The Family Table
Feeding the Faith of LEFC Families
TFT: Screen Time Overload
July 20, 2025
Dear LEFC Families,
How has your family been growing closer to Jesus together lately? Maybe you’ve begun family devotions together around the dinner table, started praying together before bedtime, or dug into an engaging read-aloud Bible storybook. You may have started discussions about Kids Bible Class lessons, listened to our LEFC Family Worship playlist to sing together, or spent time in fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ here at LEFC. Feel stuck in a rut or need something to spark spiritual growth in your home? Consider checking out one of the offerings below!
LEFC Fall Retreat
Our Fall Retreat is coming up in just two months! Join us at Seven Mountains Scout Camp for the weekend of September 
19th-21st. Last year, parents and families enjoyed quality time together in a beautiful wooded setting at the lodge. We’ll have faith-building teaching, delicious food, lots of fun and fellowship with games, puzzles, activities, and rich conversation, a campfire, and more! Your whole family is invited to attend, as there will be activities and breakouts for everyone. Housing is family-friendly for your convenience. The cost to attend is $50 for couples and families and $25 for an individual. Check out the video of last year’s retreat, and put it on your calendar! For a limited time, you’ll receive an early bird discount of $5 off if you register on or before August 24th! Register here to bring your family for a great weekend!
Fall Activities at LEFC
We’re hard at work planning for several activities here at LEFC for the remainder of the year. Would you like to help in the planning and dreaming up what these could look like? Our Family Ministries Team would love to have your help! See Jordyn Skacel to get involved.
Touch a Truck at the Good News Cruise
The Good News Cruise will be held on August 16th, and we’ll once again be incorporating Touch a Truck for the kids. Bring your kids out to enjoy the fun! If you’d like to bring a vehicle for kids to check out, or could arrange for one, please see Jordyn Skacel.
“David Became King” Kids Bible Class Devotional
You have free access to a family devotional based on the curriculum our kids are studying each week in KBC! It’s called “The Gospel Project at Home.” Today’s Bible Study is “David Became King” (Volume 4: Unit 11: Session 3), and the devotional can be found at this link.
Visit the Family Ministries page on our website for information about how to access The Gospel Project at Home for the first time.
And for Dessert…
Our recommendation for family discipleship this week is a children’s book about self-control and how to enjoy technology within boundaries.
Summer is a time for screen doors leading to enjoy the outdoors. But for many kids, summer is also a time when its too easy to become engrossed in another kind of screen–the glowing screens of video games, tv shows, and other digital entertainment. (Adults struggle with this, too, of course, often in a worse way!)
In Polly and the Screen Time Overload, Betsy Childs Howard introduces us to Polly, who learns important lessons about the importance of not being controlled by something that is good as a servant but not as a master (see 1 Corinthians 10:23).
The publisher describes the book this way:
“Technology can be a helpful tool and source of enjoyment for many families—a way to aid children with learning, to connect with loved ones, and to provide entertainment. But as with many good gifts from God, tech devices are best used in moderation.
In this new picture book, readers meet Polly while on a trip to her grandparents’ farm. During her visit she spends all her time on her new tablet instead of enjoying the farm animals and playing with her cousins. A chat with her grandfather teaches her that, though screen time can be good, it can also keep kids away from better things.”
Polly and the Screen Time Overload is part of a set of books especially designed for children ages 3-7 and beautifully illustrated by Samara Hardy. We previously recommended Meg Is Not Alone at the Family Table.
There aren’t that many books written for children about the influence of technology, and this one does it by focusing on our hearts. There is a “Note to Grown Ups” at the back which gives parents ideas for helping their children learn self-control and moderation in tech habits.
More:
Watch: Read-aloud video of Polly and the Screen Time Overload online.
Read: 44 Activities for Kids That Don’t Involve Screens by Betsy Childs Howard
Borrow: Polly and the Screen Time Overload is available in the LEFC Library.
We hope our families eat it right up!
Jordyn Skacel, Director of Family Ministry
Matt Mitchell, Pastor
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EXPLAINER: THE GOSPEL PROJECT AT HOME
For the last several years, our Children’s Church ministry has utilized The Gospel Project as our Bible study curriculum. The Gospel Project is really excellent–it takes our Little Learners and Bible Explorers chronologically through the whole Bible over the course of three years while always focusing on Jesus as the center of the big story. If your student was in Little Learners or Bible Explorers this morning, they received a coloring page and take-home sheet that corresponds to this lesson. You have also been given a full-color Big Picture Card that you can use to reinforce the lesson with your child, as well.
To reinforce what your kids are learning each week in Children’s Church, you can now access The Gospel Project At Home online. Each week in this email, there will be a link to follow to get this free resource which includes:
1. A guide to using the Gospel Project at Home.
2. Scripture to read and discuss with a recap video of the Bible Story (Preschool and/or Elementary).
3. Scripture memory verses and a song to sing together.
4. Prayer prompts and family activities that correspond to the lesson.
Please consider setting aside at least 10-15 minutes once a week for a family devotional time using this resource as a guide. We are hoping The Gospel Project At Home will help keep all of our LEFC kids “on the same page,” and feed their faith in Jesus.
This might be especially helpful if for some reason your child has to miss a week of Children’s Church. You can show them the Bible story video to keep them up to speed on what the other children are learning.
**Note: The first time you access the link, you will need to register a free account with Lifeway’s Ministry Grid. This will also provide you ongoing access through the “training” tab to many other discipleship resources including the Gospel Project at Home for previous weeks. Many hours of excellent things to absorb for free!