Many of you have kids in school for another few weeks, but in Atlanta, school is out for the summer. There is a celebratory feeling as school is not only completed for the year, but we emerge from COVID restrictions to a world we vaguely remember. The temptation is to immediately do everything we missed – which many are doing, if the TSA line in our airport is any indication!
The problem with jumping back into everything at once is that it can leave you feeling even worse. Did you know when the people were freed from the concentration camps in WWII, the soldiers gave them food to help them regain all of the weight they had lost. Unfortunately, what they didn’t know is that a stomach that has been starved for months on end must gradually be reintroduced to food. Some died, because they ate too much too quickly.
For your family to have a great post COVID restrictions summer, it’s going to help to have a plan. Call it a summer bucket list. Really discuss what you have missed and what you haven’t. What things were you doing too much of before COVID and what things had you been neglecting?
Where does God fit in to your post COVID world? Sadly, virtual church has meant many of us believe we can skip the messiness of church with real people and merely watch our favorite service. Attending church virtually long term will gradually weaken the faith that is strengthened in relationship with other Christians. If you didn’t have that before, it’s time to be intentional about creating those relationships now. Your kids will need those relationships or studies show they will most likely reject Christianity entirely as adults.
What things does your family need to do to strengthen relationships with each other? What do you need to do to be more intentional about helping your kids build strong faith foundations and grow to their godly potential? What are some things you can do to help them experiment with different gifts to see which ones God has given them to use to serve Him?
Don’t forget to schedule fun! A lot of people believe you can’t obey God and have fun. It’s one of Satan’s favorite lies. Doing fun things with your kids exposes that lie and shows them the truth – sometimes godly fun is a lot more fun than Satan’s idea of “fun”.
So grab your family and make that summer bucket list. It may just be your best summer ever!