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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…
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Old Adam is Lazy but Adiaphora is No Excuse
By Vanessa Rasanen We learn a lot of new words when we start diving into our theological studies. For those of us not raised in the church it can be a bit overwhelming, but with time, patience, and the willingness to ask a lot of questions without worrying about how silly they might sound, it’s doable and, dare I say it, even fun. Soon enough we find the verbiage of our faith fits effortlessly into everyday conversation. Latin and Greek phrases fall out of our mouths with ease, and we find our groove and settle into our place among our brothers and sisters in Christ. We also have a tendency…
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Tips to Help Kids Through A Move
By Emily Cook The craziest thing happened today. It was a mini-miracle in my own living room, during our family devotion time. It almost made my heart stop. My son, with hands folded and head bowed, said in his prayer, “Thank you God for calling us here.” It’s happened with each of us, but I wasn’t sure it would happen with him. It’s been seven months since The Big Move. The changes were huge and sudden, and the Big Feelings came like waves pushing all of us around at different times, in different ways. Denial, Anger, Excitement, Fear, Sadness, Bargaining, Pouting, Acceptance. And finally, gratitude. I wrote this to him later…
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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…
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Notes From the Couch: Reflections of a Convalescent
By Jenna Thompson I am currently recovering from a surgery that will require three to six weeks of recovery. Six weeks is a long time! A brain like mine should not be allowed six minutes of reflection much less six weeks. So, instead of second-guessing and ruminating over every life choice I have ever made, or scrolling through Netflix for the thousandth time only to settle on … nothing, I have decided to channel my energy into reflection and put my keyboard to work. Here are four lessons I have learned so far: Eleven-year-old, youngest children are very capable of making a superb batch of chocolate chip cookies. Now, I…
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Review of Mothering Many
By Holly Scheer Book Review of Mothering Many Compiled and Edited by Marie K. MacPherson Mothering Many takes the advice of 25 mothers with a more than 160 children between them and discusses common problems and themes in the lives of mothers. The book is in two main sections — the first is the advice and wisdom of the mothers in the context of various real life situation and the second is a lengthy series of appendices. The intended audience, according to the editor, is Christian women who stay home with their children, with a special emphasis on homeschooling mothers. The advice is particularly tailored to the needs of families…
