A Splink is a SIMPLE way to LINK your family together spiritually.
It’s a FREE weekly email packed with ideas to help connect your family. Splinks are creative ways of interacting with your children with family devotional starters and ideas for family time. Splinks can also help you use teachable moments to pass along spiritual truths and life lessons while making memories or just having fun together. No matter where you are, it can always be time for a Splink!
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Splinks for July 22nd - July 28th
Provision Prayer
Talk a walk with your kids and tell them they have an assignment. They are to look for ways God has provided for them. (Trees for shade, water from the clouds, legs to walk, etc) You will be amazed to see how God is caring for you every day. Say a prayer of praise to God for His kindness and care.
Let Jr. Pay The Bills
If your kids are old enough, show them some of the bills. Let them see how much it costs to have a car, a house, and to buy groceries each week. Or ask them how much they think it costs each month to take care of the family.
Share with the kids a way God has provided for you. (Maybe you found a good bargain at the store, maybe someone offered to fix your washer, maybe you got a raise at work just when you needed it, etc) Share your own testimony with your kids. They love to hear your stories!
Read Luke 12:27-32 together.
Ask:
What does God promise in these verses? (that if we seek Him first, He will take care of us)
God LOVES to take care of you. He takes care of the birds and the flowers and He will take care of you.
Say a prayer thanking God for taking care of your family.
Make a bird feeder with your kids
Items needed:
1 liter clean plastic soda bottle with lid
2 wooden spoons
one small eye screw and a yard of twine
bird seed
Draw a ½ inch asterisk on the side of the bottle about four inches from the bottom. Rotate the bottle 90 degrees and draw another asterisk two inches from the bottom. Draw a one inch-wide circle opposite each asterisk, as shown. Before class, using a craft knife slit the asterisk lines and cut out the circles. Insert a wooden spoon handle first through each hole and then through the opposite asterisk, as shown.
Remove the bottle cap and twist a small eye screw into the top of it for hanging. Fill the feeder with birdseed, recap it, and use twine for hanging it from a tree.
OR put peanut butter on pine cones and hang with string on a tree limb. Put a bird bath filled with water out for the birds. It will be fun to watch the birds as they come to visit.
Read Matthew 10:29. Jesus said that a sparrow couldn’t fall to the ground without God knowing and caring about it. God loves the birds and cares for them. God loves you even more and cares for you. He will take care of you.
Say THANKS to a Faithful Servant
Think together of faithful people who serve–fire fighters, police officers, mail carriers, trash collectors, library workers, etc. Together think of a simple way to thank them. For example: Leave a bottle of cold water for the mail carrier and a short note thanking him for bringing your mail every day. Buy and take a box of snacks or fruit by the firehouse with a short note of thanks.
Play Secret Servants
Write the name of every person in the family on a slip of paper and put them in a bag. Let each family member draw out a name, but tell them to keep it a secret. Each person will try to find small ways to serve that person during the week (Monday to Friday) secretly– without others finding out. Offer some suggestions: Make their bed, do one of their chores, draw them a picture, give them a small gift, etc.
Go out for ice cream on Saturday and reveal who each person’s secret servant was. Talk about how it felt to have others serve you and do nice things for you.
The 2008 Olympics
The 2008 Olympics will be starting soon (August, 2008) in Beijing, China. The athletes who compete sometimes practice 6-8 hours a day every day. They are faithful and diligent in order to win a prize –hopefully a gold medal.
Sanya Richards will be competing in track and field in this year’s Olympics. Some have said that she may be the fastest female runner in the world. Sanya says, "My faith keeps me grounded. People always ask me how come I'm so good, and I always think to myself, how come God is so good. My faith also encourages me to give my best. I know that my talent is God's gift to me, and how I use it is my gift to him."
Other Christian athletes you might want to Google to find more about: Laura Wilkinson (platform diving); Donny Robinson (BMX); Allyson Felix (track and field).
Read 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. Paul compares living the Christian life to running a race. He says those who run in a race do it to win a prize that will fade away–a gold medal will not last forever. He challenges Christians to run the Christian life faithfully, doing their best for God.
