Your Family and the Changing Times

Family time is precious time. Ironically, in this struggling economic season family time may actually be a surprisingly positive byproduct of a seemingly negative situation. Less money on hand may equate to less time away from home and more time in the nest.

You may find yourself wondering, what on earth do we do with this "extra together time”? Well, it may be time to search out those board games. You know – Monopoly, Clue, Life, etc. If you’re like me, you probably have enough stored in a hall closet to open your own game store.

Perhaps you’ve decided to let go of those premium movie channels on cable. But I bet you’ve hung onto those old family movies and videos from years gone by. Or maybe you’re wondering what you’ll do on weekends now that you’ve rid yourself of those monthly boat payments. If so, maybe an occasional camping trip will provide a new bonding experience for your loved ones.

Speaking of camping, how about a FREE family getaway to an overnight camping haven! Sound too good to be true? Well someone has to win it!

If you blog, simply join in the conversation about families on your own website. Post a few tips for your friends, and pass along this same invitation to join in the conversation about family time. Laity Lodge Family Camp wants many people passing the word about the importance of family time and the gift of Family Camp. One of us “e-conversationalists” will win a free weekend at the Laity Lodge Family Camp in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, just for spreading the message of the importance of the family! For those of you who cannot enter, you may still want to visit their website to see the many weekend opportunities to get away with your family in the coming year.

While these times may be trying economically, this Pollyanna believes that every cloud has a silver lining. Let’s treasure this opportunity to refocus on one of God’s greatest blessings – the family.

Brain Power

Even as I booted my laptop to write this review, I was captured alive by the power of the unending internet, seducing me to click on such links as “Christian woman making two grand from home working part-time on the computer” and a video of Rick Warren discussing his position on traditional marriage. Ten minutes later, I now powerfully reclaim my day’s agenda, thanks in part to Shane Hipps’ Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith.

Shane not only addresses the internet in this powerful book, but the entire Print Age, tracing the effects of such media as the written word, photography, radio, and television. But this non-fiction read is by no means dry. It actually goes down like a delightful chocolate milkshake, one I didn’t want to put down and didn’t want to end. I look forward to a second glass.

Every believer and follower of Christ will walk away from this read with an expanded mind. Evangelicals might note Hipps is a Mennonite and his beliefs are woven in the fabric of his work. However, shaping the readers’ mind theologically is not his goal, and any occasional theological difference I may have encountered while reading did not distract me from our shared purpose –awareness. We agree on this main point – if Christians are to walk successfully in this new age, we must become aware of the forces of the age in which we walk.

Hipps’ work fulfills its back-cover promise to awaken readers, opening eyes so that nothing looks the same again. It has stamped my thinking with a permanent reflective question, “Am I responding solely to the hands of the Potter, or am I resigning to the spinning forces of our culture?”