Day 9: Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Lori

We’re big racing fans in our house — well, three of us are. My oldest daughter would rather do just about anything other than go to the race track and watch cars go around in circles. Once a year we make her go with us to the Indy 500.

If you asked the three of us who like racing about the 500, we’ll give you a glowing account of the racing, the pit stops, the crashes and who won. If you ask my older daughter about the race, she’s most likely to tell you about the pre-race ceremonies and the people she saw in the crowd. What she gets out of the event has a lot to do with her perspective going in.

The same is true of our summertime excursions. We can take our kids to the zoo, a museum, mini golfing or to the pool. If our perspective is that this will be a fun outing, then that’s all it will be. But if our perspective is that this outing is an opportunity to teach our kids something, then the trip takes on a whole new meaning.

We can take the everyday things we do in the summer and turn them into meaningful moments that teach our kids about God. There’s nothing wrong with an outing that’s simply fun, but when we take those fun moments and use them to teach our kids, then those outings become life-changing moments.

A trip to the pool becomes a chance to talk about Jesus as living water. A trip to an art museum becomes a time to talk about how your child is a masterpiece made by God. A trip to the zoo becomes a lesson in God’s amazing creation.

When we take the time to plan ahead and be intentional in how we structure our summertime outings, we can fill our kids’ hearts with knowledge of God. We can teach our kids to look for Him in everything. God is everywhere. Psalm 139:7-10 says “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”

Nearly any activity can be turned into an opportunity to teach our kids about God. Check out today’s printable for a list of common summertime outings for ideas on how to turn an ordinary outing with your kids into an extraordinary one that teaches them about God. It’s all part of making this The Best Summer Ever.

Be sure to join me on Monday as I take you through the steps of planning a summer adventure. And don’t miss Monday’s printable — a copy of our very first summer adventure, a “trip” around the world. If you haven’t followed our summer adventures in the past, you can check out the beginning of last year’s here.

Linking up today with Beholding Glory and Your Thriving Family.

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Day 8: Make a Compromise Bucket

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Lori

I lost it last night. It had been a long day. I had a migraine. My kids had bickered almost from the moment they stepped in the door. No one was paying any attention to what I told them to do. I was frustrated.

As my husband walked in the door, he saw me standing at the kitchen counter with a knife in my hand, preparing dinner and yelling at my younger daughter. He walked over, removed the knife and said, “Why don’t you go for a walk?” It was the mommy equivalent of being sent to time out.

As I walked, I realized that at that moment, I was dreading summer. We have four and a half days of school left. The closer we get to the end of the year, the more my girls seem to fight. I know they’re tired. I know my older daughter is excited about the end of elementary school but nervous about the start of middle school. But for my sanity, I need my girls to get along. I don’t want to spend the entire summer breaking up fights and scolding children.

Including my girls, we have six girls in our neighborhood. Since the weather has been nice, they’ve been playing outside together. Nearly every time they play together, at least one child stomps off mad because they don’t want to play what the other kids are playing or they think what’s going on is not fair. It’s going to be a really long summer if they don’t figure out how to play well together.

God doesn’t want us to be angry with one another. He wants us to get along and cooperate. Anger is one of those emotions that can cause us to sin, to do and say things we don’t mean. Ephesians 4:26-27 says, “‘In your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,and do not give the devil a foothold.” Being angry with others gives Satan an opportunity to stick his nose into our lives and steer us astray. The more we can do to teach our kids to solve conflict without anger, the more pleasing their actions will be to God.

This summer, each of the girls on our block are getting a “compromise bucket.” I’ve discovered most of their issues arise from not being able to decide what to play. The compromise bucket is a simple sand pail. Inside the pail is a kitchen timer, Post-it notes, pens, a fake coin and a dry-erase board or a compromise chart. The girls can write on the Post-it notes the thing they want to play. They throw all the slips in the bucket and draw them out one by one. They write names on the dry erase board in the order the slips are drawn and set a time limit for each activity (the same time limit for each). They set the timer and play each child’s game or activity for that amount of time, then move on to the next child. If they run out of time (someone has to go in or it gets dark), they start with the next person on the list the next time they play.

The fake coin is for the inevitable disagreements that don’t fall under the “what should we play” banner. When they reach an impasse, they flip a coin to break it. It’s fair and everyone has an equal chance to win.

