The school year brings a fresh start, and along with it, new opportunities to invest in your family’s spiritual growth. This year, why not set aside time on a regular basis to focus on family devotions? Here are some fun ideas for growing closer to God together this school year.
Faithgirlz devotionals — Explore one of our Faithgirlz devotional books with your daughter. Invite her to do the daily reading on her own, then spend time together once a week discussing what she learned. Ask questions and offer encouragement as well as insight from your own experience. Consider whipping up a special snack to make this weekly connection extra fun.
Movie night — Choose a Bible study video series or a different Christian film to watch together as a family once a week. Visit your local Christian bookstore to browse options, or check out PureFlix, a streaming TV app dedicated to faith-friendly programming.
Journey through Proverbs — Each week, read a chapter of Proverbs together and discuss which verses are your favorites, or which of these “wise sayings” convicted each family member most and why. Then talk about how you can apply the Proverbs to your lives. There are 31 chapters in Proverbs and approximately 36 weeks in the school year. Use your five “open” weeks to focus instead on Scripture related to the holidays: Christmas (Matthew 1–2 and Luke 1–2) and Easter (Matthew 26–28, Mark 15–16, Luke 22–24 and John 17–20).
Sunday recap — On Sunday evenings, discuss as a family what you learned in church that week. If the kids attend a youth class while Mom and Dad attend service, ask what topics and Scripture they explored, and probe them with questions to make sure the understand and can apply the material to their lives. If the whole family listens to the sermon each week, encourage your kids to take notes so you can compare thoughts and reactions later.
Book club — Encourage every family member to read a book of their own choosing every month, such as non-fiction Christian lifestyle books, Bible studies, or Christian fiction. (Faithgirlz has a wealth of choices for tweens!) Then set aside time as a family once a month to discuss what you read and how it impacted your faith.
However you choose to invest your devotional time together this school year, remember these activities are meant to be meaningful for the whole family. Not only are you studying God’s word; you’re also building memories and traditions that your kids will treasure for years to come!
