Family Activities

It is my hope to keep these pages updated on a regular basis – likely every second Wednesday.  Inspired by a workshop at the Orange Conference (http://www.theorangeconference.com), I plan to provide ideas that you and your family can do together.  Typically they will be quite inexpensive, and able to be done at home, at the cottage, or travelling along in the car or for a rainy day.

Enjoy -

1.  When it’s a time for eating popcorn – talk about how all of us are like kernels of corn.  Not much on our own, kind of hard and not very appealing.  But when we add the power of the Holy Spirit  (whatever your heat source is), we are transformed from the inside out. 

Popcorn only works because the water at the very core of the kernel boils, and the goodness inside explodes out.  That’s like us, too.  Our goodness inside explodes out when the Spirit brings us to life.  It’s still us, just like the corn is till corn, it’s just in a different form.  And it’s one that makes people happy.  The scent brings people to it, and it’s hard to stop after just a little bit.  People are attracted to others who have the Spirit in them.   They are exciting to be around, they make others happy.  It’s still them, only different and better.

If you are going to the cottage, or camping – or just away from the lights of the city, here’s an easy discussion.

Read the story of Abraham from Genesis with your family – it starts at chapter 11, but we are going to focus on the first few verses of chapter 15.

Abram was promised that he would be the father of a great nation.  It had been many years, and still he and his wife had no children.  Abram asks God again, and tells him to look at the stars – that his decendants will out number them.

Have each family member make a “viewing window” with their hands – how ever you decide to do this is fine.  Then, count the number of stars in that ‘window”.  If there are that many in such a little part of the sky, just imagine how many there are in the whole sky.  And God promised Abram he would out number them.

Talk about promises.  How disappointing is it when someone breaks a promise?  Sometimes all parents have to break a promise to do something – tell the kids how much it bothers you to break that promise.  God always keeps His promise. Remember that every time you look at the stars.  If God kept his promise to Abram (later Abraham), He will keep His promises to you.