Summertime Family Devotions for 3 Favorite Places:
- The Zoo: A showcase for God’s creativity. Hunt for five of the most bizarre animal facts. Discuss God’s purpose in His specific design of each animal. Try to find an animal for each letter of the alphabet. Make an A to Z book. Talk about Adam’s job to name the animals. What names would you have chosen? Discuss Noah’s faith in building the ark. Sing the “Rise and Shine” song. Eat animal crackers. Upon your return, make monkey bread or decorate cupcakes to look like animals. Play a game of animal charades or animal races (hop like a kangaroo, slither like a snake, or walk like an elephant.)
- The Beach: Another display of God’s handiwork. Build a sandcastle near the tide, on the sand. Build another one on a rock on higher land. Discuss the wise man and the foolish man. How does that apply to us? Sing “The Wise Man Built his House upon the Rock.” Fill a small container with sand. How many granules would you estimate are in there? Talk about Psalm 139: 17-18, “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.” Go on a hunt for seashells. Challenge them to find two that are exactly the same. Find a recipe for a “sand dirt dessert” and make it when you get home.
- The Farm: A place where man’s hard work meets God’s provision. Ask a local farmer or rancher if you can assist him for the day (or even an hour). Ask him questions about his job. Discuss how it relates to scripture. Try to find the four soils explained in Matthew 13. Go berry picking! Talk about God being the vine and His people being the branches. East some of the fruits of the labor.