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Resisting the Blessing of Rest
By Vanessa Rasanen Months ago I posted a meme on my Facebook page pointing out how parents view non parents who claim to be exhausted — basically, with hysterical laughter. It earned me some pretty heated comments, as well as some unfollows. I probably should have expected such a reaction, given our propensity these days to take everything as a personal affront or insult. No matter how many times I tried to explain the point of the meme — not that non parents aren’t ever tired, but just that there is an extreme level of exhaustion inherent in parenting that one can’t fathom until one experiences it — I still…
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Summer Enrichment for Families
By Amanda Markel Summertime can be daunting for parents. School is out for the next few months…what to do with the children so they’re not bored and you don’t all go stir crazy? For many families, traveling to a vacation destination isn’t an option, and even if it is, that’s usually a pretty brief part of the summer. Here are some ideas for things you can do closer to home: Visit museums—As a mother to five, I know that the idea of paying museum admissions for the whole family can be overwhelming. But many museums have free days or discounts that can make visiting much more manageable. Or…
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Worship Resource Part 2
By Holly Scheer Emma Squire created a lovely set of worship resources to use with children to help them be involved in church services. You can read the post and download the original set of pages here. While we at the Sisters are largely liturgical and traditional in our churches, we know that some churches aren’t as familiar with the technical terms. With that in mind, this new version will be appropriate for churches that have people less familiar with liturgical terms. Emma has created a sweet teaching tool that will help learners old and new learn more about the worship service! Let’s help all of our kids learn and grow…
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A New Resource for Parenting in the Pew- “Worship Notes for Kids”
By Emma Squire I was looking for a way to engage my 8 year old a bit more in the worship service, but also to have a personal spot to put her prayers, memory work, and questions during the week. She can read the liturgy with us, but has a tendency to tune out the sermon, readings, and prayers after the first few minutes! After searching online for resources to draw her into these parts of the service more, I decided to create something myself. My intention is to put these pages into a binder that she can bring to church each Sunday and review during the week during her…
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Are You Done Having Children?
By Vanessa Rasanen Two years ago while pregnant with our third child I was astonished by the negativity we received from friend and stranger alike, and the questions and remarks caught me off guard. Needless to say I assumed I’d get the same iffy treatment when we became pregnant with number four this past year. At first some responses lived up to my pessimistic expectations, but those soon tapered off and much to my delight I now encounter only delight and joy (still with the occasional bit of shock, but positive shock, it seems). Yet there is still one question I hear quite often, and — while not in itself…
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Closed Communion and Visitors
By Holly Scheer Summer is a pretty common time to travel. The kids are out of school, and we’re ready to go new places and see new things. Fun times for everyone! Unless travel takes us out of our home congregations over Sundays, and there isn’t a church in fellowship with where we are traveling. Then the fun can be tinged with some apprehension and nervousness. It’s the same feeling we have when family or friends come visit and they’re not members. Will telling them they can’t commune offend them? Will this cause a rift? Is it better to just not attend church at all? No! Attend church! Attend church…