You can grab your own compromise chart printable and make your own compromise bucket to help make this most conflict-free summer ever.

I’m hopeful the compromise bucket will eliminate some of the squabbles we encounter and make their friendships stronger. It will teach them compromise and the value of working out their problems. With six girls, two sets of sisters each, conflict is inevitable, but finding ways to teach them to resolve their conflicts not only helps make this The Best Summer Ever, it gives them a life skill that will serve them well in the future. And it just might keep me from needing a few more mommy timeouts.

The winner of the $10 Target gift card is Ami Swisher. Don’t miss tomorrow’s post where we talk about taking an everyday outing and turning it into a teaching opportunity. If you missed the beginning of The Best Summer Ever series, check it out here.

Linking up today with Raising Mighty Arrows.

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Day 7: The Challenge of Chores

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Lori

Summer mornings usually mean sleeping in and lazing around. Most mornings we have no set schedule or deadline to be somewhere.

Without a schedule, my girls’ tend to get lax on doing their chores. Around here, the girls have chores they have to do because they’re part of the family and chores they do to get paid. During the school year, those chores simply become a matter of routine. They have certain times of the day that they do their chores, but when summer rolls around all that structure goes out the window and somehow chores get lost in the process.

Chores are important for our kids. They teach them responsiblity. They teach them life skills. They help them understand what it is to be part of a family. Cleaning up the house becomes a manageable chore when everyone does their part. Ecclesiastes 4:9 says “Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor.” Chores help our kids work with the rest of the family to accomplish something good.

So, how do we keep getting the chores done without a lot of nagging and scolding in the summer? The last thing I want to do every day in the summer is harp on my kids to do their chores. This summer, we’re going to be working on a token system. My girls will earn a token for every day they complete their chore list. The tokens will be good for TV, video games or computer time. No chores, no electronics. And if chores aren’t completed by a certain time, it will cost them a token.

Most kids are motivated by rewards. If electronics time doesn’t motivate your kids, figure out what will — an extra helping of dessert, an extra 15 minutes of family read-aloud, a trip to the park. Tie your tokens to those things. You could even have a rewards list where they are saving up their tokens to earn different rewards.

It’s a rule in our house that chores must be done without grumbling or complaining. If complaints are heard, then the child doesn’t get a token and doesn’t get paid. Philippians 2:14-16 says “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.” Make this verse the mantra of doing chores. No grumbling or complaining. It teaches your kids that unpleasant things are part of life and grumbling and complaining about them doesn’t make the task any easier and just makes them feel worse.

Print off your chore list and tokens and get the chore monster under control in your home this summer. It will go a long way toward making this The Best Summer Ever.

Download your own chore list and chore tokens on our free printables page. And it’s not too late to enter the drawing for the $10 Target gift card to help you bust the summer boredom blues.

Linking up today with Women Living Well , A Wise Woman Builds Her Home and Word Filled Wednesday.

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Day 6: Get Ready to Bust Boredom (and a giveaway)

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Lori

It usually doesn’t take long — a few days at the most — before I hear the universal summertime cry of “I’m bored.”

When I hear those words, I look around my house at the multitude of toys, video games, art projects and games and wonder how anyone could be bored. I’ve decided that boredom doesn’t come from a lack of things to do, it comes from a lack of decision-making skills. Many times, my kids simply can’t decide what to do, so they tell me that they’re bored.

Keeping our kids busy isn’t just a sanity saver. It’s biblical. Have you ever noticed that it’s when our kids have nothing to do that they seem to find their way into trouble? Keeping our kids busy will keep them from trouble and from developing a habit of laziness. Ecclesiastes 10:18 says “Through laziness, the rafters sag; because of idle hands, the house leaks.” Boredom leads to idleness and often trouble for our kids.

But, how do we answer the cries of “I’m bored” without constantly having to plan activities for our kids? Create an “I’m Bored” box. On slips of paper, write a whole bunch of activities, from chores to fun things, and stick them in a small box. Whenever a child cries “I’m bored,” make it a rule that they have to pull a slip from the box and do whatever is on the slip. Not knowing whether they’ll pull a chore or a fun activity will make your kids think before they utter those words.

