This Summer was all about Inside Out. We learned about how God shows us mercy, grace, and love. God meets our needs. God builds relationships with us. However, we shouldn’t keep these blessings of God to ourselves. We need to take all of these blessings and turn them from being just within, or INSIDE of us, and turn them OUT to the world. Because God loves us, we can go out and love others. Because God meets our needs, we can go out and meet the needs of others. That’s what it means to live Inside Out!
During Summer Camp, we practiced living Inside Out. We made commitments to show other people God’s love. We planned acts of service to meet the needs of other individuals and groups at camp. We made affirmation plates for the people in our group to show them that we value the relationship we have with them. We prayed for the people at camp with us, for the people in our lives at home, and for the people we know that don’t know Jesus. Our oldest campers planted, harvested, and prepared food to be donated to the Table to Table ministry.
Now that summer camp is over, that doesn’t mean that you should stop living Inside Out. In fact, now is the time to take what you learned while you were here and start putting it into practice in your schools, homes, communities, and neighborhoods. God works in our lives in so many ways. Show the world what God has done for you and be a blessing to the people around you!
Here are some suggestions for ways to continue living Inside Out while you are at home:
1. Keep learning about God’s blessings! As a family, spend time reading the Bible and talking about the ways that God blesses his people in the stories that you read. Read stories from the Old Testament or parables that Jesus told in the New Testament. Buy a devotional book. This doesn’t have to be a lengthy discussion. Spend a little time reading and learning at the dinner table or before bed. Have your child read a story in the car while you are driving from one place to the next. Make a commitment as a family to seek out and learn about God’s blessings and plans that the Bible shares with us.
2. Be on the lookout for the ways you see God and God’s blessings throughout your week. You could even make a bulletin board or white board for family members to record the ways they saw God or felt God. Celebrate the blessings God gives your family.
3.Find a way to help serve in your community or neighborhood. Does your church have a food pantry you could volunteer at? Could your older teen help out by leading a Sunday School class for young children? Is there a ministry you could be part of together as family? How could your family work to raise money to help support your church or a local ministry? What service projects could you do together? There are plenty of ways for you to go out and help meet the needs of the people around you!
4. Choose a person or another family that you want to build a relationship with in order to share God’s love for them. Is there an individual or family in your life that maybe needs special care or help? Make meals for a family that has recently lost a loved one. Invite your new neighbors over for a play date or dinner. Show that you care for these people in the same way that God shows his care for you.
5. Spend time in prayer together. Thank God for the blessings you’ve noticed throughout the week. Pray for people you know who need extra encouragement. Pray for each other. Try to make this a habit. Pray together before bed or in the morning before everyone leaves for school. God likes it when we come to him in prayer.
