Christian Family inspired Articles
"Give, and it will be given to you" we read in an encouraging spiritual quote from Luke 6:38.
Being on a tight budget doesn't always have to mean that a fun and memorable family vacation is out of the question. It might take a bit more time and hard work to save up, but, if the whole family gets involved, you could find yourselves going on that vacation sooner than you think. Here are five ways that every member of the family can contribute to saving for vacation:
1). Do a weekly "collection"
"Give, and it will be given to you" we read in an encouraging spiritual quote from Luke 6:38. Try to instill this same attitude in the members of your family by starting up a weekly collection to which everyone contributes what they can, such as spare change or parts of an allowance. Explain to your kids that giving what they can now will allow them to get a fun vacation in return.
Encourage everyone to give freely and cheerfully, and to not resent anyone if they do not have the means to give as much. If anyone does start to turn your weekly collection into too much of a competition, then remind them of this Bible verse from 2 Corinthians 9:7: "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
2). Commit to eating out less
If your family eats out several nights of the week, then ask everyone to cut back and try to contribute a little something to making home-cooked meals possible. Split up meal preparation duties among one another so that the decision to eat out less doesn't leave just one member of the family with all of the cooking and cleaning.
3). Hold a garage sale
Why not hold a garage sale and put all, or most, of the proceeds towards your vacation fund? Task everyone with going through their rooms and finding items that they have no use for or have not used in a very long time.
4). Save on your energy bill together
Encourage everyone in your house to save energy by practicing habits such as turning off lights that aren't in use and unplugging appliances and devices that could be draining power. Compare your new energy bills to your old ones and put any savings towards your vacation fund.
5). Walk more, drive less
Many families fall into the unfortunate habit of driving to places that they would easily walk to. Make the conscious choice to travel on foot to stores and appointments if they are within walking distance, and you could save quite a bit of money on gas.
Bring these five suggestions before your family and have a discussion about trying some of them out. If you can implement them all, great! If you can only realistically try out a couple, then that is fine as well. Every little bit will help, and when you do save up everything you need for that vacation, it will feel very well deserved.
Spiritual Prayer
After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”