Summertime Opportunities
What’s happening in your home this summer? Is it a special time for you and the family or just a very busy and active time? In all fairness, it can truly be both. I hope it is that for you.
Summer is a wonderful time for families to do things together that are not possible during the school year. It can be a bonding time when parents and children can share in one-on-one moments of play and talk. It can also be a time when older children can spend meaningful time with the younger siblings with activities, reading and fun. Lots can happen in a family in the summer! My plea is that the summer not pass by your family and it was all a blur with little purposeful and intentional time spent together.
Northside offers all of us a wonderful tool for families and these months are a great time to utilize it. It is called RIGHTNOW MEDIA. I hope you are already very familiar with it and enjoy what it has to offer. If not, let me introduce you to the many ways you can use it for you and your family.
When you log in to RIGHTNOW MEDIA, you will find libraries that are filled with videos for kids, parenting, Bible study and Christian living to name a few. Let me just mention some of them:
- For small children there are over 80 shows to watch. They range from Bible stories, Character Builders, Little Leaders and the Amazing Bible Series. Really Woolly Kids and Gerbert are two of my old-time favorites. Using these for watching with your children and then having some short talk time about God would be a great use of time.
- For the middle school and high school children there are videos that will help them grow in their knowledge of the Word as well as in Christian attributes. Videos to help them learn about identity, prayer, and faith. There are also some pretty funny short videos they might like. The real-life short stories that cover topics such as bullying, body image, pornography, drugs and alcohol are useful for talk time.
- Ladies, how about a video series on Studies on Busyness? I think that might work for all of us! There are studies for moms, parenting, mother-daughter relationships, marriage, friendships, worth and purpose to just name a FEW! There are hundreds to choose from.
- Not to be left out: the men can take advantage of many good videos that affect your lives such as faith in the workplace, being a dad, leadership, finances and more.
Last – but certainly not least – here is my favorite suggestion. Family Devotionals! Yes, there are short video devotionals for all ages to be used by parents and grandparents beginning now! It is such a wonderful tool available for free to all of us. Many of these videos are less than 10 minutes long and can be watched together as a family and then talked about. Ephesians 5:16: “making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”