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25 Ways to Enjoy Your Family

by Marci Ferrell
Christian Living Marriage Motherhood Titus 2

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I’d love to help you simplify your meal planning. Check out my new menu planning course here.

Summer is upon us, and I know how quickly our schedules can fill up. We can easily get addicted to activity and not enjoy our family time. @mferrell

Summer is upon us, and I know how quickly our schedules can fill up. We can easily get caught up in a flurry of activity and miss out on enjoying our time together as a family. 

Summer is upon us, and I know how quickly our schedules can fill up. We can easily get caught up in a flurry of activity and miss out on enjoying our time together as a family. Click to Tweet

Below are some ideas adapted from Little House on the Freeway by Tim Kimmel. This book would be a great read to start your summer. It's a helpful, practical read and just a good reminder that there are many things we can be doing but we don't have to lose our calm and joy along the way. Mr. Kimmel helps us to see how Jesus had a hurried life placed upon Him, but there were things he did specifically that enabled Him to maintain joy and calm in the midst of it.

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

~ Psalm 90:12

I'm sharing the ideas below for summer but they are year-round activities.

I'm usually the planner in the family, so I'm going to print out this list and work some of the ideas into our weeks this summer. Even though our kiddos are adults, I can still work some of these in with them and with my grandbabies.

If you'd like some date night ideas with your spouse, check out this post and this one for questions to work through as a couple. There are some helpful family conversation starters here for those dinner nights at home.

25 Ways to Enjoy Your Family:

1. Eat dinner together as a family.

2. Take your wife on a dialogue date.

3. Read your kids a classic book

4. Memorize the Twenty-third Psalm as a family.

5. Hug each family member for twenty-one days in a row (They say that's how long it takes to develop a habit, whether or not that's true, it's a great habit to start.)

6. Pick three nights (or more) of the week in which the television will remain off.

7. Pray for your spouse and children every day.

8. Plan a vacation together.

9. Take a vacation together.

10. Sit together as a family in church.

11. Take a few hours one afternoon and go to the library as a family.

12. Write each member of your family a letter sharing why you value them.

13. Take each of your children out to breakfast (individually) at least once a month for a year.

14. Let your kids read a story aloud to you or the whole family. 

We have only the time allotted by God, and none of us knows when it will run out. Every Christian life runs by His divine timetable and against His divine clock. We do not know how long He will hold open the door of a given opportunity or of our entire time of service. “Be careful how you walk,” Paul counsels, “not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:16). God gives us many things without limit – His love, His grace, and many others. But His gift of time is strictly measured.

~ John MacArthur

15. Put together a picture puzzle (five hundred pieces or more)

16. Encourage each child to submit to you his most perplexing question, and promise him that you'll either answer it or discuss it with him. Don't be afraid to work through their hard questions about their faith. These are good opportunities to learn together. 

17. Tell your kids how you and your spouse met.

18. Call your wife or husband from work just to see how they're doing.

19. Complete a family tree and teach your children the history of their ancestors.

20. Get involved in a family project that serves or helps someone less fortunate.

21. Spend an evening going through old pictures or videos of family vacations. Put together a ChatBook from the photos on your phone.

22. Praise your spouse and children—in their presence—to someone else.

23. De-clutter your house together.

24. Become a monthly supporter of a Third World child. Write them letters together as a family or assign the children different turns each month to write and send a picture. (We support a child with Compassion.)

25. Give each child the freedom to pick his favorite dinner menu at least once a month.

Final Thoughts:

My last thought is the reminder of how special bedtime rituals are as a family. My children are grown but my son was back home for a short season, and I still loved just sitting in his room with him chatting together and kissing him goodnight.

We can get so busy and forget to cherish these moments together. Give your children the sweet gift of the sense of calm and peace before bed. If you don't have a bedtime routine established, I encourage you to start one. Maybe it's stories, praying over them or singing them a song as you tuck them in. I still have memories of my grandmother tucking me in at night and singing sweetly to me.

