Having
a place to go - is a home. Having
someone to love - is a family. Having
both - is a blessing. ~Donna Hedges
Family
Closeness
Game:
Investigator
One
family member leaves the room. Everyone else decides on a certain rule to
follow when answering the investigators questions. Rules could include: tell
the truth when legs uncrossed, tell a lie when legs are crossed; answer all
questions with yes, no or I can’t answer that; begin all sentences with a
vowel; answer using only five words.
When
a rule is decided upon, the investigator returns to the room and starts asking
questions to family members. The question can be about anything at all
including things they know the answer to.
They continue asking questions until they recognize the pattern. They
have three guesses to try and figure out the rule.When
the investigator guesses correctly or guesses three times incorrectly, the
round is over, and someone else gets to be the investigator.
Sharing:
Questions for stimulating discussion in your family.
Finish
these sentences:
- I feel scared when . . .
- It’s good to think twice before saying something hurtful because . . .
Story
With
your family read Mark 3.20-27, 31-35
(for
a way of explaining/talking about this reading with children look at http://www.sermons4kids.com/we_are_family.htm
Questions
for Discussion:
- Why do you think people were saying bad things about Jesus?
- What do you think Jesus family wanted when they turned up to see him?
- Are there times when people need to do what God wants even though their family does not like it?
Prayer
and Celebration
Thank You Board
It
is easy for children and adults to get into a rut of praying for the same
things every night or week. One way of avoiding this is to create a thank you
board. This could be a small white board or piece of cardboard. Each time you
pray together encourage your children to think of three things they are
grateful or want to thank God for. Write them on post it notes and stick them
to the board. The next time you come to pray tell your family to give thanks
for three things that are not on the board. In this way the imagination is expanded
and we come to realise there is a whole world of things to give thanks for.
Service
Came across this website during the week for people
looking for service opportunities for their families: http://www.govolunteer.com.au/
“GoVolunteer is an initiative of Volunteering
Australia and is Australia's first volunteer recruitment website. It is a
not-for-profit site that provides free Internet advertising for not-for-profit
community organisations looking for volunteers. GoVolunteer provides you with
all you need to find out about volunteer opportunities, and helps you make the
best match possible between your personal requirements and choice of volunteer
work.” (Govolunteer.com.au)
They have a section talking about family
volunteering – in it they say: “Family volunteering allows parents, children
and other family members to spend time together while contributing to the
community and causes they care about. It can be a fun activity that can improve
communication within the family resulting in stronger family relationships.”
“A growing trend overseas is for families to
volunteer together. Family volunteering can involve siblings, parents, spouse
and children. Families can volunteer to help a cause close to their heart.”
Family
Time
Build
a Family Scrapbook
This is a great activity to get the whole family
involved in, including Dad. Create a scrapbook that tells the story of your
family from beginning up to the present. There is a wonderful opportunity in
doing this to tell some of the important stories of your family, including how
mum and dad met, preparing for babies, moving to new home, growing up stories
and milestone moments. Use print outs of photos and write key words or ideas
around them. This could be a well planned and elaborate project or it could be
a slap dash evolving one done of the spur of the moment.
(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
