Focus on the Family Magazine - April/May 2022
It can be a struggle to raise a family while balancing your work life, social life and relationships. Focus on the Family magazine is here to help! Each complimentary issue delivers fresh, practical Biblical guidance on family and life topics. Every issue comes packed with relevant advice to build up your kids, strengthen your marriage, navigate entertainment and culture, and handle common challenges you may face in your marriage and parenting journeys. Plus you'll find seasonal advice ranging from back-to-school activities to date night tips for you and your spouse.
It can be a struggle to raise a family while balancing your work life, social life and relationships. Focus on the Family magazine is here to help! Each complimentary issue delivers fresh, practical Biblical guidance on family and life topics.
Every issue comes packed with relevant advice to build up your kids, strengthen your marriage, navigate entertainment and culture, and handle common challenges you may face in your marriage and parenting journeys. Plus you'll find seasonal advice ranging from back-to-school activities to date night tips for you and your spouse.
- No tags were found...
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
HACKS & FACTS / EASTER<br />
OUR DEBT AND<br />
DOUGHNUTS<br />
To help <strong>the</strong> meaning of Christ’s resurrecti<strong>on</strong><br />
come alive for our family, we head to <strong>the</strong> drivethru<br />
of our kids’ favorite fast-food restaurant.<br />
When we pull up to <strong>the</strong> payment window, we<br />
not <strong>on</strong>ly pay for our food but also for <strong>the</strong> people<br />
behind us. Then as we head home, we talk about<br />
how Jesus paid our debt.<br />
For <strong>the</strong> younger kids, we have doughnuts<br />
and doughnut holes for <strong>on</strong>e weekend breakfast<br />
before Easter. As I read through <strong>the</strong> Resurrecti<strong>on</strong><br />
story, our kids form an empty tomb by stacking a<br />
doughnut hole <strong>on</strong> a doughnut. When I read <strong>the</strong><br />
part about <strong>the</strong> st<strong>on</strong>e being rolled away, every<strong>on</strong>e<br />
eats <strong>the</strong> doughnut hole. Then we talk about <strong>the</strong><br />
Resurrecti<strong>on</strong> as we finish our breakfast.<br />
—Jared Hottenstein<br />
DIY Easter playset<br />
When my daughter was a toddler, I<br />
wanted to bring <strong>the</strong> Easter story alive in a<br />
way that she could understand. I repurposed<br />
<strong>the</strong> Nativity figurines to be Jesus,<br />
Mary Magdalene, His disciples and <strong>the</strong><br />
angel at <strong>the</strong> tomb. I found o<strong>the</strong>r figurines<br />
to become Roman guards, P<strong>on</strong>tius Pilate<br />
and Barabbas. I wanted to make sure all<br />
my children knew about how Christ was<br />
sacrificed in our place. I fashi<strong>on</strong>ed a small<br />
cross and spray-painted an old toy case<br />
shaped like a cave to use for Christ’s grave.<br />
Then we found a st<strong>on</strong>e in <strong>the</strong> yard to “roll<br />
away.” And I love when I catch my children<br />
playing with <strong>the</strong> set even when it’s<br />
not Easter.<br />
—Elizabeth James<br />
“nailing” our sins to a cross<br />
During <strong>the</strong> Easter seas<strong>on</strong>, we talk with our children about sin—<br />
what it does to us and how it harms our relati<strong>on</strong>ship with God.<br />
We discuss why sin deserves punishment. Then we take a cross<br />
that we made from two-by-fours and set it in <strong>the</strong> living room.<br />
We each write <strong>on</strong> pieces of paper <strong>the</strong> sins we’ve d<strong>on</strong>e. Then<br />
we let our kids “nail” <strong>the</strong>m to <strong>the</strong> cross with tape or thumbtacks.<br />
Afterward, each pers<strong>on</strong> receives a blank piece of paper<br />
representing a clean slate. It really helps our children understand<br />
how Jesus took away our sins.<br />
—Brooke Grangard<br />
6<br />
FOCUS ON THE FAMILY<br />
APRIL / MAY <strong>2022</strong>
Change language