As one by one my boys are graduating and leaving home, it has become glaringly clear to me that while most days are crazy and hectic and loud and busy – there are really only a few things in life that actually matter.
The problem? Sometimes the crazy and hectic and loud and busy take over, and all the things we “hope to do with our family some day” never happen. We think we’ll get around to it “when life settles down” or “after I get through this one thing.”
Life doesn’t slow down, there will never be more time, and what we all need to realize is this: If we want good for our family, we need to prioritize it, pray for clarity, and take the next step toward it.
Family prayer time? It doesn’t happen if we don’t schedule it in. Time to read our Bible as a family (or as an individual)? It doesn’t happen if we aren’t intentional. Serving together as a family? It gets tossed by the wayside if you don’t make a plan and execute it. Choosing good in any form? It’s too easy to let the schedule dictate the hours of our day.
I encourage you today (not tomorrow…today) to write down goals you have for your family. What does God want for your tribe? How can you make that happen? The truth is that if God wants it for you, He will provide the time and energy for you to make it happen. It’s as simple as that.
Regarding all things good for our family – and this looks different for each of us! – it can be as simple as sitting around the living room on pillows and bean bags talking about God’s goodness and praying together. But sometimes having something tangible in your home can make a huge difference in helping us carry out a plan or achieve a goal.
Red Rock Traditions is a company that has created many fantastic items for families who want to be intentional about character training and time together. I pulled out a few of my favorites to show you, but I really encourage you to look through the catalog and see what fits your family’s needs best!
My very favorite is this Thankful Hearts/Loving Hearts Guest Book! You can use it to fill with things your family is thankful for, but we got one and we’re going to use it for hospitality! Each time we have a guest, they will sign a wooden heart and slide it into the frame. It will hang on our wall as a loving reminder of all who have blessed our home. We will see their names and pray for them. This will soon be filled with great memories!
I’d love to hear some of the ways your family has chosen to be intentional about your time together. Do you block out family prayer time? Do you set aside time to read the Bible together? What provides you with the best conversation time? How do you schedule this in with busy schedules?
A Blessing for Your Family
Johanna, a Direct Sales Leader with Red Rock Traditions, is giving away a $50 gift certificate for one of you to spend on these fantastic family items! Here’s how this will work:
- Enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win.
- Look through the Red Rock Traditions catalog and leave a comment here sharing a favorite product you found for your family. This will get you a second entry in the giveaway!
- Anyone who places an order before the end of June will receive Red Rock Bucks!
For every $25 purchase you will get $5 Red Rock Bucks for your next purchase. For every $75 purchase, you will get $10 Red Rock Bucks for your next purchase. And for every purchase over $150 you will get $20 Red Rock Bucks for your next purchase.
I’ll select a random winner for the $50 gift card on Tuesday, June 27.
I like the wish pig, but also the up/down coin, a random way for people to share about their day. Thanks, and God’s blessings to you ~ I’ve been quoting you to my husband quite a bit lately! :)
I love the sharing circle. Beautiful!
I like the Wish For You necklace.
Several of these items take my eye.
The fleece blanket looks very nice.
Love the his name platter and necklace charms.
I’ve always brought my daughter in the kitchen to cook and she helps me out so much now that I’m working full time. I’m trying to do better about getting my son in there. I want him to have kitchen skills and be able to cook a meal as an adult one day! Thanks for the inspiration!!
I like the smore please campfire forks and the treat baker, little taster apron set.
Love them all, lol :) But I really like the Posada For A King and the grateful hearts guestbook. I would love to be able to write down things we as a family are grateful for and then display them in a place we can see them daily. :)
We need to be more intentional about our family devotions. We always pray before every meal and at bedtime, but things have been so crazy :) that actually teaching our children what is in the Bible has kind of gone by the wayside :( So I know that needs to really be addressed this year and I am trying to figure out some good ways of doing that. I need a plan to follow and am very thankful that I have found several ideas online for free. So that is going to be a focus in our house this coming schoolyear.
I love the conversation dice! Totally me.
I love the wish pig and the phone caddy. Thanks for the giveaway!
I like the thankful hearts guest book a lot! So cute! And the “Christmas pickle” ornament is a fun idea. Their stuff is expensive, but they’ve got some great ideas! I love the ideology behind it.
I like the “my day for royal treatment” chair cover. With five little boys underfoot, I tend to see them as a crowd and not as individuals . . . it could be fun to make each one feel extra special on occasion!
I really like the ‘Gift of Time’ hourglass, There are so many times when my daughter wants my attention and I’m in the middle of something; I feel interrupted and impatient. Besides the intended purpose of scheduling uninterrupted attention in 30-minute increments, I can imagine so many other ways to use this.
I love the family bucket list and the loving hearts guest book! So many neat items!
I love the countdown to everything calendar, so much fun!
I like the wreath card holder.
I love the gratitude tree. Beautiful!
I love the countdown to everything! So cute! Thank you for a chance to win.
The gratitude tree is beautiful. Other things on the site give me some ideas, too. I don’t think I need to buy the little time capsule, but my kids would probably think that would be a special thing to make this summer.
Thanks!
Thank you for this! I thought the big Sunday sundaes bowl with spoons would be a great way to gather everyone together for special treat time and along with just time together.
Letter journals!
The little stool is my favorite! We were once given as a gift a stool that had a poem about using it to get into things they shouldn’t, and I thought that was exactly the opposite of what I would want to teach my children! This one says a poem about using it to help -perfect!
I like the cake stand
How do I pick just one?! I love all the well thought out pieces!
I like the just for you celebration platter and the time out phone caddy.
I like the captured moments box.
The family bucket list plaque.
We would love the Gratitude Tree (It’s so pretty!) or the Sharing Circle!
Wow! How to pick one thing that is most amazing? Impossible! Love the Loving Hearts that you write on and put in the frame! That’s just lovely!!! Also love the wish locket… I have three daughters and they would adore that!
Thank you for the giveaway! :-)
I love the dice to start conversations! This company is so cute!
I absolutely love these items! I’ve never heard of Red Rocks before, but this is so great!
I think the Christmas pillowcases are my favorite. Those would be fun to pull out in December for the kids!
I love the You Are My Sunshine magnets and the Family Goals Box
So many fun items! We just moved to a new home, so the heart guest book looks like such a fun way to record memories with guests in our home. I also like the yesterday, today, and tomorrow conversation dice. Thanks for the chance to win a gift card!
Grace and forgiveness set is really neat. I also like the Christmas jar!
Oh my goodness!! There are so many things I love. One of them is the gratitude tree!! I love this idea. I also love the story of his birth – nativity ornaments and runner!!
I really like the conversation cubes and the celebrate you platter. Fun and thoughtful things. Thanks for the inspiration.