No one wants family dinner time or family devotions to be a battle ground, so keeping the length of time and the content age appropriate is vital. Following are a few simple ideas to get you started with vibrant family dinner times and family devotions.

>  Talk about the fruit of the spirit, and then let each family member affirm another person about a fruit they see in that person’s life.

>  Buy or make a “you are special” plate. Honor family member’s birthdays, a good report card, a parent’s raise, special guest, or anything you want to celebrate. Thank God for the uniqueness of the person whose achievement you are celebrating.

>  Make up question cards to keep in a basket on the table. After the meal, each person can choose a card and answer the question. The questions can be about Biblical things, or things like, “What was the hardest part of your day”. Use the answers as a focus for that evening’s prayer.

>  Save Christmas cards that have been sent to you; choose one each evening and pray for the individual who sent it.

>  Read a missionary prayer letter each evening and pray for the missionary and their needs.

>  Invite missionaries, pastors, and other people who would be good role models to be a guest at your table. This can expose your children to great people.

>  Read a Bible story from a good book written for young children and talk about how the story relates to their life lets them know the Bible is relevant.

>  Discuss a Biblical principle, such as forgiveness or courage, with your children.

>  Pray with and for each family member each day.

Making family dinner time and family devotions a priority will be take effort and determination, but the rewards will truly be eternal.

Adapted from http://www.mannaexpressonline.com/strengthen-your-family-dinner-a-devotions/ by Connie McKenzie (accessed 1/12/2019)