The Lifegiving Home Book Club (Week #4)
Candles flickering, luscious smells of cinnamon rolls hot out of the oven, strong coffee, and lots of noise and laughter marked one more gathering of the Clarkson clan. Thus began our 25th year of celebrating the story and heritage of our family. Family Day, we call it. Family Day is a time of remembering who we are, as well as documenting what God has done in our family to give us hope for what He can accomplish in the future.
When a child knows the heritage of faith and cherishes the messages of the heart that have been passed down to him, he feels a powerful connection to the past, which gives a springboard to his future.
Joshua knew that the Jews who were allowed to leave the desert to enter the promised land needed to constantly be reminded who they were (the chosen people of God) and that they were to called to possess the land God had provided for them. Consequently, he had them gather memorial stones to document all of the miracles God had performed and the ways He had faithfully led them in their lives. When our children were still young, we started this tradition of having an annual Family Day. It was inspired by God's power, faithfulness, sovereignty, and love (Joshua 4:19-24).
Our Family Day is a whole day of family togetherness. Homemade cinnamon rolls start the day, a tradition for all of our breakfast holidays each year. Remembering just what defines the "Clarksons" and reviewing our values, traditions, tastes, memories, and pictures reminds us again why we are all tied together by invisible and unbreakable strings at the heart. Taking time to affirm all the things we like about our family and one another builds each person's sense of worth and belonging to this tribe! Photo albums from the previous year or two are admired, while favorite memories of family times are rehearsed and remembered all day.
Next is the trek to our favorite mountain spot. Singing familiar songs and winding our way through the mountains, we smack our lips in anticipation of yearly fried chicken, chips, baked beans, and Texas chocolate sheet cake. Tromping on the trails and taking about 1000 family pictures takes up most of the afternoon. Later in the day, we might play games or watch a good family movie. Then we have a special dinner to lead into our Family Day memorial stone time.
First, Clay reads the account of Joshua and the memorial stones to teach the principle of taking time and making a way to remember all the ways that God has been faithful. After the story, we all begin to share and discuss all the ways we see that God was faithful to us as a family in the year since the last Family Day. Each thing becomes a memorial stone of God's faithfulness written on the top of a piece of paper. Those are parceled out to different family members, who draw pictures on those papers to illustrate each of the memorial stones.
The memorial stones are all stored in a Family Day notebook. Each year we review them, and we are amazed as we read our family history together at all the ways God has worked supernaturally. It is so easy to forget. We also select annual verses for each family member. We then write down prayer requests for the year ahead, pray, and end the day with a fun activity and a favorite dessert.
Giving our children a story of the miracles God has performed in our lives has enlarged the hearts of each child to be willing to trust God for even bigger things. Understanding how we started our ministry with no money, no books, no conferences--just a thought and a prayer, always inspires our children each year to imagine how god will work in their lives.
Thanking God in the circle of family is one of my sweetest moments each year as I hear the deep voices of my boys praying fervently for all of us and the girls passionately speaking to God with thanks and anticipation of how He will be faithful the next year is the memory that I take to heart. Here, these sweet ones, in whom I have invested for so long and given so much, are now living vibrant lives of faith.
Your Reading Assignment
This week, you and I are going to read the chapter April (A Heritage of Faith, p. 101), July (A Heroic Heritage, p. 149), and August (The Story of Us, p.165) in The Lifegiving Home.
More from Life With Sally
After you read this week's reading assignment, hop over to the Life With Sally Forum (button below) to join the discussion for our book club! Here is what we will be thinking, discussing, and pondering over on the forum:
Starting on page 105, Sarah Clarkson lists multiple ways to engage with the story of God in your home, including family devotions, music, prayer times, and Scripture memorization. What is one new element you can add to your home in this season that points all who live there to the love of God? Could it be memorizing a verse as a family, creating a new worship playlist to play in your home, or hanging inspiring Biblical art?
On page 165, I discuss our annual family tradition of Family Day. An intentional time of documenting the role we play in God's story, His faithfulness and provision to our family, and reaffirming all the we love about being together. Using the Family Day Template, take some time and create your own memorial stones. How has God been faithful to your family? What role do you see yourself playing in God's story? How can you keep furthering His Kingdom?
This week has been lots of heavy reading on faithful ideals and the vision of Biblical family culture. With a favorite drink in hand, and maybe a tasty treat or two, sit down in your comfiest chair and think through how you can invite your family to pilgrim with you on the journey of faith, how you can deepen the bonds of family culture, and how you hope these ideals and patterns of life will engage them with the story of God. Pray for wisdom and let those questions burrow deep.