Atrium Beginnings

Flower arranging is a peaceful work.

For me it has been a very joyful beginning to atrium this year! We've had two wonderful new children to draw into our atrium and many lovely returning children to guide along the way. We are blessed to have Marilyn Wright joining us in the True Vine Atrium this year. Marilyn was one of my first Catechesis of the Good Shepherd trainers and she is an accomplished Montessorian and catechist. Her deep understanding of the Catechesis and her gentle guiding spirit are making such a difference in our atrium this year and I find I am already learning so much working with her.

As we begin the new year, we've been creating opportunities for the children to become engaged in the materials provided in the atrium. There are such riches in each work to be discovered. We present each material to the children, but often the deepest learnings are made by the children themselves while working on their own. It was a joy to see the children working peacefully with many different materials this week. I am so thankful for all three of our atria and for all of our beautiful materials made by Christ Church's catechists and parishioners!

I took a few pictures of our little group working on Sunday and thought I would share them with you here. We have made a beginning!

Many hands have set the model altar already this year.

Deep concentration is needed to find the unfamiliar names of Israel on the pin maps.

Matching the cards describing the articles we find on
 the altar is a work that seems to satisfy the children.

The Good Shepherd is a familiar friend to children
 moving up from the Good Shepherd Atrium.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Thank you" is at the center of so many of the prayers that we hear (and say!) in the atrium. Young children in particular are quick to thank God for good things in their lives.

Take a look at this beautiful set of gratitude cards that I came across in my blog reading this week. Included in this post is a great idea for using the cards in your family's celebration of Thanksgiving this year. What an easy and fun way to make the holiday more meaningful for people of all ages!

Wishing you many blessings this Thanksgiving!

A Spiritual Practice of Gratitude

In the Good Shepherd Atrium, with our three to six year olds, the most common prayers we hear are prayers of thanksgiving. Young children are quick to thank God for a special friend or a treasured pet, for sunshine or a birthday party. In a recent sermon at Christ Church (which you can read here), Rev. Peter invited all of us into the spiritual practice of being grateful. This summer we are encouraged to list things we are thankful for each night before we go to bed. Rev. Peter was inspired by a post on Episcopal Cafe by the Rev. Donald Schell who recently began a practice of gratitude. Rev. Schell cited a study which showed that people who kept a journal about things they were grateful for were, as Rev. Schell put it, "noticeably happier, more productive, and were sleeping better at night."

I came across several things on a beautiful blog called A Holy Experience written by Ann Voscamp that might be useful to us as we take on a practice of gratitude. In addition to keeping this wonderful blog and writing for several other online and print publications, Ann is the author of One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. She is a farmer's wife and a homeschooling mother of six!

Ann wrote a lovely post on the topic of raising grateful children, which includes some nice ideas to try yourself and with your family. There is also a page that Ann has designed that you can print and fold into a gorgeous little booklet to keep track of the things you are grateful for each night.

I hope that you and your family will participate in the spiritual practice of being grateful this summer!