Lent Photo-a-Day Project

"Lift"

Lent is underway! I love this season of reflection, in the atrium and at home. For our Wednesday evening gatherings at Christ Church we've been reading and discussing "Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words" by Brian D. McLaren, which has been challenging and interesting.

"Settle"

I've also been participating in the Lenten Photo-a-Day Challenge from Rethink Church of the United Methodist Church. For each day in Lent, a word and a reflection on that word are offered.

"Injustice"

The challenge is to find or create an image that embodies what the day's word means to you. Generally I've been trying to take a new photo each day, but I've also used past photos for some words.

"Cover"

This practice has been so meaningful to me. I love reading the reflection and pondering the word throughout the day until some idea or image comes to mind. I thought I would share some of my photos with you here.

"Vision"

I've also enjoyed seeing the photos other people have been taking. You can view photos by people participating in the challenge from around the world on the Rethink Church Pinterest page.

"Hear"

Have you found any special ways to mark the days of Lent this year? I pray that this season will be one of renewal and blessing for all of us!

"Return"

Living Lent As A Family

Lent is just around the corner! It begins on Ash Wednesday, which is February 13th this year. As you prepare for the season, here are some ideas from Thoughts From the Sheepfold to consider.

Farewell Alleluia!

The children in our Church create an alleluia banner each year and "bury" it the Sunday before Lent begins. As a Church we forego the use of this celebratory word for the season of Lent and bring it (and the banner!) out again on Easter Sunday! This is an idea that you could easily adapt for your family at home!

Lenten Prayer Garden

Check out the link above for an directions for creating a meditation garden in your home, and ideas for using it in Lent. We bring ours out every Lent and really love having it for prayer. You can see how I adapted this idea last year in the post Try This: Lenten Prayer Garden.

Lenten Prayer Chain

We made these simple prayer chains two years ago at our Shrove Tuesday pancake supper and found them to be a really meaningful way to pray together as a family in Lent. I'm making some adaptations to the prayers to share with the Church again this year.

Prayer Beads for Lent

Last year, we made these prayer beads on Shrove Tuesday and in atrium and enjoyed having them as a reminder to draw closer to God in Lent. Easy instructions for making prayer beads are linked to the post.

Easter Garden

My daughter and I made this Easter Garden last year during Holy Week, but it would be a great project to begin in Lent and could be added to throughout the season. For example you could add a new plant each week, and the tomb and the pathway as the season progresses. The cross could be brought into the garden on Good Friday, and the butterfly on Easter Sunday. It would also be lovely to bring some blooms into the arrangement for the season of Easter. 

Practical Life in Lent

We love to create practical life work that is appropriate to the Church season for our atria. Here is a look at some trays we put together for Lent several years ago.

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Ash Wednesday Service for Families

Each year Rev. Peter and I offer a very short Ash Wednesday service for children at 5:30 pm in our Chapel. It is such a beautiful child-centered service and a wonderful way to begin Lent with children. If you are local I hope to see you there on February 13th!

Peace to you as you prepare to live a Holy Lent!

Epiphany Star

My friend Betty reminded me that I wanted to post an update on our Epiphany star on the blog this year. I decided to buy this star last year when I was putting away the Christmas decorations. You can read about the idea in the post Try This: Epiphany.

I brought out the Epiphany star on January 6th this year. It did exactly what I hoped it would do! I love having this beautiful light in our home, especially when it is cold and dark outside. I also love having a visual reminder of the season of Epiphany and a sign of the light of Christ in our living room. I keep it on all day and evening and we have really been enjoying it.

For a refresher on the season of Epiphany, read Epiphany - Growing Time! I'm praying for many blessings for you and yours this season!

Advent Begins - Try This!

This Sunday we begin a new year in the Church and we start the season of advent! Observing advent is a great way to resist the busyness and commercialism of the holidays and to prepare for a meaningful Christmas. For a great overview of the season of Advent, take a look at this video from Busted Halo.

