I have never heard anything about the resolutions of
the apostles, but a good deal about their acts.
~ Og Mandino
Family
Closeness
Game:
The Edge
Get a small coin of some sort. Each family member
takes turns sliding their coin along the top of the table from one end to the
next The goal is to get it the closest to the edge without it sliding off.
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 Matthew 2.13-23
(for a way of
explaining/talking about this reading with children look at
Questions for Discussion:
- What are your feelings about this reading?
- Have you ever thought about Jesus being a refugee?
- Why do you think Herod did what he did?
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 2014. 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 2014
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 2014. 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
