All posts filed under: children

Our Favorite Christmas Books

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1)      The Friendly Beasts—Tomie  dePaola Tomie dePaola beautifully illustrates a classic Christmas carol.  His book is a celebration of the joy surrounding Christ’s birth.  The full song with notes is included in the back. 2)      The Story of Christmas by Pamela Dalton   Pamela Dalton uses cut-paper artwork, a folk art tradition of Pennsylvania German origin, to bring the Nativity to life.  Her delicate, detailed pictures are pure magic. 3)      Cranberry Christmas—Wende Devlin This book follows the delightful Cranberry Thanksgiving, an absolute favorite in our house.  Set in a small town near the edge of a cranberry bog in New England, this book carries the spirit of Christmastide with its vintage style pictures and warm characters.  It even includes a recipe for Christmas cookies on the back. 4)      Cricket at the Manger ~ Edith Hope Fine—Illustrated by Winslow Pels A retelling of Christ’s birth from the vantage point of a tiny cricket.  Surprisingly, it is both whimsical and reverent; the story does not dilute into a “cutesy” Christmas story.  Instead, with rhythmic prose, this sweet …

If I handcraft artisan shoes for St. Nicholas Day, but have not love…

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If I learned how to handcraft artisan shoes for my child for St. Nicholas’s feast day, but have not love, I’m only a stressed out mom going overboard. And if I read and share all the best Advent quotes, and meal plan every day according to the liturgical calendar, and if I even remember to order wheat from Amazon to plant on St. Lucy’s day, but have not love, I am nothing. If I KonMari away everything I have, and if I deliver up my body to childbearing and breastfeeding, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient (when my toddler wants to do something “by myself” yet again); Love is kind (when I want  to roll my eyes at a friend’s seeming melodrama); Love does not envy or boast (when I feel insecure about someone else’s beauty or choices); It is not arrogant (when I think I can do more than everyone else because, apparently, I’m exceptional) Or rude (when I make my child be polite, but don’t apply the same standards to …

Advent is for Making: A Reflection

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There is a special dearness about Christmas gifts that are made.  Even when they are clumsily made, they are lovely because the loveliness that goes into them is from the heart and the mind and the hands: hours and days of tacking and tying, fitting and pasting, stitching and hammering, chiseling and modeling – all of it with a permeation of love and effort that cannot be priced.  The making of gifts should be a special part of Advent; an outpouring of self into something we make for someone we love, entirely in the spirit of the remaking of our hearts for Christ, for receiving the gift Someone who loves us made for us. With this making go long evenings of work together, wonderful conversations, meditations, evening prayers.  We need only work together to have an early dinner, clear away the dishes, tidy the kitchen, get the littlest ones off to bed, keep the TV and radio turned off, and there – we have a long evening before us.  Perhaps it is not possible to …

“Advent is for Making:” Sharing a Gift From Your Family Culture

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One of the most meaningful gifts I or my family has ever received came last Christmas from some dear friends of ours.  Their family loves to read; they love a good story, fairy land and tales; and they love beautiful language and pictures. They spent time frequenting library book sales, and put together personalized stacks of books for gifting according to their friend’s and family’s interests.  It is one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received; but I mostly love it because in sharing a stack of great books, it was clear to me that they were gifting us a slice of their precious family culture. This Advent, why not consider assembling or creating gifts together with your children to give to family and friends?  If you are longing to simplify gift-giving, and avoid the commercialization of the holiday season, working with your children to craft gifts is one way to take the focus off of the things they are wanting, and transfer it to considering what they could create to delight others.  Plus, …

Rich in Love: The Story of St. Francis

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Thank you to Jeremy Downey for sharing with us the story of St. Francis, which he wrote for our church’s Godly Play program. At the bottom of this post, you can see the books on St.Francis recommended by Jeremy and his wife Jennifer. Rich in Love: St. Francis, a Godly Play-Inspired Story Francis was born in the town of Assisi, in Italy. His father was a wealthy merchant, who named his son Francis—which means “Frenchman”—because he loved the fine wares and delicious food of France. Francis grew up loving fine food and wine and beautiful clothes and music and dancing as well, and he loved to have wonderful parties with his friends so he could share these things with them. He wanted to be brave and strong and to protect his town from enemies, so when Assisi went to war against a nearby town he rode off with the soldiers to fight. In the battle Francis was captured and made a prisoner, and he had to live for a year in a dark and miserable dungeon. But …

