Searching for creative ways to play, pray, and serve with your family this Fall?
Let’s set aside the TV, phones, and other devices because Fall is just around the corner, offering crisp winds, punkin’ patches, football, and fur-lined boots. Yes, please!
Gather the family—whether two or twenty—and choose a favorite activity to boost your time together and with the Lord. After all, a family that serves, plays, and prays together stays together.
Creative Ways to Serve Together
🍁 Host a yard sale and give the proceeds to a church fund, missionary, or charity.
🍁 Donate to a local missions store. Skip the yard sale and spend time together as a family gathering clothes, housewares, and toys to donate. Make plans to stop by for a treat on the way home.
🍁 Treat an elderly or disabled friend to a yard cleanup day. Rake leaves, trim shrubs, or pull weeds. Yard work offers service opportunities for all ages. Want to go a step further? Leave a bucket of mums or another fall floral arrangement behind to brighten their porch.
🍁 Bake pumpkin bread together. Wrap up the loaf and attach a small note with Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the LORD is good.” It’s sure to brighten the day of a lonely neighbor or friend when you hand-deliver it with a smile.
Creative Ways to Play Together
As a family, brainstorm twelve activities that won’t require much prep or money. Write each one on a slip of paper and put it in a “Fall Fun” jar. Draw one slip (or more!) every week and decide the best day to carry it out. Some ideas might be:
🍁 Take a nature walk to engage your senses. What catches your eye? How does a particular leaf feel? (Steering clear of poison ivy, of course! Leaves of three, leave them be. Thank you, Girl Scouts.) What scent fills your senses? What do you hear? (Silence counts!) As you walk, gather color-coated leaves, rocks, acorns, and evergreen branches to decorate your mantle or tabletop when you return home.
🍁 Go on a picnic. Choose a lovely location. Maybe it’s beside a creek, on a mountain, in a park, or your backyard. Children can help plan the menu and prepare the food for the picnic. Or plan to pick up a bucket of chicken. It’s not the food that matters but the memories created. Don’t forget a blanket/tablecloth, utensils, napkins, and bug spray.
🍁 Game night! Whoever chooses this slip of paper can choose which game the family plays. Turn off the TV and turn on the laughter.
🍁 Popcorn & Puzzles. Create a designated table to work on a puzzle throughout the fall season. On the nights this slip of paper is drawn, plan to serve popcorn, lemonade, or any family favorite food/drink.
Creative Ways to Pray Together
Teaching our children that meaningful prayer can be simple and enjoyable is a gift they will carry throughout adulthood. Here are a few ways to get the creative juices flowing when praying as a family:
🍁 Walk & Pray. Before you set out as a family, discuss various ways to pray for your neighbors, such as God’s blessings, God’s healing, for them to draw closer to God, for wisdom as a family, etc. Perhaps some neighbors need specific prayer. Share how God is the only One who truly knows what each person or family needs but that He honors our desire to pray for them. Then, take a walk around your neighborhood. You can pray quietly as you pass neighbors’ homes or silently while keeping your eyes open. This helps children to learn that while closing our eyes during prayer helps us concentrate, it’s also okay and biblical to pray with our eyes open.
🍁 Journal as a family. Purchase or create journals for every person in the family. Set aside a few minutes each night to journal together. Consider lighting gas logs or candles while you write. Younger children will enjoy coloring during their time. Setting aside fifteen minutes each night (or weeknights/weekends only) will help develop a pattern that will bless your children for many years to come.
🍁 Create a prayer board. Hang a designated “Prayer Request Chalkboard” in an accessible place in your home. When prayer requests arise, write them on the board and pray for them after dinner.
In a culture defined by division, intentionally creating togetherness is refreshing.
So, what idea could be added to the above list, and/or which one will you try first? We’d love to know!
There’s something about seeking out specific items within a certain time limit that puts a pep in our step! Granted, most hunts are minutes long but this one is more about slowing our pace, encouraging us to pause and to see simple objects in the light of God’s Word.
We started creating scavenger hunts in the Creative Pauses Facebook Group last year and we’ve never looked back.
So here’s the scoop!
It begins today and ends Saturday, April 2nd, at noon EST 6PM EST
Finish all five hunts by Saturday and you’ll be entered into a $25.00 Amazon gift card giveaway.
When you finish all five, come back to this blog post and leave a comment saying you’re finished. (We’d also love to hear what you enjoyed most about the hunt.)
If you like, snap photos of the items as you go and post them in the daily 1 PM “Share your pictures here” posts in the Facebook Group. Everyone enjoys seeing the various pictures but they’re not required to win. Have fun!
Hunting for objects + pause + reading the living and active Word + pause + meditating on His Word = a much-needed oasis for the heart, soul, and mind.
I’m a hibernator by nature. I love all things cozy, flickering, warm, and quiet. How ’bout you?
Like flowers that take flight in spring after a time of gathering up God’s goodness beneath a dormant ground, we too have similar opportunities.
You may remember my post, “Hibernate in Prayer to Awaken Your Soul”. Today, we’ll consider four more small, specific ways to hunker down, quiet our souls, and draw near to God in preparation for blooming wherever He plants us.
Immersing ourselves in God’s Word.
Merriam Webster defines the word “immersion” like this: to plunge into something that surrounds or covers especially. One way to immerse ourselves in scripture is to practice Lectio Divina, which simply means divine reading. There’s nothing mystical or new age-y about it (or else you wouldn’t find it here). And it’s no longer seen as belonging to a particular sect. It’s for every Christ-follower who longs to slow down to a savoring pace. Here’s a PDF sample I created if you’d like to give it a try!
Sing!
Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. (Psalm 63:7 NIV) This place, beneath the shadow of God’s wings, is one of comfort and protection. As we stay close to Christ, how can we not sing? Put this verse to your own melody or sing another song/hymn that resonates way down deep. Or quietly hum. Look up to the sky or close your eyes ⏤ whatever helps you stay focused on the One you’re praising. What a sweet, sweet sound in the ears of our Heavenly Father.
Silence.
For God alone my heart waits in silence and quietly submits to him, for my hope is from him. (Psalm 62.5 AMP) What might seem like a simple act can quickly turn into a rodeo as we lasso distractions into submission. It’s why I created a system to help me remain still and silent despite the dodging of a noose. When a random thought or chore (supposedly in need of immediate attention) darts out while practicing the art of silence, I whisper the words not receiving. Maybe it’s just the way my quirky brain works but it helps me to differentiate the thoughts I want to set aside or discard and those I want to keep.
Confession.
Talk about freedom! If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 ESV) Sometimes, when words are a struggle, I pull out my journal and spill out every thought, sin, or question onto paper. Then, I draw a line beneath the confession and write what I know to be true despite those times I don’t feel forgiven. Whew! Thank goodness our faith is never dependent on emotions, only God’s Word. These quiet moments of cleansing ⏤ they’re sacred, life-giving, and refreshing. I’d love to share this journaling practice with you.
“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent Van Gogh
A series of small things brought together, like soaking in God’s Word, worship, silence, and confession, bring forth great things for God’s glory.
Where do you “hibernate” with God in your home? We’d love to know! Share your answer in the comment section and you’ll be entered into a giveaway for a cup of your favorite Starbucks drink. Winter + a favorite warm beverage = pure delight!
Heads up! The January theme in our Creative Pauses Facebook group is “Hibernating in the Holy”. Each weekday, we’ll focus on a different spiritual “hibernation” practice. We’d love for you to join us!
Maybe you spotted our current gift for new subscribers, What to Pray for Room-by-Room? Together, we’ll walk through the rooms of your home as I share ideas on ways to pray for you, your family, guests, and even strangers. You’ll find the new subscriber box at the top of the sidebar. Of course, you can unsubscribe at any time, but we hope you’ll feel right at home here in The Tiny House on the Hill.
It’s the only devotional I’ve read four (soon to be five) consecutive times.
Priscilla Shirer’s Awaken: 90 Days with the God Who Speaks welcomes my soul like an old familiar friend. It settles in smoothly but never grows weary of speaking truth and timely words of advice. Who wouldn’t want to welcome this kind of friend over and over again?
One benefit of reading a devotional multiple times, especially when jotting down notes along the way, is to see how God is moving and stretching us over a span of time.
For instance, on the second read-through, these questions were posed: What are you waiting on God for right now? What does faith and confidence look like, knowing He’s undoubtedly working for you in the distance? I answered, “I’m waiting to see God’s plans for my book.” The next time I read it, a few months later, I answered, “Thank you for Cynthia Ruchti — my dream agent — and thank You for confirming Your work in my life.” I paused to consider God’s goodness in bringing this dream to fruition.
You may remember my first post on this devotional, but I’m here to testify that the joy discovered under Shirer’s tutelage continues to build. Pour a cup of tea and savor these excerpts from Awaken:
Day 70
“Storms will do that to you sometimes–wash you ashore in unfamiliar places, around unfamiliar people. But if not for the storm (Acts 28:7-9), Paul wouldn’t have been in this location to meet these people and help them. God’s sovereignty had not been shipwrecked by the storm. His plans were not derailed just because the sailors’ plans had been thrown off course. God’s hand had steered them to the exact place where revival was primed to break out. And the storm was the instrument He used to do it. Are you in a fierce storm right now? Are you watchful and mindful of the various places it’s unexpectedly taking you and all the various people it’s unexpectedly introducing you to? Next time you’re frustrated or perplexed by where your latest storm has dumped you, pray for the joy of discovering that God is using this storm to intersect your life with someone else’s life, becoming part of answering their prayer, even as He’s answering yours.”
A fierce wind called the “northeaster” rushed down from the island. Since the ship was caught and unable to head into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. Acts 27:14-15
Day 78
“From your current vantage point, you may not be able to see how God is working out His purposes in your life. You’ve gotten your feet wet. You’ve tried to believe. But life just seems to roll on like always before, oblivious to your prayers and to the faith you’ve placed in God’s ability to change things. But be convinced that even though God may be working a great distance away, He is working. He hasn’t forgotten you or His promises to you. He has not run into a snag that may prevent Him from following through.”
The vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay. Habakkuk 2:3
Day 88
“The tumor is still there. Your family is still in crisis. The church is still without a pastor. Your son or daughter still can’t find work. It’s one thing to believe that God is able to do anything He wants. He is God. You know that. But it is quite another thing to believe that He is willing and able to do it for you.”
Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yes, our God is compassionate. Psalm 116:5
Day 90
“An encounter with God is meant to change us. To stagger us. To blind us to old pursuits, interests, ambitions, and fleshly desires, while miraculously opening our internal vision to eternal pursuits. What a waste to simply get up and go back to our normal habits after being in His presence and sensing the exhilaration of His nearness–after powerful moments in His Word, in prayer, in places where He’s made His way so plain to us.”
The unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. Psalm 119:130
Does a particular sentence or excerpt stand out? We’d love to know! Comment below, and you’ll automatically be entered into a random giveaway for a copy of Awaken!
(And if you received a copy of “31 Ways to Pray for Your Children” or “Praying Throughout Your Home”, you’re in the right place. Welcome!)
Cathy Baker
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