My dad sent an email out weeks ago with the subject line “Time Together.” It started like this:

I know that it is important for us to have time together to really hear from each other, to celebrate God’s work in our lives and to pray together. It would be wonderful if this really became a high priority for all of us together. It will never happen unless we work at it together…

He wrote. He asked. And, we heard. Reply-alls were sent passing around dates until we found a Saturday that would work for my parents and the three sisters and three husbands and all nine grandchildren. And, we gathered together as a family complete with a scheduled agenda emailed out to us ahead of time which included a list of helpful ways to prepare (like prepping our kids to share a bit about their lives).

The men talked.

The women chatted and crafted silhouette pictures of our families (which were so easy and turned out beautifully, by the way. All we did was take side profile pictures of the children, print them out on plain paper, cut them out carefully with card stock stapled to the print out, and glue them onto white card stock to fit in the frame. It’s amazing how a shape cut out of black paper looks identical to my children).

The kids cut out and decorated targets to use with marshmallow shooters my parents dreamed up out of plastic cups and deflated balloons (did my mom hit up Pinterest or something?). Note: I think more marshmallows were popped in mouths than actually shot.

And, when all the fun and crafting was done and lots of good food eaten, we spent some time sharing and praying. Each child shared a bit about what’s going on in their lives right now, concerns they had, things worrying them, things they were excited about. We heard about everything from PSSAs to baseball to depleting rain forests. And, each child was prayed for aloud right then and there, lifting up those personal things they shared. Then, while the kids watched a movie, the couples did the same, each one of us sharing what God has been doing in our lives lately and what we’re dreaming about, what we’re fearful about, and how to pray for us.

And, we prayed…for a while. I think we may have even gotten a bit off of that published schedule. But, it was all good. Because my dad was right, days like this don’t happen unless we work at it. And, it’s pretty important as we “desire to see our family function together to bring honor to the Lord.”