Family Fun Friday: Our 24 Family Ways #1

“We love and obey our Lord Jesus Christ with wholehearted devotion.”

That’s our very first Family Way.

We’ve finally begun Clay Clarkson’s Our 24 Family Ways and have decided to integrate them into Family Fun Friday.

Because Ryan has been following a Bible reading plan for our evening devotions, I decided to incorporate the weekly lessons during my morning devotional time with the girls, which is during breakfast. So, during the week, I follow Clarkson’s curriculum with the girls. Each day is quite simple: an opening question, a brief Scripture reading, an application, and prayer. We drill the “Family Way” and the Verse all week long. Tonight, the girls proudly recited them for their Daddy. Afterward, we all colored the corresponding pictures, hole-punched ’em, and put them in the glossy new folders the girls picked out at WalMart. (In the back of the book, you’ll find a coloring page for each family way. I photo-copied all of them, so they are ready to go each week.)

(Of course, following that, we cuddled up and watched a fun little video and munched cookies.)

Here’s what I found helpful during the first week:

Family Way #1:

Review the Way and the Verse every day – at breakfast and at lunch.

Watch Steve Green’s Hide ‘Em In Your Heart “You Shall Love the Lord Your God”

Sing “I Love You Lord, and I Lift My Voice”

With such little ones, ask, “How do you know I love you?” (They answer, “You talk to us! Hug us! Spend time with us!” etc.) Then, ask, “How do you show me that you love me?” (“I tell you!” “I make you cards!” “I obey you!” etc.) It becomes quite simple then, to explain that those actions are exactly how we show God that we love Him. And that – I proclaim by faith – is what our family is all about!

Also, I found it helpful to write the “Family Way” and the corresponding verse on a large index card, so the girls could decorate them one morning after breakfast and place them in an empty recipe book. I’ll leave the two right-hand sleeves open each week in hopes that we find a picture or memento to slip in as an example of the “Family Way” in action! It’s nothing fancy, but it is something else we can page through together as a physical reminder of what we are all about.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.”

Matthew 22