Author: Bible Society, 16 July 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the rhythms of life.
Your plans have changed. As a ministry leader you’ve had to respond and adjust on numerous occasions, and this will continue into the next phase. Months of video conferencing, pre-recorded talks, leadership team Zooms and risk assessment requirements have affected us all – in a recent survey, we found that 44 per cent of leaders were feeling more burnt out now than at the start of lockdown. We've developed material to help ease the load for you – check out the Sunday Streaming Resources here – but you also need a holiday!
As if you needed reminding, God rested after six days' work and made that Sabbath rest the first experience of humankind. We are designed to work from a place of rest – regular removal from the demands of our labours. Even creation is to observe the Sabbath and to find its place of rest.
How can you have a break away from home during the current restrictions? A holiday is an opportunity to escape the noise and experience God in the fullness of his creation. There are options available now for camping, cottages and hotels but we know they are limited in number and have proved very popular. So how about a holiday at home? It would be a break from the usual patterns of life yet without the packing and travel involved in going away. It will only be a holiday if you have a number of interesting options for leisure activities that help you switch off from the work and engage in healthy relaxation. Welcome to our holiday at home page!
Plan a menu for the week, and add in a few treats such as different cereals, croissants and a cooked breakfast – include some easy-to-prepare food and schedule a favourite take-away.
Books to read – if you enjoy reading choose a book to read with friends around the country and arrange a discussion over Zoom with a drink and nibbles at the end of the week.
Bake treats for the first time. Everyone in the family takes a turn each day to produce pastries, puddings and cakes. Plan ahead with recipes from baking websites and order ingredients beforehand so that you don’t spend holiday time shopping.
Try your hand at painting (order a starter watercolour paint set for £30 which would last for years and enable everyone to get involved). Experiment with colours, no masterpiece is required! Have a go at drawing portraits of each other.
Turn your house into a games café. Play board games and if it adds to the sense of fun, keep a score of finishing positions for each game and declare a winner at the end of the week! Get nibbles, nice drinks and take a whole afternoon or evening over it. Or if you're OK with more screen time, check out Bible Society's Minecraft competition, which challenges players to re-create their favourite Bible story in the famous online game.
Programmes to watch – maybe you have some catching up to do with programmes you were too busy to watch? One suggestion is to finish each day with half an hour watching something like Springwatch. How about a couple of film afternoons, watching a classic in the comfort of your lounge? (e.g. Lord of the Rings) Also, visit other countries by watching a series like the Art Lover’s Guide to … or Monty Don’s Japanese or American Gardens.
Take a virtual museum tour (e.g. of the British Museum) to discover artefacts and artworks. It may give you an inspiring glimpse to prepare you for a future in-person visit!
Turn your house into a restaurant. Buy a special meal at a more expensive supermarket, change for dinner and lay the table. Another suggestion is to buy a posh cream tea and serve it on your best crockery.
Gardening ideas: Plant something new that can be harvested for your summer dining – radishes, salad leaves and spring onions. Or at the end of the summer, plant a nerine bulb which will surprise with a burst of pink ribbon petals in November when it’s dark and grey.
You could even take some inspiration from Bible Society's Psalm 23 Garden! – all you need is water, a seat, a tree and some wild planting, and you could create something beautiful and meaningful too.
Turn your house into a camp site. Put your tent up in the garden and sleep there, play outdoor games (e.g. badminton or Swingball) have a BBQ, do as much outdoors as you can.
Local walks – download footpaths from your local council website, and take a flask and snacks in a rucksack for those longer journeys. Take a wildlife book with you (e.g. birds, wild plants) to take notice of all that the great outdoors has to offer.
Go on a photo hunt around your local town to take photos of things starting with A-Z. If you like competition, divide into two teams and see who finishes first!
Get out the bikes and explore your local quiet roads, cycle paths and trails; find routes on the Sustrans website.
Travel to an attractive outdoor space (park, woodland, forest, beach) taking a pre-ordered or prepared picnic with you. Discover somewhere new, take some photos and create some memories.
Create a simple photo album online of your staycation activities, place your order and enjoy the anticipation of its arrival on the doormat soon afterwards.
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