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!  

Advent and Christmas at Home

In this season of Advent is there a feeling of peace in your home? If not, you are not alone! This is such a busy time of year, and with so much to do it can be hard to create that quiet sense of expectancy and joy that Advent offers. And yet, with Christmas just around the corner, now is the perfect time to cultivate spiritual moments with your family.

My Mom is a deeply spiritual person, and has always had a gift for sharing the spirit of God with others. Looking back on my childhood, I'm amazed at the way that she juggled her many tasks, and still made herself present and available to my brother and me. She always seemed to find joy in each moment (she still does!!). And somehow she did all this without me noticing her effort!

Mom also had a special gift for creating moments of quiet peace and joy in our home around the holidays. I remember Sunday evening "services" we held as a family, praying and lighting our Advent wreath, choosing charities for our Christmas donations, and many evenings sitting together by our tree. Somehow in the midst of Christmas craziness Mom created moments where we could experience the wonder of Jesus and love of God as a family.

As an adult, I realize what a special Mom I have, and just how difficult it is celebrate Advent and Christmas at home. I read a lovely blog called The Magic Onions which often helps me to remember the joy of the present moment. Recently on the blog, the post Creating a Christmas Mood from another blog called Waldorf in the Home was recommended. I enjoyed reading this article so much that I wanted to pass it on to you.

The author, Esther Leisher tells us that creating a Christmas mood at home begins with preparing ourselves. This is something my mother knew well! Children are sensitive to our feelings, and I've noticed how quickly my anxiety and my excitement can pass through the house. This article is a great reminder that having a peaceful and open spirit in the holidays can help to create an atmosphere where contentment and joy can dwell.

Esther's suggestion that we create a dramatic moment for Christmas is such a good one, and again reminds me of so many special moments from my childhood. I loved hearing about the beautiful candle lighting ritual Esther created for her family and how it evolved as her children grew.

If you would like to learn more, I encourage you to read Creating a Christmas Mood and look for insights and ideas that can help you create spiritual moments in your own family. It doesn't have to be difficult! Simple things like gathering around the tree in the evening, lighting candles, singing songs, reading from the Bible, and praying together can awaken your family to God's presence! Make a plan and give it a try!

Many blessings to you and your family this Advent!

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!