Four things about me

From Jen

A) FOUR PLACES I GO OVER AND OVER: School, Church, School, the market.

B) FOUR PEOPLE WHO ENCOURAGED MY FAITH ALONG THE WAY: my parents, my science teacher Mr Park, my college lecturer Fr. John, my best friend (and no 5. my internet buddy Ian)

C) FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS: roast sweet potato, lasagna, bruschetta, banana pancakes

D) FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW: on a warm northern beach, in a tent, in the bush, in bed

E) FOUR MOVIES I WOULD WATCH OVER AND OVER: The Princess Bride, Love Actually, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Alex and Emma

F)FOUR THINGS I LIKE ABOUT THE ORTHODOX CHURCH: the truth, the unchangingness, the humility of long time Orthodox Christians, the physicalness of it all

G) FOUR OF MY FAVORITE HOBBIES: gardening, writing, walking, reading

If you are reading this, you are tagged! Please be sure to post a link to your blog in the comments, so we can all read about each other.

Pentecost in Australia

Pentecost by Jacqui Grace

The colour of Pentecost for the Orthodox is green. Bright spring green as a sign of new life, growth, eternal spring, eternal new life, rebirth, regeneration. Churches are decorated all over with spring growth. I can imagine it is very beautiful. But I can only imagine, because here there are no spring flowers to bring to into the home or church.

True, I can find some camellias, azaleas and correa branches with their little red and yellow winter bells. But there is a certain incongruity in my soul, a pretending and dishonesty to celebrate new life in this way when all around the dark is closing in. I've tried to tell myself that the flowers are a sign of the Holy Spirit's new life in the midst of darkness, the spiritual reality as opposed to the physical, in the depth of winter a sign and reminder of new life. But it did not ring true.

We did bring in some camellia flowers to church Pentecost day. The children placed them at the front at the pictures of Jesus. They scattered pink petals where ever there was a flat surface to do so. But what remained in my heart, my soul, was the feeling of warmth from our camp fire the night before.

In a little hesian lined hut with no electricity we prayed together by lantern light, the room aglow with candles. Following prayer we headed to the bonfire to make chai tea, heat our dinner, chat and paint flags with images and symbols of Pentecost to some world beats. On a cold wet night it was nice to be outside, warmed by the fire, safe and peaceful in it's light in the darkness. What better symbol for the Holy Spirit than a burning fire that gives warmth, and peace in the darkness.

Our Pentecost flags, painted with symbols of the Holy Spirit and new life, we will (when I sew them on their string) hang on the walls in the church. For the moment they are pinned to the edges of tablecloths that cover the tables in the church. We've decorated the church in red, our flags and Pentecost icon add touches of yellow and gold. It's warm, and life giving.

Pentecost Resource

I've been hunting for some ideas for Pentecost. A little note I read on Pentecost says, "the church is decorated with flowers to symbolise the joy of eternal spring which started when the Holy Spirit came."

That does sound lovely, and here at the onset of winter, thoughts of eternal spring are encouraging. However, it does make it a little hard to decorate the church with flowers, when there aren't that many around.

A quick internet search came up with some great ideas for symbolic kites and candles and luminstas and ballons and banners here.

I was thinking of making some lanterns or a string Pentecost flags. To make a lantern, draw or paint on a piece of paper. Paint the paper with linseed oil on both sides. Staple two edges of the paper together to make a tube. You can simply place this tube over a candle, or staple a cardboard base to the tube and attach a handle. Make sure the handle is fairly long otherwise the heat from the candle will make holding the lantern difficult.

The Pentecost flags I am envisaging would be squares of material painted with pentecost symbols or stories and then sewn onto a string.

We will be having a bit of a bonfire and listening to some world music. I'll give you an update and some pictures soon.

Ascension celebrations

Today standing in the lovely Autumn sunshine we blew bubbles as part of our Ascension celebrations.

Our church has a deck outside, and after church we all came to be there, standing in the sunshine, watching bubbles rise in the sky.

The kids made Ascension spirals after communion. I had some thin cardboard with the outline of a circle drawn on. The kids cut out the circle, and then cut a spiral out of the paper. It works best of the spiral is thick, only going around twice. Then we poked holes in the centre, threaded some wool through the hole, and tied it onto a stick.

When the kids ran up and down the decking with their ascension spirals, they spun round and round. How lovely to hear the sound of running, laughing children in that peaceful little space between worship and rushing to make lunch, made all the better by a sun warmed face.

If the spiral is made from a foil and hung over a candle, then the air warmed by the candle will rise and cause the spiral to spiral upwards.

We had a new family at church today. Their little 2 year old followed the big kids, sitting where they were sitting, standing when they were standing, holding a candle for the gospel reading. I never cease to be amazed how still a two year old can stand when given the big responsibility of holding a candle next to the priest for the gospel reading. They seem to have such a sense of awe, of ceremony and purpose. And I never cease to be amazed how an 11 year old can have such gentleness, patience and understanding given the big responsibility of having a two year old following his every move.

