Let’s Talk Hard Times
After dinner one night, spend some time as a family discussing trials. Explain to your children that trials are difficult times we experience and the hard times we face in our lives.
Take a few minutes to share a trial you faced this week and/or a trial you faced in the past. Talk to your child about how you felt during this hard time, what you did to get through it, and how God helped you every step of the way.
Allow your child to share a trial they faced. Ask them questions about how they felt, ways they worked through it, and how God and others helped them.
Read James 1:2-4 together and discuss the verses, answering any questions your child might have. Close your time in prayer asking God to give you strength as you face future hard times.
Come Closer!
After dinner, play a game of Mother May I as a family. Make this a fun time and be creative with the tasks the children must complete in order to reach the Mother.
After the game, spend some time talking about trials. Explain to your children that trials are difficult times we experience and the hard things that happen in our lives. A trial can be loneliness, rejection, or bullying, but it can also be something like divorce, a parent losing a job, or someone we care about being sick.
Remind your child that the Bible tells us we should be glad when we have trials because they help us grow closer to God. Tell your child that just like they worked hard to win the game and get closer to the Mother, life’s trials bring us closer to God.
Play the game again, allowing your child to be the Mother. Close your time in prayer asking God to help you have the strength you need to face future trials.
Stronger On the Inside
Spend some time exercising as a family. You can see who can do the most push-ups or run the fastest. If you have weights, take turns lifting them. Discuss how exercising builds your muscles and makes you stronger.
Explain to your children that trials are difficult times we experience and the hard things that happen in our lives. A trial can be loneliness, rejection, or bullying, but it can also be something like divorce, a parent losing a job, or someone we care about being sick.
Trials from God help us grow and mature. Hard times can teach us to be faithful. Just like exercising helps us develop stronger muscles, we can get stronger inside when we go through trials and turn to Jesus for help. He will give us the strength we need to not only get through those times, but to also learn to be more loving, patient, and self-controlled too.
Challenge each other to exercise your muscles and to pray for one another when you face trials and have to do some exercise on the inside.