Friday, September 3, 2010

It's a Family Thing

What is the purpose of dating?  Well, I believe it's a time to make memories, and a time to share together, and most importantly it's a time to strengthen relationships.  So, with that in mind, does it always have to be just the two of you?

On Sunday, August 22, my family celebrated a difficult milestone.  It marked the one year mark for my dad going home to be with the Lord.  While we didn't want to celebrate our loss, we did want to honor his memory and celebrate his salvation.

We started our day by going (as a family) to the cemetery to pay our respects and remember my dad. We ended up walking all through the place reading stones and talking about the ones that really struck us. We soon realized how blessed we truly were, as many of the head stones revealed a sad tale of loss of children and spouses at an early age.

Next, we gathered under a large shade tree to have a family time of prayer. I started, then one by one, my children prayed and my sweet husband ended our time in God's presence.

At this point, my husband surprised the kids by taking us out bowling! It turns out our favorite bowling ally was having 25 cent games and hot dogs night! We had so much fun! We bowled until our hands hurt, and of course, ate hot dogs for dinner.

If you and your family need a fun date idea, then use this day as a model for relationship building. Even if you don't have a loved one buried nearby, try strolling through a local cemetery, just to remember and pay homage to those who have gone to rest before us. Ending your time in prayer is actually a peaceful way to close out your time there. Next, find a local sport to play as a family.

My prayer for you is this: That God will teach you how to build relationships and to treasure every moment together.

Psalms 144:4 "Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow."

Sonya

2 comments:

Merissa said...

Sonya, sweet time with family - all the way around!
We enjoy a good game of kickball in the backyard, then a bonfire! Ready for the bonfire weather :)

Teresa said...

This is so beautiful! I love the concept of dating with the whole family!!!! My daughter and I call those times, "Memory bank moments" Today my husband wanted to help me feel better as I was in bed all day the day before with a cold...he and my daughter surprised me with taking me to my favorite custard shop...he got me the snickers concrete and my daughter got the reeses concrete...and he didn't get anything...he wanted to make me feel better...then, my son's girlfriend blessed my daughter with a HUGE teddy bear...we took it outside, laid on top of this bear and looked up at the stars...we giggled and pointed to the beautiful creation of God...
Wow...I wrote a novel here...but I must say, thank you for the reminder and inspiration to take every moment to God with gratefulness! You are soooo lovely! I'm o glad I stopped by...