At Church, we will begin the season with a Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser for our Pantry Shelf Outreach program. This Friday, November 30th at 6:00 pm join us for dinner and advent wreath making! You can make an advent wreath for your home - everything will be provided for only $10! If you already have a wreath, pick up new candles and take a look at the daily meditation books and calendars that will be available. **

Sharon Pearson posted an article about advent calendars on her wonderful blog Building Faith. She includes links to some great online calendars for the season that you might like to explore. I'm really excited to try these very cool templates for Praying in Color from Sybil Macbeth. If you haven't heard about praying in color check out her books or blog to learn more. You might also like the Advent Conspiracy - take a look at the site and watch the promo video to discover ways to make Christmas more meaningful this year.

Now is the time to figure out how to make this advent special for you and your family. It doesn't have to be much - light your wreath at dinner, say a special prayer together at bedtime, create a prayer wall out of post it notes that everyone can help build or make a prayer chain to mark the days until Christmas. Make time to volunteer and donate money to those in need during this holy season. Take a little time now to decide how you would like to grow closer to God this advent! You'll be glad you did!

**Don't worry - wreaths, candles, booklets and calendars will be available in the Front Hall at Church on Sunday if you can't make it to the Spaghetti Dinner!

Try This! Easter Garden

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

The Cross

The Tomb on Good Friday

The Empty Tomb

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

My daughter and I made this Easter Garden on Holy Saturday. I'd planned to start much earlier in Lent but always seem to leave these things to the last minute! It is lovely to have around and a great reminder of the season. I've tried lighting tea light candles along the "path" in the evening which is beautiful! It feels a bit too big for the kitchen table, but I think I'll keep it there for now, and try to to find another place for the weeks ahead.

I read about Easter Gardens at several beautiful blogs, including A Holy Experience and St Theophan Academy. I made the butterfly with directions from Flame: Creative Children's Ministry. The plants came from Home Depot and the pot from Target. My daughter and I made the cross from sticks and the tomb from aluminum foil covered in sculpey. It was easy to make and fun to do! Try it! 

Before The Triduum

As we head into the Triduum (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday) I have to laugh at the table in my office. I have a habit of putting everything that is prepared and ready on my table so I'll have it when I need it. Baskets full of ribbon for decorating our Easter banner, bells for ringing at our Easter celebrations and Easter booklets for coloring, three hundred stuffed eggs and little bags for holding them all stand at the ready! I also have the bulletins and songs sheets for our Maundy Thursday Service for Families copied and ready to go. The table can't take much more!

My work is a mix of silly and Sacred during these busy Holy days. I spend more time than I care to admit wondering "How many pieces of candy are in this bag, and will they all fit in the eggs?!" This year my egg/banner/coloring book work has felt a bit like preparing a party for dear friends, and I can't wait to see the children's faces on Easter morning!

Church offers plenty of opportunity to encounter the Sacred this week! In my work I ponder "What are the most essential elements of Maundy Thursday for our children?" I consider each moment of the service wondering, "Can a child do this?" As a member of the Christ Church community, I treasure the opportunity to participate in our Holy Week services each day. I am so grateful to Rev. Peter for crafting our services and the entire week with such care.

Maundy Thursday is tomorrow, and we will gather for our Maundy Thursday Family Service at 5:30 pm in the Chapel. This may be my favorite service of the year, and if you are local I sure hope to see you there!

Many blessings to you and yours in the holy days ahead!

Try This! Lenten Prayer Garden

Last year I wrote about a meditation garden I made for my family to explore during the season of Lent. You can see photos of it and read about the supplies I collected to use in the garden in this post on observing Lent at Home. This year, I revisited the idea and made a few changes.

Last Lent, I set the meditation garden, prayer ideas, and supplies on a table in a quiet corner of our dining room for family members to use during the day.  Just before Lent began this year, my husband Mark asked if there were any candles we could light at dinner time as we do in Advent. I thought again of our meditation garden and decided to adapt it for meal time use. I found a smaller bowl to hold the sand, and bought some purple tea light candles to use in the garden. I kept a small bowl of stones on the kitchen table with the garden but left the other supplies in the dinning room to be brought out as needed.