To get you started on your “I’m bored” box, you’ll find premade activity slips as today’s free printable. I’ve given you two pages worth of ideas and included a blank sheet for you to fill in your own ideas. Print them off, cut them apart, put them in your box and you’re ready for the first utterance of “I’m bored.”

And to help you fight the boredom blues at your house this summer, I’m giving away a free $10 gift card to Target. You can add a new toy, book or game to your summertime activities. Check out the options below to enter.

Teaching your kids to keep busy this summer will help you hang onto your sanity and will help your kids learn to keep their hands busy. Having a plan for dealing with the I’m bored blues will help make this The Best Summer Ever.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don’t miss tomorrow’s blog post on dealing with chores over the summer. Get everyone helping around the house so you have more time to do the fun stuff. If you missed the beginning of The Best Summer Ever Series, check it out here.

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Day 5: Choose a Theme Verse

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Lori

My older daughter heads off to middle school next year. She has 7 1/2 days left in elementary school. As I pondered and prayed about our goals for the summer, this fact never left my brain. I wondered what is the most important thing she’s going to need to know going into middle school. The word that God kept bringing to mind was courage.

She’s going to need to know it’s OK to stand up for herself. She’s going to have to make decisions on her own. She’s going to have to navigate the tricky waters of middle school girl friendships. And she’s going to need courage for all of it. Based on that, one of our goals for the summer is to focus on what it means to be courageous.

Whenever we teach our kids something, we want to be sure that we’re teaching them what the Bible has to say. The Word of God is a much greater authority than the voice of a parent. When we back up what we have to say with scripture, it makes a much greater impact on our kids than if we just tell them what we think.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” I want my kids to be thoroughly equipped for every good work. I want my older daughter to have the courage to do what’s right in middle school. I want my younger daughter to have the courage not to follow the crowd when she knows it’s wrong.

To help my girls understand what courage is and why it’s important this summer, I’ve chosen a verse to be the theme for our summer. Our verse is Joshua 1:9 ”Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” I plan for my girls to see and hear this verse so much this summer that they’ll have no choice but to remember it.

What goals do you have for the summer? Can you narrow them down into a single concept that you want to focus on over the course of the summer? Maybe you have a couple of goals. That works, too. Today, I encourage you to find a “theme verse” for your summer — a verse that you can use to teach your kids, so at the end of the summer, they’ll have hidden that verse in their hearts.

Check out today’s free printables for a list of possible verses to go with some common topics. You’ll also find a nifty printable sign for each verse on the list that you can print off and hang somewhere that your kids can see it every day.  The more they see and hear the scripture, the more likely they are to remember it.

If you don’t see your topic on the list, head over to Bible Gateway and search for a relevant verse. Then type it up, print it out and hang it up somewhere your kids will see it every day.

Use your theme verse frequently this summer. Use it to remind your kids of the kind of character God wants them to have. Use it to correct behavior. Use it to start a discussion of what God wants us to be like. Use it to make this The Best Summer Ever.

Don’t miss tomorrow’s post with ideas for fighting the “I’m bored” monster. If you missed the beginning of The Best Summer Ever Series, you can see all the posts here.

Linking up today with Graceful and The Better Mom.

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Day 4: Make a Schedule and a Budget

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Lori

Summer should be a time of lazy days and laughter, water fights and bike rides, movie nights and vacations. Summer is a time to make memories and share experiences. It’s a time to learn new things and revel in the wonder of an amazing God.

But, too often, we start the season off with big plans, then get to the end of the summer and wonder where those big plans went. We had such good intentions, but daily life got in the way. We never had that cookout with the neighbors. We didn’t take that trip to the amusement park. We missed out on having a summer adventure.

The one sure way I’ve found to avoid missing out on the good stuff of summer is to schedule the big stuff. I’ve learned that if it’s not on the calendar at the beginning of the season, it’s probably not going to happen. So, today’s the day to use your prayer worksheet, your summer goals list and your summer wish list and put some of those things on your Summer Calendar, which you can print off here.

