Today is the 21st installment of 30 days of resources for your family to use to grow together. Each of our daily activities will have the following pieces:
- PLAY TOGETHER: An opportunity to have fun and do something together instead of watching Netflix.
- TALK TOGETHER: Around the dinner table or just two of you sitting on the back porch, take turns asking these questions to learn more about the other.
- ORIENT TOGETHER: In time of need we have an opportunity to renew our vision for Jesus, and pray for His work in our life and world.
We hope these resources are helpful to you as a family. Feel free to share with others as well!
Psychiatrist
I used to play this game when my high school youth group held all-nighters. It’s tricky but very fun!
First, you choose a psychiatrist. That player must leave the room out of earshot. Then, the remaining group must decide what their collective problem is (you might all believe you are Ironman, or you might think you are the person sitting to your right, or you might all be unable to stop your hand from moving, or you might all think you are in the play Hamilton, etc.).
When the group is clear on their problem, retrieve the psychiatrist. The psychiatrist must now ask yes-or-no questions to different individuals in the group to try and determine what the collective problem is. When they finally guess correctly, a new psychiatrist is chosen.
From Chuck Klosterman’s “23 Questions I Ask Everybody I Meet In Order To Decide If I Can Really Love Them”
- Defying all expectation, a group of Scottish marine biologists capture a live Loch Ness Monster. In an almost unbelievable coincidence, a bear hunter in the Pacific Northwest shoots a Sasquatch in the thigh, thereby allowing zoologists to take the furry monster into captivity. These events happen on the same afternoon. That evening, the president announces he may have thyroid cancer and will undergo a biopsy later that week. You are the front page editor of The New York Times: What do you play as the biggest story?
- Let us assume you met a rudimentary magician. Let us assume he can do five simple tricks–he can pull a rabbit out of his hat, he can make a coin disappear, he can turn the ace of spades into the Joker card, and two others in a similar vein. These are his only tricks and he can’t learn anymore; he can only do these five. HOWEVER, it turns out he’s doing these five tricks with real magic. It’s not an illusion; he can actually conjure the bunny out of the ether and he can move the coin through space. He’s legitimately magical, but extremely limited in scope and influence. Would this person be more impressive than Albert Einstein?
Day 1 of 3 on Psalm 116 and the Gospel changing families
- How is your family doing? Really? When I met with my small group of middle school guys last week 100% of them admitted that they had experienced conflict with a parent or sibling in the last 24 hours. Being at home all together so much is different, and sometimes hard. Over the next three days we are going to study Psalm 116 and see how God listens, rescues, and changes us – and how God’s work helps our family.
- Read Psalm 116:1-2
- How important is listening in your relationships? How about in your family?
- When you listen – like, REALLY listen – to someone, what does that show?
- It’s pretty amazing that God “inclines” or “bends” his ear to listen to his people. It indicates he values you as an individual, cares about you specifically, and WANTS to hear you.
- When you experience family conflict, how can you listen better? How will that improve your family relationships? Everyone should be able to answer these questions.
- More importantly, even when you don’t get along with your parents/siblings/kids/friends you ARE NOT ALONE. God hears his people when they are in real need. You can go and hide in your bedroom and God is there, and happy to lean toward you as if to hear you better. If you feel like you have no one left who cares or if you are fed up with coronavirus or if you can’t explain why you feel like you do – God is there to show you his mercy in your time of need. More on that tomorrow!
Today’s Family Resource for Growing Together is written by Taylor Gordon, a youth pastor in Lexington, SC.
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