This time of year brings to mind boiled peanuts, hot chocolate, apple cider, and s’mores! Campfires or fire pits, and family gathered around start dancing through my mind. Yes, it is another fall season and another reason for more family time.
I have found it beneficial to buy these small wire basket-like utensils, with long handles on them. I know they have a name, but I am never technical about fun stuff. It has to be the ones which will not transfer the heat to the handles. Take a note here and learn from my own “hot” experiments.
The baskets keep things like marshmallows, graham crackers, and other food items from ending up in the fire and not in your belly. There are also enclosed baskets for popping corn too! You can find containers to sit by the fire to keep your warm beverages warm. And remember that heat should not transfer to the handle.
Where do you find these wire basket-like utensils, you ask. Any store that sells camping supplies. Or you can improvise and make your own. Necessity is the mother of inventors.
Now, you have your special fire cooking utensils and you must decide on the food. But how do you make it a little more healthy and not so sugary? Think about food this way, before stoves and ovens, the open fire was the only way to cook. Anything you can cook inside, you can cook outside.
What about taking the s’mores and adding dark chocolate for milk chocolate, and bananas or strawberries instead of marshmallows? Ummm, yummy. Hotdogs can be turkey or vegan and vegetables become soft and tasty when roasted on an open fire. The limit is your imagination.
But the most important factor is your family. Time sitting around talking, laughing, and enjoying each other. If the kids are younger, you can tell bible stories like David and Goliath. If the kids are older, talk to them about school and what is happening in their worlds. Let your children know their importance to you.
And slowing down does not hurt your blood pressure either.
If you need a bible verse suggestion, I think Hebrews 12:28-29 is great for campfires.
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”
So much to discuss in one statement. God’s kingdom cannot be defeated, changed, or shaken. We should worship God and talk with God in the right ways. And God is a consuming fire because He wants your love for Him to burn deep inside your heart!
Just watching a fire burn and the heat it releases is how we should feel for God. Which should be expressed in our actions and our words. Of course, you will have to decide the level of discussion, depending on your children’s age.
Don’t forget fire safety! Whether it is a campfire or a fire pit, all necessary precautions and permits should be taken care of first. Then you can enjoy a safe, fun night with your family.
Now, I have to ask you…What are you doing this weekend?
God Bless You!
God Bless America!