Take the lists you’ve made this week and decide which things you want to do. Then, put them on your calendar. The best things to do are the ones that your kids are excited about and that meet some of your summer goals. Go ahead and give those things a date. Be purposeful in planning your summer. Spread the big stuff out over the months, leaving plenty of open dates for spontaneous activities and lazy days at the pool. I usually try to give us one really big thing (a trip or a more expensive outing) about once a month. Then, once a week, I’ll schedule a smaller outing that doesn’t cost as much.

Speaking of cost, that brings us to another important and less fun topic: the budget. Don’t plan your summer without one. The Best Summer Ever should not be followed by The Most Broke Fall Ever. Make a summer budget and stick to it. You can use the simple Summer Budget worksheet to get started. Do your best to create a realistic budget. You can budget the whole summer or do it monthly, whichever works best for you. If something is too expensive for this year, tuck it away and work toward doing it next year. Don’t go into debt or end up stressed about money just to do something with your kids. Most kids will be perfectly happy with a cheaper option if the big one doesn’t fit your budget.

Remember, your summer is about making memories. It’s not about keeping up with the Joneses. My advice is to not do anything that’s going to send you into debt, and it’s God’s advice, too. Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.” Don’t let summer make you a slave to anyone. If a big cross-country trip isn’t in the budget, take a smaller one, closer to home. If multiple trips to the movies are out of the question, go to one matinee of the most-anticipated movie for your family, then have family movie night with a $1 Red Box movie at home.

A schedule and a budget will make your summer less stressful and a whole lot more fun. You won’t be struggling to find activities for your kids or wondering where the money is going to come from. So, start scheduling and budgeting today to make this The Best Summer Ever.

Thanks for joining me on this journey to The Best Summer Ever. Don’t miss next week where we start getting into the details of some fun activities, dealing with chores and teaching our kids about God through our summer activities. If you want to be sure not to miss a post, get Everyday Truth in your inbox each day by signing up under the Subscribe by email header on the right.

Linking up today with Beholding Glory.

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Day 3: Get the Kids Involved

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Lori

Have you ever planned something you thought your kids would love and had it turn out to be a dismal failure? For whatever reason, your kids didn’t think it was nearly as much fun as you thought they would?

I remember planning an elaborate birthday party for my older daughter when she turned 6. I love to throw parties with lots of people, so we invited lots of her friends. I spent the evening watching her stand apart from most of her friends. That was when I realized that we had planned a party I would enjoy, not one that she would enjoy. My older daughter is much happier with just a few friends around. I realized I had never asked her how many kids she wanted to have. I had just told her the number, and she felt obligated to fill it. Now, we plan parties with much fewer kids, and my daughter is much happier.

The point of telling that story is that you can plan an entire summer of fun activities, and your kids might hate it. The way to avoid that? Ask your kids what they want to do. Proverbs 15:22 says “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” They are, after all, the experts on what they want to do this summer. You’re planning these summer activities for your kids, so let your kids be the advisers in this situation. 

There are a couple of reasons that letting your kids help plan the summer is a good idea. First, it lets you know where their interests lie. Sometimes, we think we know what’s going on inside our kids’ heads only to find out they’re thinking exactly the opposite. Second, kids have great ideas. They may think of something that you would never come up with. Third, it gives them a measure of control and lets them get excited about the stuff you’re planning.

So how do we involve the kids? How much control do we give them? It depends on the age of your kids. With preschoolers, simply asking a few simple questions like “What would you like to do this summer?” or giving them a few options like “Would you rather go to the pool, the zoo or the park?”

With older kids, set aside a planning time. Use today’s printable Summer Wish List to get the conversation started. You can give each child a copy or write down everyone’s thoughts on one copy. The first question “Things we’d like to do if money was no object” is designed to find out what your kids dream about doing. Throwing money out of the equation lets your kids tell you what they’d love to do with their summer. You might not be able to afford it, but it might be something to work toward in the future. You can also use that question to plan smaller scale activities that still address those interests. For example, say your child wants to go to NASA mission control in Houston. You might not be able to afford a trip to Houston, but a local museum might have some space artifacts or you can have a “space day” at home where you do space-themed activities.

The other questions on the Summer Wish List will help you gauge your kids’ interest in trips to attractions close to your home, new things they’d like to learn and free stuff they’d like to do. Summer activities don’t have to be expensive to meet your child’s wishes and interests. For example, I asked my older daughter what she wanted to do this summer, and her response was, “Have lots of cookouts with the neighbors.” Inexpensive and fun.

