52 Creative Family Time Experiences

by Timothy Smith

Overview

Parents want to connect with their kids and pass along their faith as part of those connections. Timothy Smith gives the ideal tool to parents making this possible using as little as 20 minutes a week. This book provides 52 experiences for families to share time together with lasting benefits. Each experience provides a list of materials needed, a warm-up discussion, Scripture reading, an activity involving the entire family, and suggested discussion points to reinforce the main point of the experience. Smith also provides ideas for adapting the activities and discussion for younger children and teens. This book is divided into three sections; informal moments, intentional moments, and milestone moments including rites of passage and holidays and is useful for a variety of family settings. Start a tradition of sharing love, laughter, and learning with your family each week using creative ideas that bring faith home.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781614840671
Publisher:	Randall House
Publication date:	09/11/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	188
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Timothy Smith is the author of twenty books, a speaker, and a family coach from southern California. He is the founder of ParentsCoach.org and enjoys empowering others through his presentations, coaching, and resources. Tim has been married to Suzanne for thirty-three years and they have two grown and married daughters. In his free time, he likes to surf. Join the conversation with Timothy and other families at www.CreativeFamilyTimes.com.

Read an Excerpt

What is it about peanut butter that makes it so popular? Most homes in North America always have a jar in the cupboard. I think peanut butter is so popular because it is tasty, nutritious, easy-to-use, and affordable. But one characteristic about peanut butter stands out--it's sticky. Just for fun, watch a You Tube video of a dog eating peanut butter. It's hilarious! In fact, watch it with your kids. What would happen in our families if we had peanut butter faith--tasty, nutritious, simple, and sticky? Did you know that at least fifty percent of the children who are active in their faith and church involvement stop being involved as older teens or in their college years? What made the difference for the minority of kids who retained their faith? What made their faith sticky? One of the factors for the young people who retained their faith was that they talked about faith at home. I think the problem is that parents have outsourced spiritual formation to the church or the Christian school. The solution is for Christian parents to bcome the primary trainers of spiritual formation for their chidren and teens, and have the church serve a secondary and supportive role. Of course, the issue is that most parents don't know how to do this. But that is the purpose of 52 Creative Family Time Experiences--to train parents to have formal and informal conversations and experiences with their children about faith. Talking about faith at home is very biblical: "Write these commandments that I've given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are sitting at home or walking in the street, talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. Inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates." (Deut. 6:5-9)

Table of Contents

Part One Informal Moments; Introduction; Peanut Butter Families; Part Two Intentional Moments; Starting Out; 1. Why Famililes; 2. We Need Reminders; 3. Family Traditions; 4. Sand Castles or Monuments; 5. Love Doesn't Quit; 6. Family Is Still A Good Idea; 7. The Worry-Hurry Connection; 8. Escape from Hurry At Work and School; 9. It Takes Time to Grow Up; 10. Learning Contentment; 11. The Power of Not Giving Up; 12. WWF - World Wrestling Families; 13. Why We Rush; 14. Sold Out; 15. Heart Guard; 16. Don't Break My Heart; 17. Heart Training; 18. The Last Word; 19. They're Family; 20. Live Long and Prosper; 21. The Endangered Species; 22. Rest Is a God Idea; 23. A Day of Rest; 24. Only One Thing is Needed; 25. The Luxury of Sitting; 26. Favorites; 27. Be Wise; 28. Audience of One; 29. Recharge; 30. Who's Kingdom; 31. May I Serve You?; 32. Holding Things Loosely; 33. Love Is On the Inside; 34. Life Is Worship; 35. Bringing It Home; 36. No Fear; 37. A Peaceful Family; 38. A Truthful Family; 39. Heroes At Home; 40. Our Family Brand; Part Three Milestones Moments - Rites of Passage and Holidays; 41. Back to School; 42. Halloween/Harvest Season; 43. Thanksgiving; 44. Christ-Centered Advent; 45. A Christmas Gathering; 46. A Family New Year's Eve; 47. Valentine's Day; 48. Palm Sunday; 49. Easter; 50. Independence Day; 51. Mother's Day; 52. Father's Day; Conclusion; Materials List