Dragon Bread for Michaelmas

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The Feast of Saint Michael and all Angels on September 29 remains a somewhat mysterious feast day to me, perhaps rightly so, as it deals with otherworldly creatures, the “heavenly hosts.”  The collect for the day sheds some light on what we can teach our children about the importance of this feast: O Everlasting God, who hast ordained and constituted the services of Angels and men in a wonderful order; Mercifully grant that, as thy holy Angels always do thee service in heaven, so, by thine appointment, they may succour and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. The Epistle reading for the day, from Revelation 12:7-12, reminds us that, “There was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon… and the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil.” In our home, we have traditionally made a loaf of sweet bread, similar to challah, and shaped the dough into the shape of a dragon during the second rising.  Any dough recipe will do; I particularly …

Preparing for Michaelmas

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Phil James, of Dappled Thoughts, recently sent us a booklet on Michaelmas he wrote for his grandchildren. We are so impressed by this booklet and are very excited that he is letting us share it with you! We know you will really appreciate both his reflections on angels and what they mean for our understanding of reality, in addition to getting a glimpse into his family’s Michaelmas traditions. Thank you, Phil, for sharing this with us! Why is Michaelmas one of your family’s favorite celebrations? Honestly, I think it’s because of the fantastic nature of the menu. Once a year we eat roasted dragons tongue (which tastes a lot like pork). That’s obviously notable. And while it’s not unusual for friends to be at any of our celebrations, somehow Michaelmas developed so that the inclusion of friends in the evening became a necessary ingredient. Also, Michaelmas is a gate of sorts. We leave the unique charms of summer behind and prepare for All Hallow’s Eve, Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas’s twelve days and Epiphany. This means the …

On Baby Sleep Challenges, Psalm 127, and Monasticism

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My first baby was not a good sleeper. During some of her early weeks,  we had sung Psalm 127 at church and it was going through my head during a particularly desperate night. I was pleading with God to help her fall back to sleep, on the basis of verse 2, “It is vain that you rise up early or go late to rest. . . for he gives to his beloved sleep.” I sympathized with that vanity.  I felt like I agreed so much with the psalmist that surely God would give me a good night’s sleep. But then I kept singing the Psalm in my mind. “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.” Before, I never understood this abrupt change of subjects. But then, at that moment, I had a great epiphany. Indulge me in some parental midrash: “… for he gives to his beloved sleep. Here the psalmist, “Solomon” according to the superscription, perhaps hears the cry of his child (or several, it being Solomon, after all). He …

Godly Play at Christ the King, Part 2

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This is the second part of our series on Godly Play. You can find the first part on its philosophy here. Thank you to Jennifer Downey and Michelle Abernathy for being willing to share about this great program. One parent writes, “I love being part of a church that . . . seeks to invite everyone (including littles) to experience the wonder, gravity, intimacy, and community of the Gospel.”  What does the Godly Play program look like at our church?  Jenny:  At some parishes, the Godly Play program happens while parents are in the main worship service.  It may last for the duration of the whole service, or the children may be dismissed for Godly Play before the sermon and brought back for Communion.  Our church, however, believes that Godly Play, while mirroring the liturgy, should not replace full participation in worship.  We do the program from 9:00-9:45 as our Sunday School program, and then families go into the Holy Communion service all together.  Their time in Godly Play prepares them for a sanctuary full of sacred …

Godly Play at Christ the King, Part 1

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For the past several years, Jennifer Downey has been developing the Godly Play program at our church, with the assistance of Michelle Abernathy. Godly Play is our Sunday School program for ages 2/3 to 5/6, held before Holy Communion. As the parent of a two year old who just started going this past year, I (Amanda) am very thankful for the emphasis on reverence in Godly Play. I am thankful that the shape of the lesson mirrors our Holy Communion service, so that even Sunday School for preschoolers is intrinsically connected to the life of the historic Church. In this short series, Jennifer and Michelle will share the philosophy and practical side of Godly Play, as well as helpful resources. What is the philosophy of Godly Play? Jennifer: Developed by Jerome Berryman, Godly Play is a unique approach to children’s religious education informed by the Montessori method.  Berryman encourages people to think of this method as conforming more to the ancient Church’s idea of formation as “spiritual direction,” rather than religious education. Jerome Berryman understood that …