Fresh Family Rhythms

ByKristen Kill

The new year brings quieter days and lots of indoor time to our homes. Consider a few of these fresh family rhythms to add glow, cheer and creativity to your family!

“New Year, new you! Live with intention and have your best year yet! Choose your ONE word for 2017!”

Sound familiar? Resetting, reflecting and refocusing in the new year has become its own world with its own economy. If we’re simply making resolutions, it feels like we’re not doing enough. And yet, wintertime does bring a change all its own that requires our attention. The stillness of a season where night descends early and cold weather drives us to the fire for warmth brings a new season to family life. In the fresh new year, consider some fresh family rhythms and try these three ways to engage the hearts of those in your care.

Warm Their Hearts

When the cold is biting, nourish little tummies and warm little hands with something warm. Hot cocoa, herbal tea or coffee with cream (for the grown-ups!) accompanied by warm muffins or warm applesauce from the stove can instantly gather your family together. Replace a typical snack with something cozy in the chill. Settle in together to talk about ideas, enjoy poetry, a read aloud or listen to music or an audio book as a family.

Let There Be Light

January is the perfect time for year to light candles throughout your home. After the Christmas tree is gone, most of us are hungry for some twinkle. As the sun fades, signal your family to the events evening brings. The soft glow will cheer you and slow the rhythms of the day to help prepare little ones for bedtime.

Live Life Creative

Quieter days with more time indoors are the perfect time for us, and our children, to take on a new artistic pursuit. Consider knitting, embroidery, wood carving or painting. Creativity can be simple and endless! One winter, a rubber band rainbow loom produced quite the bounty of bracelets in our home!

Wherever the new year finds you, embrace the freedom to lean into these slower days with joy. They can truly be a delight for your family!

Blessings,

Kristen Kill

www.kristenkill.com

Kristen Kill is a woman transformed by the delight of God. She loves coffee, gingerbread, and staying up late with her nose in a good mystery. She believes there is something sacred in lighting candles, in setting a beautiful table and inviting others in. Most days she can be found attempting to learn how to cook, redecorating any given room instead of cleaning her house, and homeschooling her five hilarious children.

A contributing Editor at The Better Mom, and co-host of At Home with Sally and Friends, a popular podcast with Sally Clarkson, Kristen is passionate about encouraging women who feel stretched thin. She believes that tension is where we can learn to live expectant for the music and melody God is singing over of each one of us. She writes about home, creativity, and flourishing at her blog Hope With Feathers (kristenkill.com)

After spending the last seven years in the hustle of New York City, she and her husband, Josh, are learning to go slow as they raise their family and walk their anxious hound dog in the Pacific Northwest. Her first book, Finding Selah, released this year.

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