Now if only I can have the same sense of awe, purpose, gentleness, patience and understanding with three little ones watching my every move as they learn how to live.

From Fast to Feast

Our beautiful resurrection day service was held. The church is total darkness until the priest called out, "Christ is risen!" and held high a large candle. A candle in the darkness gives off a bright light. I was amazed at how much light. It is an image I hope I can remember when I am among people in dark places. We each lit our own candles from this candle. Throughout the service the priest shouts out, "Christ is Risen!" and we shout back, "Truly he is risen!" The kids loved it, and shouted with gusto. Still today they are calling it out to each other.

After the service, it was 1am by this stage, the feasting begun. My little one was jumping up and down with the excitment. The poor kiddies have been a bit hungry lately. There hasn't been much in the house to eat. I hope this too is an image forming in their minds. I can talk, talk, talk about hungering for God, about God fulfilling our needs. And now they have a physical experience to relate that to, of being hungry, of persevering and waiting, of the party and celebrating when we are with the risen Christ.

We had bacon and eggs and pancakes and coffee and hot cross buns for breakfast, and roast lamb and chocolate cake with double cream for dinner.

On the table sat the three Easter candles we had decorated the day before, our Easter eggs from our Easter egg hunt, our palm Sunday crosses, our Greek Easter bread from the kids Godfather, and on the window ledge the tall white candles he had given them, decorated with butterflies and a cross.

With every bite of chocolate I savoured I remembered, "I am feasting because Jesus is alive today."

Celebrating Orthodox Easter in Australia

I've found it quite difficult to celebrate two Easter's this year. Someone in the Seventh Day Adventist Church told me they celebrate Easter every Sunday. I don't think I could handle the emotional strain!

When all our friends and family and community celebrated Easter, and the nation had public holidays to do so, we joined their celebrations with eggs and hot cross buns, and stories and songs, albeit out camping in a paddock somewhere.

Now four weeks later we're doing it all again with our Orthodox brothers and sisters. This time we've been fasting from animal products for six (although we only did four) weeks, we're tired, we're working and going to school each day and attending church services for holy week at night. And everyone else is wondering why we're still going on about Easter.

There's been so many niggly little problems and annoyances with everyone and everything that it felt a little like spiritual attack. It's hard to think about Easter when you're annoyed by everyone. Which is quite possibly the idea of niggly little annoyances.

Our little church came together for worship on Sunday. We prayed, we worshipped, we received that precious blood of Jesus that really does fill me with warmth and joy and peace and a relaxing "Ahhhh. Everything is right" as the wine slips down my throat. We had lunch and laughed and talked about a lot of things.

Finally I feel like I can celebrate God's ultimate sacrifice to rescue us. Now I do feel like I can "get into" and participate with my whole self in Easter. And finally I feel that I can bring Easter to my children.

Going to the Holy week services that the church wisely provides does help prepare us for Easter. Going even when I'm running late, and preparing for meetings, and having hot chip sandwiches for tea, and knowing the kids are going to have a late night, going to a Holy week service turns my soul toward God without me struggling to do that on my own.

Jacqui came round and we made hot cross buns. They were edible this year, not like our first attempt.

• Thursday night we will make some more hot cross buns, and the kids can help. For our first attempt at making them six years ago (it's taken a long time to over it) the kids piped on crosses. This year I think that can be involved in the whole process, measuring, mixing, waiting for yeast to rise, kneading again, waiting again. We make the crosses out of a paste made from 2 tbsp self raising flour and 2 tbsp water.
  

• Friday we will dye some eggs ready for Sunday. Legend has it that Mary Magdalene took a red egg to explain the resurrection of Jesus to the Roman Emperor. And the Greeks knock their red egg against someone else's to say "Christ is Risen", the tomb has cracked open, death could not overpower God, and new life has come.

• Saturday we will roll beeswax sheets to make candles, and decorate them with little pieces of coloured decorating wax. You warm it between your fingers and push it on. Simple. The candles are used in the resurrection service. The service starts in darkness. When we get to the part of the story where Jesus is alive, the priest brings out a candle from which everyone lights their own candle, and the light of Jesus is passed on from person to person.

• Sunday hopefully we will get the chance to have a feast with roast lamb and potatoes. The kids have requested dessert with double cream.

This Friday, the Orthodox Good Friday, is Anzac day. It's the day we remember all those Australian and New Zealand soldiers who gave their lives to save and protect all that is precious, their family and friends and country. So quite appropriate for us to be remembering the day when Jesus rescue mission was drawing to it's completion. The day he died to save and protect all that is precious to God, that is every single person ever made.

Monastery Visit

Monasteries are pretty normal places. Discussions of monasteries never really came up on the radar for most of my life. Nuns were strange people who wore strange head dresses, flew around on television shows, and prayed all day. Or maybe worked as teachers or nurses. (The name 'monastery' applies to homes for both monks and nuns in the Orthodox church. I like it - there function is the same after all.)

