TRANSCRIPT: Thank you for joining us for Five Minute Families brought to you by Clear View Retreat, a family retreat ministry that exists to transform the way families and close communities relate with one another through our Family Camp program as well as marriage, ministry leader, & grief retreats.

It is wonderful to be back with you this morning. With all the changing information and attitudes and behaviors, it is fitting that we come to our overview of Session 3 for Clear View Retreat’s weekend Family Camp program. Session 3 is all about adjustment. As we all know, adjustments can be hard; they can be overwhelming, and sometimes, they seem downright impossible.

Let’s take some of the difficult parts of making adjustments and break them down into manageable snippets. Remember, we call this spot Five Minute Families for a reason. We want each and every family to know that we are all just five minutes away from making profound and lasting positive impacts on our family, on the community, and on generations to come.

At Family Camp, after recognizing our family’s current identity and then assessing that identity in light of God’s word, we must begin to adjust our perspectives to better align with God’s. Let us give you an example… If I believe I can fly and I think that I can fly and then I act on that belief and thought, I will be harmed. No matter what I believe, no matter what I think… God’s truth supersedes it all. Which, in our example, means God’s ordained earthly forces will come into play and gravity will cause your flight pattern to be non-existent. Just because you believe something does not make it true.

John 8:32 says, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Know truth. Teach truth. Encourage truth. God’s truth never changes, but our understanding of it does. Thus, it is incumbent upon us to change our perspective to match God’s. How do we do that as a family? Our pastor Sunday morning said, “To have a Christian marriage, you must be pursuing Christ.” And, the same is true of the whole family… To have a Christian family, you must be pursuing Christ. Pursuing Christ requires us to adjust our false or limited perspectives.

Here are five ways to begin to change your perspective:

1. Read God’s word daily. Take it a step further and memorize one verse per week. At the end of one year, you would have 52 verses memorized. For those of you who haven’t had kiddos yet, what if you were to start when your child was born? By the time he or she was 18, you would have 963 verses in which to pour into your child, your family, and, of course, yourself.
2. Discuss daily events together and challenge each other to see God’s hand in both the good and bad. Apply God’s Word to some of those discussions, and you can task one another to see what biblical character fits best with the current situation and how did they handle it.
3. Keep a family journal of prayer requests. Have that journal available often – for additions and for tracking answers to prayer requests. Take time to reflect on those prayers and share your story of family faith. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”
4. Play praise music when you are working together. Even if you aren’t a good singer, it is good for your family to see and hear you sing praises even in the daily tasks of life. And, if your singing is really that bad, turning up the radio can help you feel more comfortable and expressive. If your children are younger, learn those great kid worship songs and connect with your kids as they grow and have new and different tastes.
5. Share daily at least one thing you are grateful for. Dinner times are a...