Rockin’ a Family Project

Family Projects are important for helping our children develop emotionally, mentally, and physically. If we are intentional, we can help them develop spiritually, as well.

Our kids and I are working on a landscaping project. I have been wasting time weeding an rock-landscaped area in front of our house. The weed fabric below the rocks has stopped doing its job. The rocks have been overrun with weeds, ground cover, and some weed-like wildflowers.

After starting the project, I realized that the rocks we have in the front could be integrated into the rocks in the back to create some cool rock landscaping. We plan to dig out the rocks and weeds in the front, pile them in the backyard then swap them with rocks from the backyard.

Sounds simple right? Nope. My children and I have worked about 15 hours removing the rock to the weed fabric so far and we about ¾ of the way done of this phase of the project. We still need to place more weed fabric, bring the rocks from the backyard, remove the backyard rocks in order to pull up the backyard weed fabric, put down new weed fabric, and integrate the front yard rocks with the backyard ones to landscape!

What factors have made this phase of the project take so long? We had a Backyard Bible Club to lead a couple weeks ago, so the earliest we were able to start work was about 11:45a. This would not normally be a problem where we live, but It’s been 94-96 degrees, so the heat slowed us down. I didn’t research or count the physical and time costs, so it took a few hours of work and a friend’s advice to get us successfully moving forward.

We are a creative, thinking, musical family that sometimes plays outside. We aren’t unhealthy, but we aren’t outdoors, sports playing, home renovation, sweat in the sun people if we don’t have to be, so this kind of labor has been a good challenge, but a rare one for us.

Check in for Part II tomorrow for what I think our children have been learning from this VERY hard work!

But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Luke 14:28

Things to Ponder:

• No matter what you are building, renovating, or planning, are you involving your children? If not, why not?
• What do you need to do to count the financial and physical cost before beginning a big project?
• What do you hope your children will gain from a family project experience?