Family traditions counter alienation and
confusion. They help us define who we are; they provide something steady,
reliable and safe in a confusing world.
~Susan Lieberman
Family Closeness
Game:
Snort
The
aim of this game is not to laugh when someone is snorting in your face. The
person going first, gets in front of whoever
is on their left and snorts trying to make them laugh. When the person laughs
they are out. But you only have 30 seconds to try and get the other person to
laugh! To make the game different each time you can have family members do
something other than snort, such as squeak, meow, moo, bark.
Sharing:
Questions for
stimulating discussion in your family.
- Being left out makes me feel . . .
- The people who I see most often left out are . . . and this is because . . .
- Helping people who are different be included is hard because . . .
Story
With your family read: John 20.19-31
Questions
for Discussion:
- Why do you think Jesus showed the disciples his hands and side?
- Why do you think Thomas wouldn’t believe?
- How do people come to believe in Jesus even if they haven’t “seen”?
Prayer and Celebration
Praying through the Lord’s Pray
The prayer Jesus taught is a great model for how we
might pray and how we might teach our children to do so. Each week we will look at a line of the Lord’s prayer
and discover what we can learn about prayer from it.
Our Father in Heaven,
When we begin to pray we address God. There are many
different ways we can do this. Jesus used a very intimate word “abba” which
means father or dad. What do you use when you pray?
Spend some time with your children thinking about
the different ways we can name God in prayer. What difference does it make
calling God, father or creator or almighty God. Look online at some of the
names for God in the Bible. Discuss with your family which ones you like the
most and why. Use a different title for God when you pray at the dinner table
this week.
Service
How can I give power to the other? Let
this question send you on your quest to serve – the imitation of Jesus through
action. The link between question
and quest is helpful. Let a question
guide your action.
Start in the home. Ask your children, what
do they need? How can I give them power? (Asking the question itself gives
power. Listen to them carefully. Respond thoughtfully, faithfully.) Ask the
same question of your partner. If someone was to ask you the question, how
would you respond? Let your answers to your questions guide your actions.
Bonus Family Activity
Bubble Catching Contest
Get a small
bottle of bubbles for each member of the family. Let everyone blow bubbles
until they fill the sky. Now let everyone try to catch them with the round part
of the bubble blowing sticks.
(This material is based on and draws from earlier Faithful Families emails by Stephen Harrison and Richard Browning: An Unless Ideas Production.) Unless otherwise noted all material on this blog is copyright Stephen Harrison and Richard Browning
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