Let's slow down the pace if we're feeling hurried and take the time to determine our priorities as a family. 

There are some simple options from this list that you can incorporate daily to get those moments to sit and just be with your kids and your husband. Again, figure out what good things you may need to say “no” to so you can say “yes” to the best.

“The more scarce something is, the more valuable it is. Gold and diamonds would be worthless if you could pick them up like pebbles on the side of the road. Time would not be so precious if we never died. But since we are never more than a breath away from eternity, the way we use our time has eternal significance.”

~ Donald Whitney

Recommended Resources:

Little House on the Freeway by Tim Kimmel

90 Family Dinnertime Conversations Starters

20 Questions to Help Build Intimacy in Your Marriage

Enjoying Ordinary & Special Moments with Your Spouse {with 70 Fun Date Night Ideas}

Related posts:

  1. 90 Family Dinnertime Conversation Starters
  2. Simple Ways to Share the Gospel as a Family
  3. Homemaking 101 Series: Simple Ways to Get a Jump Start On Your Day
  4. EP 60: Gently Correcting Our Children


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  1. weston says

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Welcome to Thankful Homemaker

So thankful you’ve stopped by for a visit. Please grab a cup of coffee or tea and sit a bit. I hope to remind you that contentment in our role as homemakers begins with finding our satisfaction in Christ.

read more…

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thankfulhomemaker

Marci Ferrell
"Prayer is the most tangible expression of trust i "Prayer is the most tangible expression of trust in God." ⁣
~ Jerry Bridges
"The spiritual disciplines are ways by which we ca "The spiritual disciplines are ways by which we can spiritually place ourselves in the path of God’s grace and seek Him." ⁣
~ Donald Whitney⁣
⁣
Link to listen to all the episodes in the Spiritual Disciplines Series at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
The means of grace or spiritual disciplines are wa The means of grace or spiritual disciplines are ways the Holy Spirit conforms us more and more into the image of Christ.⁣
⁣
Link to listen to Introduction to the Spiritual Disciplines at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
This is the secret of being content: to learn and This is the secret of being content: to learn and accept that we live daily by God’s unmerited favor given through Christ, and that we can respond to any and every situation by His divine enablement through the Holy Spirit.⁣
~ Jerry Bridges⁣
⁣
Listen in to EP 46: Our Need for Contentment at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
“So what does contentment mean? It is an inner s “So what does contentment mean? It is an inner sense of rest or peace that comes from being right with God and knowing that He is in control of all that happens to us.”⁣
~ Steven J. Cole⁣
⁣
The quote is taken from EP 46: Our Need for Contentment - link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker to listen to the episode (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)⁣
⁣
#contentment #peace #rest #christian #christianity #thankfulhomemaker #bedeeplyrooted #womenintheword #wellwateredwomen #womenoftheword #christianblogger  #christians #treasurechrist #joyinchrist #inchristalone #wordbeforeworld  #deeplyrooted
Contentment in our walk as believers is learned, j Contentment in our walk as believers is learned, just as Paul learned it, so do we as we walk this walk with the Lord. It does not come naturally to us. We know deep down the secret to contentment is to keep our eyes on the Lord in every situation. ⁣
⁣
Come listen in to Our Need for Contentment at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
"Rather than mourning over sin, the world redefine "Rather than mourning over sin, the world redefines it, or worse, celebrates it."⁣
~ John MacArthur
There is no heart God cannot conquer.⁣ There is There is no heart God cannot conquer.⁣
There is no life He cannot change.⁣
There is no past He cannot forgive.⁣
~ Steve Lawson
What does it look like to live a fruitful life in What does it look like to live a fruitful life in the empty nest years?  What do I do now? What does my day-to-day life look like? Am I needed anymore? These are questions that raced through my mind as the empty nest season approached and was quickly upon me.⁣
⁣
Come listen in to Fruitful Living in the Empty Nest Years at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
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