Candlelight Dinner

Last night we had dinner by candlelight! I lite the advent calendar that we have at our dining room table and we discussed our topic for the week. Our church gave us a family guide to Advent and this week is about the good news that came to the shephards and wise men. God chose to tell the news of the Savior's birth to some very unlikely people.
The light from the candle was like the light shining from the angels as they spoke to the shephards and the star that the wise men saw. The children liked to change of pace and they ate their dinner without complaint - maybe because of the low lighting!
We are bombarded by Christmas marketing so this is just another way to keep the focus on who the season truly belongs to - Jesus!
Merry Christmas

Around the campfire

It was just one of those day where you can take the events from the day and weave them into a bible story. It was nice fall day, probably one of the last of the year, and we gathered the sticks on the lawn and put them in the fire pit. So after dinner, we started up the campfire.

Jesus is told of making a fire for his disciples in John 21. He gets their attention by giving them some fishing advice. When their nets are bursting at the seams, they row to shore to find Jesus making them breakfast.

Curiously enough we actually had breakfast food for dinner just that night, so it was another similarity in the story with our day. Another part of the story I pointed out was that the disciples did what Jesus ask them to even though it sounded silly at first. I also pointed out the teamwork needed in the story and in our family.

Instead of serving fish, like Jesus, we made Smores! Thank you Jesus for Your Word to share with my children!

Even my kids are planning the activities now

For the past six years, we've been having family devotions. Usually its me preparing for the lesson ahead of time that day. As I was preparing this evening, my daughter comes up with an activity that she wants to do too. She knew already that we were going to talk about the Passover dinner because we went outside to collect some "bitter herbs" (aka weeds) Don't worry, we didn't eat them, they were for demostration purposes only. We didn't have lamb or flat bread either but not to worry. My daughter proceeded to gather paper plates and markers and instructed us all to draw the meal onto our plates. It was a great time and even better that she's following my lead.

Making Something Extraordinary from something ordinary!

As a family we are studying the story of Moses. God took a willing man, an ordinary man, and did something extraordinary through him. The same holds for us.
At church, my children did a "science" experiment to illustrate this. Take a shallow dish of whole milk, drop some food coloring in. Don't stir it but then add some drops of dish soap and watch it swirl - quite a marvel to behold! Some extraordinary from 3 simple items.

The More, the Merrier!

I had 6 children total in my house tonight so I took this opportunity to play a game that involves lots of participants. Family Time Training sends me a monthly activity idea every month. This month was about Omniscient and how to bring that idea to an understanding that kids can grasp. It was ideal because I was caring for 3 children who were not my own and who were missing their parents while on vacation. My own 3 children were also missing their dad gone on a business trip. So the theme of God being everywhere and with everyone at all times was a great topic to talk about. God is with the people you can't see right now! What a great blessing! But even better than talking about omniscient, is playing it out! One kid hides under a big box while one kid is out of the room. The others have to try to be quiet and let the other figure out who's missing and what box they are under.(I had 3 to choose from) This involved lots of giggles and fun. The best part was the prayer time following the activity. We all prayed for someone we can't see right now, but God Can!

Beary Good Night

My children gathered all of their stuffed teddy bears to join us for Family Night tonight! We read from Five Minute Devotions about Bears and how they learn from their parents. I like this book because I can usually find some toys that goes along with the animal mentioned in the lesson. Its great to have a visual and something to play with while we talk about the lesson.

Using Multiple Resources

Every Monday we take time together as a family to study God's Word and how it can change our lives. We've done this tradition for about 5 years now and it can be challenging to keep focus when children are at different ages. I try to plan the time by drawing from many different sources. First, what is going on in our lives right now? what issues are coming up that need to be dealt with? Second, what are the kids learning about on Sunday at church? I usually take the sheets that they bring home and use that for some activity. Finally I take those ideas and find a devotion that speaks to me about what is going on. We even mentioned an idea that we saw on tv and brought into our talk.
I would encourage you to be aware of what's happening in your children's lives and ask God to show you how his Word can speak to that. He never fails to give me ideas. He's got a lot!
The biggest way to make to memorable is to make it fun. We carried each other around on "mats" tonight, just like the 4 friends brought their lame friend to Jesus on a mat. A bath towel and lots of hands made it fun.