Get your kids excited about summer by letting them get in on the planning of The Best Summer Ever.

Don’t miss tomorrow’s post where we get started putting things on our calendars. And don’t forget to tell your friends about The Best Summer Ever series. You can use the button in the sidebar or click the Facebook or Twitter share buttons at the top of this post. Hop on over to the Everyday Truth Facebook page and share your goals for the summer or leave a comment here telling us about the goals you came up with from yesterday’s post.

Linking up today with Raising Mighty Arrows and Our Simple Country Life.

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Day 2: Setting Summer Goals

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Lori

One of the first things my girls learned when they started playing soccer and hockey was to keep their heads up. You see, a person’s natural tendency is to look at their feet when they are learning to dribble a ball or stickhandle a puck, but when you put your head down, you can’t see where you are going. And when you can’t see where you’re going, you can run into something you didn’t intend to run into — like another person or the boards. The kids get so focused on what they are doing, that they end up off course from the goal.

We want to be careful not to lose sight of our goals for our summers, and to do that, we have to set goals. You spent yesterday praying about what God wanted you to do with your kids. You asked Him to direct the way you spend your time this summer. Today, it’s time to set some goals.

While we need to let God direct our path, we need to define for ourselves what God wants to accomplish in our kids’ lives this summer. The danger of planning our summers without setting some goals, is a lot like the danger of playing soccer or hockey with our heads down. We might have a lot of fun, but we will probably end up in a different place than we wanted to be.

While God wants us to give our plans to Him and let Him set them, it doesn’t absolve us of the responsibility of mapping out a plan to reach the goals He’s given us. Proverbs 21:5 says “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” Setting some goals based on what God has revealed to us and making some plans will allow us to have a profitable summer with our kids.

So, how do we go about setting goals for the summer? Guess what? There’s a great printable worksheet just waiting for you to fill it out and put it in your binder. There are five areas on your worksheet — physical, spiritual, relational, educational and fun. And, yes, you need goals in all five. Let’s take a closer look at what each section is about.

Physical

Physical goals are just that. What do you want to accomplish with your kids as far as their bodies are concerned? This can be anything from improving soccer skills to exercising as a family to talking with your kids about puberty or personal hygiene.

Spiritual

Spiritual goals are what you want your kids to learn about God this summer. Our summers are usually spent working on a character quality or two, but yours can be learning about the character of God or simply focusing on the fact that God loves us. Use what God revealed to you in your prayer time to fill this out.

Relational

Relational goals are what you want your kids to learn about dealing with relationships. This can be anything from being kind to others to learning to resolve conflict.

Educational

Educational goals are just that, educational. You may want to work with your kids over the summer to refresh some skills they learned in school this year. Your child might need an extra boost in a certain subject. Or you might want to nurture an interest that isn’t given much time in school.

Fun

Last, set some fun goals. If you want to go on a trip or learn something new with your kids this summer, this is the place to list that.

After you’ve listed all your goals for the summer, take a minute to pray over them. Ask God to show you if you’ve added too many things or if you’ve missed something important. As we start adding activities to our summer plan, these goals will become important because we’ll want to choose activities that help us reach these goals.

Keeping our heads up and our eyes on the goal will help us have The Best Summer Ever.

Click here to get today’s printable. If you missed the beginning of The Best Summer Ever series, check it out here. Do you blog and want to share The Best Summer Ever series with your readers? Check out the button in the sidebar. And don’t forget to head over to the Facebook page to share your goals with and encourage other readers.

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Day 1: Start with Prayer

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Lori

My younger daughter went with my husband to Take Your Child to Work Day a couple of weeks ago. While she was there, she did an activity to find out what types of jobs she might like. Nearly all of her interests ended up being active things. She got a zero in the types of jobs that require lots of thoughts and analysis.

My younger daughter is like a lot of us. She’s a doer. She wants to jump right in and get her hands dirty. She doesn’t like waiting for directions, and she rarely stops to think before she jumps into an activity with both feet.

I tell you this because I know many of you are ready to jump into planning for your summer with both feet. You want to do something. You want to fill your binder with pages of things to do with your kids this summer. And what I’m going to ask you to do today is going to go against that nature. Because today I want you to simply be still and talk to God.

