Recently, I heard one of my heroes describe his secret to a healthy family life. This man is an acclaimed author, a visionary ministry leader, and a dynamic speaker. His influence is massive. As he described the heartbeat of his family life, he spoke of being diligent in keeping family devotions, teaching his kids through victories as well as failures, and helping his family find purpose. But when asked what the key was to having a happy, healthy family he drilled down on one surprising truth… “We have fun.”
In fact, as I have listened, asked, and read from the men who I respect the most for their family life, “fun” comes up all the time. Another influential leader said of his family, “You should laugh with your family more than anyone else.” I think that these guys may be on to something.
With the daily drudge of arranging calendars, shuttling kids to appointments, figuring out what to do for dinner, and dealing with discipline it can be easy to miss out on the fact that family should be fun. There is a lot of seriousness in the American family. Even so, fun can’t be left out of the mix.
Thinking about this, I talked with the director of recreation at a large Christian conference center a few weeks ago. I asked him what the roll of play and fun is in teams, families, and organizations. He replied, “You can tell more about a person in 15 minutes of play than years of work. Play unites people like nothing else can.”
Ask yourself, when was the last time that you really laughed as a family? Can you remember the last time you had fun with your family? It may be time to get a date on the calendar for some fun. It could change the dynamic of your home for the better. After all, it is one thing to endure time with your family. It’s something completely different and wonderful to enjoy your family. Have fun…
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