Parents have a responsibility to make the Feast meaningful for their children. If you are keeping the Feast at home with your kids, it can be challenging to rejoice at the Feast as God commands. Knowing your brethren are gone to the Feast while you are at home with children can be a lonely feeling. The obligation for making a meaningful Feast at home with your kids falls mainly on you. 

This year, while you may be keeping the Feast at home with your kids, stir your own heart up and be ready to rejoice in the Feast. Make it a priority, plan for it; pray for the Feast to be an inspiration to you and to your kids.

When we keep the Feast in the way God commands, we go to the place where the Lord chooses, the place where He puts His name (Deuteronomy 12:5). Thus, the Church sets apart places around the world where His people gather for the Feast. For you this year, that place may of necessity be at home with your kids.

Families attending a Feast site have the benefit of attending services and many activities that help make it a special time. Parents at home with kids during the Feast do not have that benefit. Therefore, to enhance your Feast at home experience, the Church provides much help, mainly through UCG.org.

God understands we are not all able to travel to the Feast sites, yet He still wants us to have a Feast experience. He still wants us to rejoice before Him. He still wants you to enjoy this special time with your family, learning more about Him and His way of life.

You may not be among your brethren at the Feast this year because of health, finances or other reasons. Though you and your children are at home while most brethren are at the Feast, your family can still richly enjoy this time. Sure, your experience at home will not be like being there, but you and your kids can still have a meaningful Feast at home. You can create lifelong Feast memories and lessons for your family when you keep the Feast as God commands.

First, consider that God tells us to rejoice before Him at the Feast with our household in which He has blessed us (Deuteronomy 12:7). The children in your house are indeed a blessing from God. They are “a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward,” says the psalmist (Psalms 127:3). They are made in the image of God, and they are His offspring in your care. Therefore, teaching your children about God is an honor He has bestowed upon you.

Instructing your kids in God’s plan and His way of life can be a real joy. That is because we have a beautiful story to tell. It is the story of God’s plan of salvation for all men. Therefore, use the Feast as an opportunity to teach your kids about God and His plan for mankind.

One way to build your kids’ excitement for the Feast is by planning some special Feast outings with them. At Feast time, the weather often allows for outdoor activities. God’s creation is quite beautiful, and we can get out of our homes during the Feast and enjoy some of its wonder with our children.

A special outdoor activity, or several of them during the Feast, does not require a lot of expense. There are many spiritual lessons to be found in creation itself. “His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made” (Romans 1:20). These are wonderful opportunities to talk about God to your children.

You can use the second tithe and funds you have stored up for the Feast to buy some special Feast gifts for your kids. They do not need to be expensive gifts, but you can try to make them memorable ones. Enjoying a special Feast gift with them is an opportunity to spend some fun times with your kids. Times like these can build good Feast memories for your kids, ones they may look back upon fondly.

Other brethren near where you live may, like you, be unable to attend the Feast. You can get together with them and your children for a special outing or a potluck meal during the Feast. Your Feast at home with your kids can be made more memorable if you can share it with others. God’s people know the value of fellowship. Keeping a portion of your Feast with brethren can be something your children enjoy immensely. Fellowship with others during the Feast is an opportunity to teach your children about the love of God we show to one another in the Body of Christ.

This year, while you may be keeping the Feast at home with your kids, stir your own heart up and be ready to rejoice in the Feast. Make it a priority, plan for it; pray for the Feast to be an inspiration to you and to your kids.

Plan some activities like an outdoor adventure that can create opportunities to teach your children about God’s wonderful plan of salvation. Make it an extra special time for them by giving them some special Feast gifts, if you can afford it. Choose or even make gifts that help you enhance the meaning of their Feast. And look out for some brethren nearby who are also not going to the Feast and reach out the hand of fellowship to them with your children.

Keeping the Feast at home with your kids can be a memorable experience. Though it may not be as intense as being there, it can still be rewarding. Hopefully, next year or in the years ahead, your situation will change and you can go to the Feast with your brethren. It would be a wonderful blessing to have your children there with you also. Start now to make them want to be there with you at future Feasts.

And, for this year’s Feast at home “eat before the LORD your God, and . . . rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you” (Deuteronomy 12:7).