Now, don’t panic. All of you who printed off your pretty cover and made your binder yesterday will still get a printable to go in it. But the focus of today is going to be talking with God. The worksheet is just there to help you do that.

You can have a successful summer without starting with prayer. You and your kids can do fun activities, you can grow and learn, and you can get to the end of the summer feeling pretty good about what you’ve accomplished. But if we cover our summer in prayer before we get started, we get all those things plus we know that we’re on the path that God wants us to be on.

Right now, you may be reading this thinking that you know exactly what you and your kids need to work on this summer. You’ve noticed behaviors that need to change and interests that need to be nurtured. But when we lay all those things at God’s feet, we may find that God has different ideas of what our kids need to learn.

Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” We want God to be the leader this summer. We want to go down the paths that He wants us to walk.

So, today, spend some time in prayer over your summer. Ask God to show you what He wants you to do with your kids. Ask Him to help you make the most of the time you have, whether it’s all day or simply time together in the evenings and on the weekends. Then, listen for His direction.

For all you doers out there, you’ll find a printable for your binder here that will help you collect your thoughts and help you hear what God is saying. Write down your prayers. Pray for each child. Then write down what God says and how He wants you to respond.

Starting our summers with prayer, sets us up for success. It lets us discover what God has planned for our families before we start making plans. Turn your summer over to God today. It’s the best way to get started on The Best Summer Ever.

If you missed yesterday, be sure to check out the beginning of our The Best Summer Ever series. And don’t forget to head over to the Facebook page to join in the discussion.

Linking up today with Time-Warp Wife, Growing Home, and A Pause on the Path.

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Let’s Have the Best Summer Ever

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Lori

The calendar says summer starts on June 20, but around here, May 24 marks the day. As far as my kids are concerned, it’s the first day of sleeping in, trips to the pool, playing outside with friends and having fun.

As a parent, it’s easy to view summer as a long stretch of days with no structure. Some parents I know dread summer. The thought of filling all those days with activity is daunting. I think Phineas and Ferb said it best, There’s 104 days of summer vacation and school comes along just to end it, but the annual problem for our generation is finding a good way to spend it.

I won’t lie and say that I look forward to every moment of summer. We have our share of grumpy days, fighting children and moments when I’d love to throw up my hands, walk out the door and let someone else deal with the kids. But, when my youngest started school four years ago, I realized that summer was my best chance to pour into my kids. It’s a time when they aren’t focused on anything else. School is out. Activities have slowed to a trickle. It’s a great time to get their attention.

So, I decided to be deliberate about how we spend our time during the summers. I decided to use at least some of that time to fill them up with the things that God thinks are important. Oh, I don’t sit them down and preach at them, but we find fun ways to learn important life lessons. We read. We spend time with friends. We play games. And we have summer adventures — all with an eye toward growing kids who love God and love others.

All of that doesn’t just happen. It requires planning, and this is usually the time of the year when I start planning out our summer. Being intentional with our summers has created some great memories. It has meant the time seems to fly by. And it means my kids are learning the things that God thinks are important.

Last week, I promised that we would be starting a series on planning for your summer. Today is the first day. I’m calling it The Best Summer Ever. I hope you’ll join us every day as we start planning for the summer. During this series, you’ll find helpful tips for living out Deuteronomy 6:6-9 across the summer months. It doesn’t matter if you’re a stay-at-home mom, a working mom, the mom of teens or the mom of preschoolers, any mom can use the principles you’ll learn.

You’ll make your own The Best Summer Ever planning binder. We’ll have plenty of free printables, some giveaways and hopefully, a whole lot of fun. If you miss a day, all of the good stuff, including any posts you missed, can be found under The Best Summer Ever tab in the menu bar above that cute picture of me and my girls.

Today, simply grab a binder and print off The Best Summer Ever cover. Let me know you’re joining me on this summer planning adventure by leaving a comment here or on the Everyday Truth Facebook page. Share this blog with your friends, and let’s get started.

With a little thought, a lot of prayer and a bit of planning, you can make this a summer where you live out the words of Proverbs 22:6 and “start your children off on the way they should go.” Get ready for The Best Summer Ever.

Linking up today with Graceful and The Better Mom.

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