Children > Family Time with God

Family Time with God: A Time for Everything

Caring Conversations

What better time than Sabbath time to be really present with one another, listen deeply, share your deepest dreams and joys and concerns. (Sabbath — a time of rest and a time of connection with God and with others.)

Use these questions to start conversation at meals, in the car, or when you have a few minutes together:

• What are some special times from your life that you remember?
• Why were they special?
• What are some difficult times from your life?
• How did you get through them?
• How would your life be different, now, if you hadn’t gone through those special or difficult times?
• What did you learn from them?
  

Family Devotions

And what better time to spend intentional, focused time with God as a family, naming the people, places and experiences that have been the face of Jesus in our lives. Read scripture together. Collect prayer requests from one another.

Read Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8. Take 8 or 10 of the words and make a list of events from your life that fit that category (i.e., “A time to be born”: my birth, my children’s births, my nieces/nephews, and children of my friends). See how long of a list you can make with each.

Rituals and Traditions

Sabbath is drenched with rituals — candles, eating together, a walk in the beauty of God’s creation, a restoring nap. All of these remind you that you are on holy ground.

Now that you have a list of events and people from your life, keep this list on your refrigerator or someplace else where you will see it daily. Include these people and events in your prayers. Add to your list when you think of other people and events that have shaped your life.

Family Service

Plan together the ways you will serve God’s family and its needs after you are refreshed. Thank one another for the loving acts of service they have braided into everyday life together.

Write a note to those people who have influenced your life. If you don’t have a current address but know what town they live in, look it up on MSN.com. Let them know that they helped to shape your life.