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Christmas Campaign– Adoption & Hope for Donnie
By Hannah Payton Heath Two years ago when my husband and I sat down to work out how we could start the process for international adoption my husband said, “We can’t do this for every child, one child, one adoption.” My husband knows me — oh so well. Silently, I nodded my head in agreement. I knew his reasons were well thought out, but tears choked back my words. Finally, when I could mumble through the ugly cry I said, “Okay. But it will be so hard. It will be so hard to walk away from all those children. It will be the worst day of my life.” Fast-forward to…
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Communicating (or not) with Memes and Soundbytes
By Mary Abrahamson At supper one night, one of my “someones” showed me one of those facebook images with something short and pithy written on it. At least I think it was intended to be short and pithy. Perhaps a bit humorous. Perhaps a bit snide. You probably know the kind of thing. Sometimes it’s a quote, sometimes an image with a caption superimposed. Sometimes it’s a short video clip with commentary alongside. I don’t really remember even, what the message or the image were in this case. But I do remember the conversation that stemmed from that incident. It was a great conversation, and it made me wonder if…
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Junk Food
By Allison Hull My kids love junk food. I give it to them all the time. Every meal they get soda with as much caffeine as it can have, candy with either chocolate or chewy gummies, cookies, cake, chips, and anything slathered in sugar. They love it. They beg for it. And when I see their eyes light up and get wide, their mouth dripping with chocolate and their body humming with energy I feel happy that they’re happy. Sure, there are the sugar lows, but that just means they need a little pick-me-up from a chocolate chip cookie. Yes, some people say you need vegetables and things for growing…
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On Miscarriage: Pregnant, Not Pregnant
By Christina Hamilton Miscarriage is such an awkward and horrific thing. Horrific for the woman who loses her baby and awkward for those who love her. No one knows what to say or do. It happened to me. Just a few weeks before my twenty-fourth birthday, I was surprised to discover I was pregnant with my second child. I was late, of course but that is not always the reason. However, I knew for sure that I could be pregnant when my telltale sciatic nerve began acting up while I was giving my two-year-old son his bath. A quick test the next day and a trip to the OB-GYN confirmed it.…
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When You Need a Break
By Allison Hull I recently saw something online from someone I know who had reached her tipping point. “I can’t do this anymore. I’m burnt out. I can’t pour from an empty cup.” She was talking about life, being a mother, and just trying to get by. I wanted to say something, but it seemed like she was inundated with other people and their thoughts. So I thought it best to just sit by and pray for her. We’ve all been there. At least I know I have. Kids are a lot. They’re needy and demanding leeches of energy. I was at my parents’ house, and my mother voiced she didn’t…
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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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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…
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Just say, “Thank-you.”
I can’t remember the source of the title of this post. I think it’s from an old movie. My husband and I use the phrase often. If one or another receives a compliment and bumbles for an appropriate response, if one of our dear children blesses us with a less than desirable token of his love, or sometimes just for fun and because it seems to fit. Just say, “Thank-you.” I was reminded of this line today when my husband brought me a lovely cup of freshly brewed coffee. I had already reheated and enjoyed the last of yesterday’s coffee, so I didn’t necessarily need more. But I can always drink…
