Teach Intentionally..."Begin a Family Time" with Stacy Davis ~ Bible Teacher and Sky Ranch Board Member

Begin a Family Time

With the completion of this school year, I am about to enter a new phase in life…the empty nest. I have survived lower school, middle school and high school years with a son and a daughter and navigated through the drama for guys and girls. I discovered what worked and what did not work for guiding kids. But I don’t claim to have it all figured out.  However, if there is one thing that I could encourage you to do that will help you through this challenging time of raising kids; it is to teach God’s Word intentionally in your home regularly. Sharing your experiences and thoughts on your faith, while at the same time letting your kid’s faith be their own… it builds the relationships with each other and Jesus in a way that only happens within the family. And it encourages close family relationships and those relationships are the only thing to go into eternity with us.

As I encourage you to teach intentionally, I have a few simple suggestions to help this happen. First, set a time each week and get it on the main calendar and everyone else’s calendar including your husband. Find an evening that is consistently open each week and a time.  Protect that time and don’t schedule other things during it. Have the study material ready and handy. Give this time a name…like “Family Time” so that it becomes an activity you all refer to. Make sure that each person is given time to talk. It benefits kids if they get at least some time to talk uninterrupted each day. Conclude your family time by praying for each other. Finally, limit your family time and stop after about 20 minutes. The family will usually cooperate if they know it won’t go too long.

After you have scheduled family time, I would also suggest spending a little time thinking about what to teach and preparing.  Sky Ranch has designed a family devotional just to help families teach intentionally. The focus of this devotional for this year is to look at” Who God is”.  If you have a copy, I would suggest using that booklet in your home. If not, then I have included a passage from it below as a suggestion. You can also request a copy of this devotional to be mailed to your home by going to the Sky Ranch website at www.skyranch.org. 

Then, I would suggest a little personal preparation ahead of your family time…pray and ask for God’s help, then read the devotional passage first and honestly ask yourself …where am I personally with the questions asked? As parents, we are role models for our kids and it is okay to not have all the answers. But it is important to be honest with God, yourself and your kids. Also, your kids may ask you challenging questions that you do not have the answers to and it is okay to tell them that you don’t know, but will try to find out. Then, email the SkyMoms Ministry at SkyMoms@skyranch.org and we will respond with advice on how to handle those questions.

Finally, just give it a try… print the passage below and read through as a family one night after dinner. 

I will be praying for you! 

Stacy Davis

Family Time 3:

Month 2 Topic: God is forever and does not change…God’s views

Talk with God: Read…1 Samuel 15:29, Psalm 45:6, Revelation 4:10

~ 1 Samuel 15:29  And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change  His mind.

·         In 1 Sam15:29, will God lie?

~ Psalm 45:6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

·         In Ps 45:6, what is His scepter of?

~ Revelation 4:10   The twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him Who lives forever and ever.

·         In Rev 4:10, what are the 24 elders falling down before?

Walk with God: Discuss… Scripture explains that God is a King and on a throne with a rod or scepter. He rules by uprightness or “what is right.” We also see a promise that God will not lie. Do people and God always match in their views of “what is right”? What if people oppose God? If God does not lie, then who is lying when views oppose each other? Can you think of ideas taught by our society today that oppose God’s Word?

Prayer suggestion… Pray for God to help you learn what is right.

Family Time 3:

Leader Answers:

·         No

·         Uprightness

·         God on His throne

·         Discussion ideas: We will hear things that contradict God’s Word. God tells us that ahead of time so don’t be surprised by it. The test is, who will you believe? God tells us who is lying; people are. Make sure you know what God says. What subjects do you want to know about? How much time do you spend in His Word finding out?


© 2011 Stacy A. Davis, Inc. All rights reserved.