balance tea spoons on their fingers or nose. See who can balance a spoon for the longest or while moving their hand around in complicated patterns. See if your family can come up with any gymnastic like hand and spoon tricks.

Sharing:

Questions for stimulating discussion in your family.

In this week’s family sharing time try to come up with a motto for your family. Your motto can act like a family mission statement helping you to stay focussed on what is important. It could be something that your family aspires to be like, or do, “We help one another” , or it could be a description of your most important values, “Honesty, Love, Service” or some aspect of what you as a family need to work on, for example: “Love More”. Don’t rush you motto, spend some nights talking it out over the family dinner table. When you have come up with something you all love and agree on print it up on some nice paper and have it framed so it is in a place you can all see and be reminded of. (Send a message telling us what your family motto is.)

Story

With your family read Mark 10.46-52

(for a way of explaining/talking about this reading with children look at http://www.sermons4kids.com/i_want_to_see_jesus.htm

Questions for Discussion:

Why do you think people told blind Bartimaeus to be quiet?
Why do you think he ignored the people?
What did Jesus do for him?
How would you describe Bartimeaus?

Prayer and Celebration

Balloon Prayers

There are two ways you might use this idea to pray. Both involve writing words in permanent marker on a balloon. The first way involves your family writing one or two words naming the things or people they wish to pray for at different places over the balloon. When you have finished doing this toss the balloon around the dinner table. The words that your hands touch or are near to when you catch the balloon are the things that you must pray about. The second way uses the same method but instead of things to pray for write down different types of prayer like: praise, thanksgiving, asking, confession, waiting. Whatever your hands land on that is the type of prayer your family must do – this probably works best if everyone takes turns at each individual type of prayer.

Service

One really interesting way to get your family involved in service is to go on a volunteering holiday. By doing this your family can go somewhere different, meet new people and get involved in making a difference in the world. Organisations such as http://www.volunteerholiday.com.au arrange and oversee the trips and provide guides and other necessary information.

Family Time

Music Night

Have a music evening together where you take turns at picking songs and listening to them. Family members share with one another, what they like about a particular song and how it makes them feel. To take it a step further get everyone up and dancing to the different songs. Remind you family that although they may not like all the music it is good to learn to appreciate other family members tastes.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Faithful Families Resources October 14 2012

Weekly Inspiration

We do not develop habits of genuine love automatically. We learn by watching effective role models – most specifically by observing how our parents express love for each other day in and day out. ~ Josh McDowell

Family Closeness

Game:

Speed Charades

Everyone writes down four words on four separate pieces of paper (or parents write down four words for everyone). The words can be anything that your family members think they can act out in a charade. Don’t tell anyone what you have written down. Put all the pieces of paper into a hat or bowl and mix them up. Whoever goes first draws out four random words. They then have sixty seconds to act each of the words out so that the rest of the family can guess them.

Sharing:

Questions for stimulating discussion in your family.

Opposite Sharing

Brooklyn Lindsey in Opposite Day presents the idea of talking in opposites as a way of helping young people share. In essence this means answering a question the opposite of what you really think.

Using opposites, get your family member to tell you in a few sentences what they really think and feel about:

Going to the dentist
Eating food they don’t like.
Helping other people

Story:

With your family read Mark 10.35-45

(for a way of explaining/talking about this reading with children look at http://www.sermons4kids.com/to_be_like_jesus.htm

Questions for Discussion:

What did James and John ask of Jesus?
According to Jesus what must you do to be great?
How do you feel about the idea of being a servant or slave to others? What do you think Jesus meant?

Prayer and Celebration

Squeezy Prayer

One way to pray is to use "squeezy prayers" Everyone holds hands in a circle. An adult will begin the prayer. When they have finished they squeeze the persons hand next to them to show it is there turn. They may pray out loud, or silently, or may squeeze on to the next person. When the squeeze has reached the starting person they may say another

closing prayer or just: Amen.

Here are suggestions for ways of using the squeezy prayer:

Using a squeezy prayer ask God for something that is needed in the world…like peace,or understanding or for help in a particular problem in the world.
Using a squeezy prayer say thank you for a good friend or friends. Say them by name and even say something you like about them.
Using a squeezy prayer say thank you for something that you are good at. A gift God has given you.

Family Time

Beach

Take your family to the beach. Have a picnic together and take some toys such as a Frisbee and ball to play with. Look at the ocean together and imagine how big God is. Build sandcastles, go for a swim and enjoy one another's company.