Each night at dinner we light a candle and pray together. I have been adapting the prayer ideas I created for individual use for our little group, and bringing in supplies as needed. Most often, we each choose a rock and pray for a special concern or a thanksgiving before adding it to the garden. Other times I have left a little verse of scripture in the garden and we have prayed with it before adding our rocks.

There are so many ways to pray with this garden before meals! I love using it this way. It has really set Lent apart for our family and it is helping us to pray together in new ways.

Two wonderful blogging friends of mine, Sheila at Explore and Express, and Storyteller at Wonderful in an Easter kind of Way are collecting links with ideas for preparing for Easter. I am listing this post in their Lenten Link-Up Party. Click here to see all of the great posts they have collected!  

Resources for Lent

Lent is underway! Has the more quiet, contemplative feeling of the season taken hold in your life and family yet? Here are a few resources to help you on your Lenten journey!

• Read previous posts from Thoughts from the Sheepfold that teach about Lent, or that share ideas for living Lent with your family.

• Follow Christ Church parishioners and our priest, the Rev. Peter Faass who are blogging daily reflections on the book "A Practical Christianity" by Jane Shaw at Peter's Musings. 

• Join Christ Church in a Carbon Fast for Lent! Check out the daily calendar of ideas and participate!

• Explore a beautiful blog written by catechists from St. Philip's Episcopal Church, in Durham, NC called St. Philip's Atrium. I particularly recommend a recent post Beyond Chocolate: Parent Empower-Lent.

• Take part in Lent Madness! Each day you can learn about two saints and vote for your favorite! This is a tournament-like single elimination bracket like March Madness and would be fun for youth as well as adults.

• Check out these wonderful two minute videos by the Brothers of the Society of St. John the Evangelist on Living a Rule of Life. They are posting a new video each day in Lent.

• Visit Journey to the Cross for a beautiful online devotion each day in Lent.

Bring the season of Lent to life for yourself and for your family!

Shrove Tuesday and Prayer Beads

On Shrove Tuesday, we made prayer beads for Lent. Here are a few pictures of the children working. I had a problem with my camera but Jenn was prepared, and kind enough to capture some memories for us. Thank you, Jenn!

What we didn't snap were pictures of the wonderful adults who came over to make prayer beads after the children were finished. I love Christ Church!

In atrium on Sunday some of the children made prayer beads as a work. As we were leaving the True Vine Atrium, I took some pictures of them with their beads just for fun! Enjoy!

Try This! Prayer Beads for Lent

At our Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, we made prayer beads to use during Lent. Having a string of beads can be a wonderful way to encourage prayer and can help you grow closer to God in this holy season.

The prayer beads we made have a stationary bead on one end, called the Lord’s Prayer bead. This bead can be a reminder to start your day with the Lord’s Prayer. Our bead chain includes ten movable beads that can be pulled and will stay in place so that you can keep track of anything that you are doing (or not doing!) this Lent. Carry the beads in your pocket and let them remind you throughout the day of your desire to pray, and of God’s desire to be closer to you. At the end of each day, move all the beads away from the Lord’s Prayer bead and let the next day be a new beginning!

Here are some ways that you can use your beads. Pick and choose from these ideas, and find other ways of praying with your beads on your own. (Leave a comment with your ideas below!)

• Use the beads to keep track of your prayers during the day. Each time you find your beads in your pocket, take them out, move a bead, and say a prayer.  You may like to make a commitment to pray ten times each day. Move a bead each time that you pray. 
• Choose one specific person or thing to prayer for during the day. Move a bead each time that you pray for that person or thing. Watch how your prayers change over the course of the day.
• Use the beads to keep track of good deeds that you do in Lent. When you are kind to a friend or family member, when you help a stranger, when you share something with someone in need, move a bead and pray that God will bless the other person and will continue to help you to be a blessing to others.
• Use the beads to keep track of sacrifices you are making in Lent. For example, if you are giving up gum, move one bead every time you reach for or wish you had a piece of gum, and say a prayer asking God to be your desire and your strength.
• Use the beads to keep track of any Lenten discipline that you are taking on – such as reading the Bible, or being kind to a sibling. Move a bead each time you do the activity. Pray that God will give you inspiration and strength to do all that you hope to do this Lent.
• Assign specific prayers, types of prayers, or people you want to pray for to the beads and say your prayers in a row, like a rosary. Check the Book of Common Prayer for prayer ideas.
• Share a smaller string of beads with your young child, and make a plan with him or her to pray together several times each day. Let the child move a bead each time you pray together. 

