Thanks to those who have submitted entries in our HomePointe Getaway Giveaway contest.  It's been inspiring to me and others to see how you have developed faith in your home while enjoying your family at the same time.

The deadline for entering the Getaway Giveaway contest is Friday, Aug. 27.  It's simple to enter.

1. Creatively serve and enjoy your family members at home this summer.

2. Email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) describing how you are serving and enjoying your family.

The CCC staff will choose what we think are the top three creative ideas.  First prize is a night's stay, a dinner and breakfast for two at The Desmond Hotel.  Second and third prizes are dinners for two at Roger's Bistro. Prizes will be announced in Sunday services on September 5.

Hope to hear from you soon!

I thought you might enjoy reading one of our recent Getaway Giveaway entries.  Remember to send me your idea of how you and your family are enjoying and serving each other this summer.  You can send those emails to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Who knows, you might win a night, dinner and breakfast for two at The Desmond!

"I am writing to share how we are attempting to create more quality time with our children.

First, a little background information.  We have five children (ages 1, 5, 7, 9 & 11).  Having so many children means that it can be expensive to go places as a family and it also means that we don't have many opportunities for one-on-one time with our children.

I have a friend who grew up in a large family and she said that each year on her birthday, she went out to dinner with her parents—but without any siblings.  (This was something her parents did with each child on his/her birthday).  The children were allowed to choose the restaurant and could order anything on the menu.  My friend has such fond memories of her birthdays that I decided we needed to try something similar.

But it didn't work.  AT ALL.  First of all, all of five our children have birthdays within five weeks of each other.  This is way too much eating out and it is impossible to find (and afford!) a sitter for all 5 birthdays.  So we changed the game plan and instead, created activity tickets for the kids.  Each ticket had an activity on one side and a child's name on the other.  We'd pull a ticket for each kid at the beginning of the month with a goal of completing the activity by month's end.  But this didn't work either.  Sometimes the ticket would say Movie Night and then all the kids would want to watch the movie and the child who's name was on the ticket didn't end up with special time because Movie Night became a family activity.  Or, more often than not, the end of the month would roll around and we'd realize that we hadn't completed the activities on the tickets.

We were inspired by the Home Pointe Challenge and came up with what we call Double Date Day.  Double Date refers to the date on the calendar, i.e., the 11th and 22nd of each month.  We chose these dates because they are easy to remember (and easy for the kids to remember too.)  Each month on the 11th, one child gets to choose one activity/treat to enjoy alone with either Mom or Dad.  We do this again (with a different child) on the 22nd of the month.  (We're actually keeping a spreadsheet of dates/activities so we make sure the rotation is fair.)  So far some of the activities that have been enjoyed:
*fishing w/dad
*mini golf w/dad
*out to breakfast w/mom
*movies w/mom
*painting pottery w/mom
*camping w/dad

So far we are enjoying our Double Dates and the kids are excited about them too.  Thanks for the inspiration!"