Happy Friday to you!

For many of us, today is the end of the work week. Saturday and Sunday are our days to unwind and get reconnected with our loved ones. Yet, how many of us really do that? We spend so much time on our social media accounts or messaging platforms. We find “busy work” to make our weekends "productive". We plan gatherings with friends or we go out to various events. Yet, we don’t consider how little time was spent engaging our immediate family. All of us know the importance of communication to a quality relationship. So there’s no need to address that issue in this post. (There are hundreds of articles/books on the subject.)

For some reason, we ignore the need for community within our own homes. The result of that decision is "outsiders" begin to know more about us than our own spouses, children, or other immediate family members. These outsiders can often provide more personal information on us than the people we live with. It’s an unfortunate truth, but it happens to so many families. Well, that has to end! So, if you’re dealing with that issue, you’ve come to the right place. I want to provide a few suggestions on ways to strengthen the bond of your immediate family.

Prepare and enjoy a family dinner at your dining room table or at the dining table in your backyard.
Play board games or card games for a few hours. (With the TV, the cell phones, and the computers off, you will be able to converse and learn about each other during the games.)
Schedule a fun workout session. (Incorporate jump rope, potato sack races, kickball, etc.)
Have a family prayer meeting. (Everyone can state a prayer request and the entire family will pray for each of them one by one.)
Have a dance party. (It’s uplifting, silly, and joyful. Most importantly, it’s liberating.)

All of the aforementioned activities will increase the interaction between everyone in your household and create an unbreakable bond. So, share the list with your spouse, children, and other family members living in your home. You can do all of these activities over the next two days. Or, you can choose one per weekend. Also, if you have any other ideas to share with us, leave them in the comment section below. I cannot wait to hear from you!

Love,

CompassionateLee

Ephesians 5:22 Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. 24 Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, 27 so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind—yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church. 33 Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband. Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—this is the first commandment with a promise: 3 “so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”4 And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.