5 Faith-Filled Activities to Do When Summerween Isn't Your Vibe

Christ is the giver of life and families. Have a home movie night when everyone gets together and watches videos or shares pictures from family vacations, birthdays, and other memorable holidays. This family movie night could include popcorn, everyone’s favorite candy, and favorite beverages. Encourage each person to talk about their favorite memory. Each person could also be encouraged to share a scripture highlighting God as the giver of life. For example, Romans 6:23 (Amplified) tells us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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On a small piece of paper, have everyone write out what kind of activity brings them peace and/or joy. This could be something like camping, picnicking, fishing, hiking, cooking dinner together, riding bikes together, or going to the beach or the pool. Put all the papers into a small box or container and shake them up. As each one gets pulled out, brainstorm as a family about a day trip for each activity and plan to do each one over the course of the summer.

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Just for the sake of creativity and fun, we’ll call this one “Secret Summersanta.” Have each person write their name on a piece of paper and drop those names into a small box or container. Each person should pull one name out of the container, unless there is an odd number. Then Mom or Dad could get two names. Spend one week doing “secret” kind things for each other, and no one is allowed to ask if someone is their Secret Summersanta. Maybe one person sneaks and does the chore of another, a piece of candy on someone’s pillow or at their place at the table; one person washes another person’s car, a typed note or card of encouragement or a compliment (But not handwritten if that can be avoided -- that might reveal from whom it came!). There’s plenty of room for creativity here. Spend six days doing this, and then on the seventh day, have a “reveal” party in which the Secret Summersantas reveal their recipients. This could include a special dinner, festive decorations, and maybe a small final gift.

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There are many names for God, each of which captures some element of His character or who He is. A couple of really good tools to use when studying the names of God as a family can be found at Faith Gateway, and Harvest House Publishers. These could easily be broken up into multiple weeks for multiple discussions. Consider finishing this study off by having each person in the family pick one of their favorite characteristics about God and explain why it’s meaningful to them. 

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When the realization hits that you’ve basically made it halfway through the summer, it can be a bit depressing. But we know that God has plans to prosper us and not harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). Rather than dwelling on (or dreading) back to school, consider throwing a party. Invite friends over for a cookout, yard games, a bonfire with S’mores, and perhaps some discussion about what career each person thinks they might like to have when they grow up. Another possibility is enjoying some back-to-school type classic movies together, such as the Back to the Future trilogy or Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

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