March 28, 2020
“Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” Psalm 103:2
Inspired by one woman’s experience in Wuhan, China reflecting on the positive benefits of a 48-day quarantine (CLICK HERE), here are some beneficial activities your family can experience at home together:
- Time to pray together. Set an example for your family that when we experience anxiety over something that’s completely out of our control, we’re free to bring those anxieties to God’s throne, giving Jesus complete ownership of our fears, stress, and health.
- Make laughable memories. Make a TikTok video as a family. Have a jam session blasting your favorite songs on YouTube/Spotify allowing each family member to pick a song where everyone must dance and jam out together. Enjoy watching family videos or browse photo albums. Your kids might cringe a little, but they secretly love it!
- Have a device-free night: reading, cooking, board games, creating art, or camp out in the backyard.
- Do some spring cleaning. Watch Marie Kondo videos and discover how cleaning can “spark joy.”
- Exercise. Being stuck inside doesn’t mean we have to be couch potatoes. Get sweaty!
- Plan a family vacation. As we won’t be stuck in the house forever, it develops hope to dream and imagine a beautiful future together.
- Serve your community. Give online to organizations doing good. Check in with your at-risk neighbors and loved ones. Offer to run their errands or bring them a few supplies and simply leave them on their doorstep.
- Enjoy the great outdoors. We can all use a little Vitamin D to shake off the cabin fever. As environmentalist John Muir wrote, “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” Although many outdoor options are becoming crowded, accept it as a challenge to find a more solitary place to enjoy a hike, a picnic, or bike ride!
- Gather as the church at home. Whether you livestream our church services, discuss our blog posts, or have your own family devotions for prayer and bible study, we believe investing in our relationship with God is the most beneficial activity families can do together.
- Create better routines. As we are forced to create new routines for our families, may we discover practices that draw us closer to God and each other. Covid-19 allows us to either become bitter or better. Let’s choose the more beneficial option of becoming better.
Pastor Chris Tansey