May God bless you and may you be a blessing to others this Lent!

Children in atrium will have the chance to make prayer beads as a work this Sunday. If you would like to make a bead chain at home, easy to follow directions for sacrifice beads can be found at The Little Ways. I have adapted these slightly, as I have described and pictured above. Photos from Shrove Tuesday will be coming soon!


****Two wonderful blogging friends of mine, Sheila at Explore and Express, and Storyteller at Wonderful in an Easter kind of Way are collecting links with ideas for preparing for Easter. I am listing this post in their Lenten Link-Up Party. Click here to see all of the great posts they have collected!  

Ash Wednesday Service Today!

Ash Wednesday 
Service for Families

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

5:30 pm in the Chapel

Lent begins today!  Ash Wednesday is the first day of a forty day period of preparation for the events of Holy Week and Easter.  For the past several years, Rev. Peter and I have been offering a 5:30 pm service specifically for families on Ash Wednesday.  The meaning of Ash Wednesday is a bit difficult to convey to young children. I have found that the penitential tone is not a natural fit for their spirituality.

Rev. Peter and I have collected some wonderful ideas from my fellow Christian Educators and some thoughts of our own to create an Ash Wednesday service which is streamlined and focused on the elements of this holy day which are most vibrant and essential to young children - the imposition of ashes and Holy Communion. I love this service, and look forward to it every year.

One aspect of the service that resonates with the children is the gesture the priest makes with the ashes. Beginning at age four in the atrium, we learn that at Baptism, the priest  makes a small cross with oil on the forehead of the person being baptized, and says "You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ's own for ever."  On Ash Wednesday we see that cross again -- this time made with ashes and oil on all of our foreheads --  and we are reminded that we belong to Jesus.

If you are a local reader, I hope you will join us in the Chapel at Christ Church for our 5:30 pm Ash Wednesday Service for Families today! 

Advent Blessings

Are you ready for Advent? It all begins tomorrow, November 27th! I love Advent - it encourages me to focus on the spiritual meaning of Christmas, and it allows me to find peace in the midst of a very busy month. Of course, this helps me to help my family to do the same! Learn more about Advent with this short video from Busted Halo.

If you have an advent wreath it's time to pull it out! If not, stop by the Advent table in the Great Hall at Church and pick up a ring and a new set of candles. Just the simple act of having the wreath on the kitchen table and lighting it each evening at dinner or at bedtime makes Advent special. I know it isn't a great use of resources, but I have to admit that I am a firm believer in using new candles every year (rather than continuing to use old ones). Having never-been-lit candles in the wreath conveys exactly where we are in the season of Advent. Stop by the table to pick up a flyer about using an Advent wreath and about observing Advent in your home.

Rev. Peter is offering an online Advent book reflection on our Christ Church Facebook page this year! We are reading From Holidays to Holy Days: A Benedictine Walk through Advent by Albert Holtz, OSB. Each morning, beginning Sunday, November 27th, Rev. Peter will post a reflection on the reading for the day on Christ Church's Facebook page. Everyone is welcome to read along, and join the conversation by adding your own thoughts and reflections on our page. You can buy the book from Church Publishing or from Amazon. You can even download it for Kindle if you have one!

Booklets with daily meditations for children, adults, and families are also available at the Advent table at Church. Stop by and find something to help you mark the days as we prepare for Christmas! You'll be glad you did!

Peace and blessings to you this Advent!