Changing Family Culture
I find that changing the culture of a family gathering can be one of the most difficult tasks one can face. This year two of our four children with seven of our fourteen grandchildren were at our home for Thanksgiving celebrations. These times are always good. But this year I wanted more significant interaction between the generations. My prayer was “Heavenly Father show me how to lead the family in a time of significant interaction and sharing.” He gave me the following inspiration.
I called the family together and announced a series of contests in which the grandchildren ages 8 to 18 would participate. The adults would be the judges and every one would receive a prize for participation.
The first contest was based on the story of the ten lepers in Luke 17. “Imagine you are one of the nine lepers. You hear that Jesus asked why you had not come back to give Him thanks. You text him back in 25 words or less and tell him why you did not come back and give thanks as did the Samaritan. What do you text him?”
The grandchildren all entered into the exercises with enthusiasm and good humor. The responses were thoughtful and hilarious. The 8 year old stated, “i didn’t come because I had to go to a funeral and I was the pastor for it.” Another stated ”…While I was running in joy, I tripped and broke my foot. So can you heal me again?”
I based the final question on the story in Mark 10 in which Jesus asked the blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?” I said, “You are sitting by the road and Jesus comes by. He stops and looks at you. With a smile He says “What do you want me to do for you?” What do you ask of Him in 25 words or less.”
Here the responses became serious and heart felt: “I want to be touched by Him”. “I want the power of God to be shown through me.” “ I want to get closer to God.” “I want to be healed.”
I then had each one in turn sit on a chair in the center of the group. The parents and cousins gathered around and prayed over the one in the center and gave blessings and prophetic words.
God breathed on this time together. All later stated that it had been a very meaningful time.
And I… I praised God for His faithfulness in answering my prayer for a spiritually significant family time.
theexpandingshrink 