Little House on the Freeway

Couldn't we all use a little help when it comes to being taken captive by this fast paced world? I know it takes work and effort for me to truly connect with the people in my life. It's easy to just let life happen and to feel exhausted while also feeling like I am not accomplishing meaningful things. "Little House on the Freeway", combined with meditating on scripture, has been one agent in helping to live a quiet, peaceful life, even when the world is spinning around me so quickly. I thought maybe someone out there would benefit from this list like I did....enjoy!!


1. Pay off your credit cards, and keep them paid off.
2. Take off ten pounds (at least), or accept where you are without anymore complaints.
3. Eat dinner together as a family at least three nights a week.
4. Men: take your wife on a dialogue date. (No movies, guys.)
5. Read your kids a classic book. Twain's a good start.
6. Memorize the Twenty-Third Psalm as a family.
7. Give each family member a hug for twenty-one days in a row. (That's how long the experts say it takes to develop a habit.)
8. Pick at least three nights a week when the television will be off.
9. Go out for a non-fast food dinner as a family.
10. Pray for your spouse and children everyday.
11. Plan a vacation together.
12. Take a vacation together.
13. Read a chapter from the bible everyday until it becomes habit.
14. Sit together as a family in church.
15. Surprise your teenager: wash his car and fill his tank up with gas.
16. Take an afternoon off work and surprise your child by excusing her from school and taking her to a ballgame.
17. Take a few hours one afternoon as a family and go to the library.
18. Take a walk as a family.
19. Write each member of your family a letter sharing why you value them.
20. Give your spouse a weekend getaway with a friend to a place of his or her choice.
21. Go camping as a family.
22. Go to bed early (one hour before your normal bedtime) every day for a week.
23. Take each of your children out to breakfast (individually) four or five times a year throughout their childhood.
24. Text message your kids just to tell them you love them.
25. Religiously wear your seat belts.
26. Get a complete physical at least every five years.
27. Exercise a little at least three days out of every week.
28. Make sure you have adequate life insurance on both you and your spouse.
29. Write out details about finances, wills, and important business information that your spouse can use to keep things under control in the event of your death.
30. Make sure your family car is safe (tires, brakes, etc.) and get it tuned up.
31. Replace the batteries in the smoke alarms.
32. Put a security system in your house.
33. Attend the parent/teacher meetings of each child as a couple.
34. Help your kids with their homework.
35. Dads: watch the kids on Saturday while your wife goes shopping. And if a friend calls, don't say you are babysitting. You are just being a dad.
36. Have a "no Internet, email, IM, texting night" once a week.
37. Put together a picture puzzle of five hundred pieces or more as a family.
38. Take time during the week to read a Bible story to your children and then discuss it with them.
39. Encourage each child to submit to you his or her most perplexing question, and promise you will either answer it or discuss it.
40. Finish fixing something around the house.
41. Tell your kids how you and your spouse met.
42. Tell your kids about your first date.
43. Sit down and write your parents a letter thanking them for a specific thing they did for you.  (Don't forget to send it!)
44. Spend and evening out as a family when every one's cell phone is left at home.
45. Keep a prayer journal for a month. Keep track of specific ways God meets your needs.
46. Do some stargazing away from the city with your family, and help your children identify constellations. Conclude the evening with prayer to the majestic God who created the heavens.
47. Men: treat your wife to a beauty makeover (massage, facial, manicure, haircut, etc.).
48. Give your kids an alternative to watching Saturday morning cartoons (breakfast at McDonald's, garage sales, the park, chores, etc.).
49. Ask your children about the highlights or low points of the day at school.
50. After you make your next major family decision, take your children back through the process and teach them how you arrived at your decision.
51. Start saying to yourself, my car doesn't look so bad.
52. Call your spouse from work just to see how he or she is doing.
53. Complete a family tree, and teach your children the history of their ancestors.
54. Walk through an old graveyard with your children, and discuss the epitaphs.
55. Say no to at least one thing a day, even if it's a second piece of pie.
56. The next time you see a great and redemptive show on TV, write a letter to the network that broadcast the show thanking them for the investment in your family.
57. Turn off the lights and turn on some inspirational music as you focus on the Lord.
58. Write a note to your pastor thanking him for something.
59. Take back all the books in your library that actually belong in someone else's library.
60. Give irritating drivers the right to pull in front of you without signaling; don't yell at them.
61. Make every effort not to let the sun go down on your anger.
62. Accept legitimate criticism from your spouse or friend without reacting or defending yourself.
63. If your car has a christian bumper sticker on it, drive accordingly.
64. Maintain ongoing training and  development as a spouse, a parent, or a grandparent.
65. Make a list of people who have hurt your feelings over the past year; then check your list to see if you've forgiven them.
66. Make a decision to honor your parents, even if they have made a career out of dishonoring you.
67. Dads; take your kids to the dentist or doctor for your wife.
68. Play charades with your family, but limit subjects to memories of the past.
69. Men: clean up the kitchen for your wife. Women: clean up the garage for your husband.
70. Schedule yourself a free day during summer break to stay home with your family.
71. Get involved in a family project that helps or serves someone less fortunate.
72. As a family, get involved in a recreational activity.
73. Men: send your wife flowers.
74. Spend an evening going through old pictures from family vacations.
75. Take a weekend once a year for you and your spouse to get away and renew your relationship.
76. Praise your spouse and children- in their presence- to someone else.
77. Discuss a world or national problem, and ask your children for their opinion on it.
78. Wait up for your teenagers when they are out on a date.
79. Have a "quiet Sunday"- no television, no radio, no iPods...no kidding.
80. If your children are little, spend an hour playing with them each week- but let them determine the game.
81. Have your parents tell your children about life when they were young.
82. Give up TV shows that prey on your sexual fantasies.
83. De clutter your house.
84. If you have a habit of late-night television but have to be at work early every morning, change your habit.
85. Don't accept unnecessary business breakfast appointments.
86. E-mail missionaries regularly.
87. Go through your closets, and give everything you haven't worn in a year to a relief organization.
88. Become a faithful and frequent visitor of your church's library.
89. Become a monthly sponsor of a Third World child.
90. Keep each child's memento's, school projects, awards, etc., in a separate file. You'll appreciate these when they have left the nest.
91. Read the biography of a missionary or a great Christian leader from history.
92. Give regularly and faithfully to conscientious church endeavors.
93. Place with your will a letter to each family member telling why you were glad you got to share life with him or her.
94. Go through your CD's, DVD's, and downloads, and discard any that might be a bad example to your children.
95. Furnish a corner of a room with comfortable chairs and declare it the "disagreement corner." When a conflict arises, go to this corner and don't leave until it's resolved.
96. Give each child the freedom to pick his or her favorite dinner menu at least once a month.
97. Go over to a shut-in's house as a family, and completely clean it and get the yard work done.
98. Call an old friend from your past just to see how he or she is getting along.
99. Get a good friend to hold you accountable for a specific important need (Bible reading, prayer, spending time with your family, losing a few pounds, etc.).
100. Establish a budget and live on it.
101. Go to a Christian marriage enrichment seminar at least every other year.

This list is taken from this book, and the book is a great read, as is everything by Tim Kimmel:).