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Purposeful parenting seeks ways to grow in relationship with our children so that we may have opportunities, perhaps later, for discussing things. Like why dogs chase their tails. Or whether a twister can really lift a house off the ground and transport you to Munchkin Land. And why unrequited love really stinks. Important stuff.
Christian parenting adds the extra element of creating opportunity for integrating God and His truths into the discussion. One fun way of creating those opportunities is doing something marathon style that involves the whole family.
I mentioned that our family really likes watching movies and that we’re especially fond of old classics. Ever had a movie marathon? You decide on either a theme or a particular actor and then spend the whole day watching movies pertaining to your decision.
Put aside convention when it comes to your usual routine for that day. We like to have our movie marathons on Saturdays. We start mid-afternoon and sometimes don’t finish until late night. Or until the last one of us is awake, whichever comes first. We don’t break for a meal but instead load the coffee table up with as much junk food as we can, with a few cut veggies and Ranch dip thrown in to offset the guilt. Frozen pizza tossed into the oven is as close to an entrée as we get.
Most of the time our focus is on comedy. It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is four hours long and constitutes a marathon all by itself. We own just about all the Marx Brothers movies which really help hone our one-liners. We’re also fond of some British humor. Any of the Mr. Bean series is great, and we have a collection of Fawlty Towers, a short-lived BBC comedy series starring John Cleese. It’s hysterical, you have to check it out.
Sometimes we’ll do a western theme, sometimes Disney, sometimes movies portraying victory through challenge like Iron Will or any of the Rocky films. And we’ve been known just to mix and match two or three of family member’s choices.
Game marathons are another idea. It’s basically the same premise as a movie marathon, except all the junk food is sitting around the edge of the kitchen table waiting for elbows to send it flying. So, we do take breaks while playing games because salsa is not good for the dog to lick up off the floor. Not if he’s going to stay in the same room with us.
Unless you’re dealing with issues of sportsmanship, in which case a timeout for mom and dad may be in order {{knowing grin}}, God may not specifically come into this time you spend together as a family. What it does allow you is time to connect, have fun and grow in closeness which does make it easier to discuss God in other areas.
The truth is, though, God is in it. Because you’re doing this as a deliberate, purposeful way of growing with your children so that you may teach them about Him, He will bless these efforts as a way of coming together in His name.
So, that being said, I have a coupon for a free movie from Blockbuster burning a hole in my purse. What’ll it be tonight?
What's your favorite junk food to pig out on for movie night? Tell me about it by leaving a comment.
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5 comments:
I just love this post! We had family movie marathon over several nights at the beginning of this past summer and it was awesome!
We watched the Indiana Jones movies and the National Treasure movies. And then we went on to watch some comedies. We loved it!
You know how it is when you spend lots of time with a particular friend and you end up with lots of "inside jokes"... as little as one word or as long as a whole sentence, but always a shared memory that makes everyone on the "inside" laugh and laugh and laugh?
That's what these movie marathons do for us. We recite a line from a movie and everyone connects. It's our way of coming together even when time doesn't allow for everyone to sit down and be together (like now in football and volleyball season).
We stick to the traditional popcorn snacks, although sometimes there are sweet snacks too... you know for the salty-sweet balanced diet! ;-D
Norma,
We have those same inside comments, too. In fact, I sometimes have a hard time keeping up with them. It amazes me how much my husband and kids remember of the lines!
And we usually balance our salty snacks with ice cream. Banana splits are the best!
Hello, again! I have enjoyed reading A LOT on your site!
This is an area I have been trying to work on with my boys. Not so much the talking about God with them because I homeschool them, so we talk about Him throughout the day (including Bible as our first subject!)
But I mean the connecting in another way. It's really hard to motivate myself to do this because I spend so much time with them already that I am hungry for "adult" conversation by the time daddy gets home.
But our day is so filled with school and chores and "go outside and play" that I really NEED to do something else like this.
Ugh...it drives me crazy when someone says that being a Christian is the "easy way out." Are you KIDDING? :-)
Thanks for the post. And the fire under my rear.
I love these ideas and can't wait until our kids are a little bit older to really be able to do a marathon!
My favorite movie/game junk food: popcorn and Raisinettes, by far. Chips and dip are also good :)
I love malted milk balls. My family thinks I'm weird....
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