My daughter said, “I am getting hangry,” after a morning of moving boxes from her dorm back home. “What,” I replied. “If you don’t feed me now I am going to get into a really bad mood.” Okay so I have learned to heed the warnings from my wife and daughter. Stop grumpy before it starts. But I had never heard hangry, the mix of hungry and angry.
As the summer starts to bloom we are faced with a season of challenges. The kids are at home, good. Then again, the kids are at home, challenge. What are they going to do all day? Is there camps and outings, vacation you have to plan, pay for and execute on? Do they mess up the house, lay around, forget their chores? Maybe you are one of those families that has everything perfectly planned out way in advance, saved up and paid for, life is easy. That was never us, some, but not mostly.
You know you need to do something with the kids and I hope and pray you do. Your kids, grandkids, the boys in your KOZ group need you. A few days with the kids in the summer can be legacy level stuff.
Alas all the pressures of work and home, family and finding time begin to mount. We think we are too busy and time away will be hard. We can’t afford anything like what we would want to do so we do nothing. The dang kids don’t want to do anything but spend time on their phones and with their friends. When we do all get together it is only a matter of time till we get on each others nerves.
Some tips I might suggest are.
- Don’t stay too long. Don’t force yourself to do five days in a hot tent. Maybe do two weekends in different places. Five days at grandmas may be just too much for everyone. You can only do the water park so many times before it loses its luster.
- Don’t do debt. Don’t be fooled into the idea that charging some elaborate outing is the legacy marker. It is not. Time is the marker.
- Build it, even if it is tiny. A family around a campfire is something that will create an intimacy rarely found in our busy homes today.
- H.A.L.T. hangry moments. You know the symptoms, Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. Watch for them. These things can take out a family member and then it infects the whole tribe. Be smart and beat Satan’s little trick here.
- Do limit or remove electronics. You have to be the example first. This may be your biggest challenge. Enforce no electronics. Maybe from 5PM – 5AM or something similar. A text, email or a Snapchat from a friend or work can take away everything you built over the few days you were together. Don’t do it. Don’t let Satan do it.
I rolled into the burger joint and loaded my girl up with fuel. Burger, fries, chocolate shake. She became a bit lethargic after but it sure beat the alternative personality I know hides in the waiting.
If you are a KOZ leader, take your summer KOZ time to really check on your boys. There is a lot of pain in the summer that gets pent up inside them. It’s only for a couple hours so do your best to make it count. This is your mission field, this is your work for Jesus, slow down and make a difference.
We are planning our fall trainings now and if you would like to start a KOZ group at your church, fill out the form here MORE INFO or call 512-292-1113.
God bless brothers,
TJ Greaney
Founder, KOZ