I've heard it told that "Nuns don't do any real work. They just pray all day." Which to me sounds like the hardest work of all.

Yesterday we went to visit a little monastery, it's resident committed to "do what she has to do." It's a normal inner suburban house, the yard full of fruit trees; fig, persimmon, quince, and self sown rocket. Except that the lounge room is a library of books, the hall is lined with little tables covered in brochures about missionaries and theological colleges, there's a men's guest room in the backyard and the garage is a chapel, complete with multiple copies of prayer and service books.

In all the talk of urban monasteries and new monasticism there always seems to be the problem of finding the right building with the most land. Perhaps it's better to start where you are. Although all the more difficult to pray by yourself than with others.

We had the great privilege of sitting around the table in the kitchen to share a meal, while our host buzzed around doing all the things you have to do when you have guests. I felt that it should have been us doing the buzzing, while our host sat down, but this is of course very difficult in someone else's home. We talked about where to find the cheapest supermarkets, and neighbours who help feed the dogs, normal things, except for the brief mention of last night's guest who had required police and ambulance to attend, which reminded me that there was some important God-work going on here.

And then, the great gift for us, we got to go outside and do some gardening. We trimmed vines, pruned bushes and pulled weeds. The kids ran around busy as beavers, enjoying being helpful and useful and part of the 'real work'. They pruned and swept and pulled and discovered, collecting a little bag of flowers and fruit and herbs to bring home.

It was fabulous, and we felt good. Then together we prayed the evening prayers. Although the kids hung upside down off the chairs at the back (what is it with my kids being unable to just sit upright) they did pray and sing along. Perhaps praying together was the most helpful thing for Sister.

Easter celebrations

This is a little too late if you celebrated Easter a few days ago, but for those in the Orthodox church there's plenty of time to get prepared.


We usually go camping at the Easter public holiday time as part of a community of about 150 campers all camped higgledy piggledly all over a cow paddock. How do we bring Easter to this setting?

We take a tea light candle in a holder and we light it at meal times on our little camp table. On Good Friday and Easter Saturday it sits on the table unlit, but on Easter Sunday at breakfast time it glows and flickers in the breeze because Jesus, the light of the world is alive.

We eat hot cross buns only on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Hot cross buns are special Easter food, that are not so special if you've been eating them everyday for the last 6 weeks. Even better is if you make your own hot cross buns so you can be part of the preparation for this special day.

We attempted this when we had a three week old baby. I like seeing the photos of the older two sitting in the bench in their pyjamas, piping crosses on buns. The buns themselves were inedible solid rocks, but the memory of the participation lingers on! I think we'll try it again this year, especially since there won't be hot cross buns in the shops by the time Orthodox Easter comes around.

And we have an Easter egg hunt. As my son pointed out today, I should get hollow eggs, because they represent the empty tomb, and the hunt is like Mary and Jesus' friends coming to find the tomb empty.

We had bacon and eggs and tomato for breakfast on Western Easter a few days ago. My middle daughter told us why we have this for breakfast at Easter (we've never done it before though). The yellow yolk is the son of God risen, the halved tomato is heaven opened up for us through Jesus' resurrection. I don't know about the bacon. I'm sure she could come up with something!

Another cool idea is to take a teacup or goblet. I found some fancy ones at the op shop. Fill it with soil from the garden and plant a candle in the middle. On Easter Thursday soak some wheat grains in warm water. On Good Friday, scatter the seeds on top of the soil, or just underneath. Keep it watered, and well lit and by Easter Sunday the wheat will have sprouted into new life. Light the candle on Easter Sunday because Jesus is alive. If you keep the cup on the dinner table you can watch the wheat grow at each meal.

As part of our kindergarten celebrations, we take two large gumtree sticks from the garden and tie them into a cross. Then we tie autumn leaves and native flowers and foliage we have collected all over them. We take our crosses and go for a walk singing Easter songs all the while, God's not dead, He died upon the cross etc. Then the decorated cross can be 'planted' in the garden. My daughter did this quite naturally without suggestion from me a few years back while we were camping. This year we had big kids join us for our little procession and they loved it too.

And of course for our Easter celebrations we will get dressed in 'special Easter clothes' whatever the kids decide that is, and go to church to light candles and share the bread and wine which is Jesus body broken for us.

Camping

We went camping in the Great Australian Bush with a young family from church and friends of friends of friends who realised they'd met at some other place once before.
It was fabulous to be outside, to let the kids get dirty, to challenge ourselves with climbing a mountain (we didn't quite make it to the top, despite the stories of the little red engine), to get to know people, to share food and recipes.
I think it's good for our kids to live with other people, even if just for a few days. They dragged others into games of cricket, helped people light fires, dragged people off to see the island in the stream and it's secret entrance, and continued on with their less-than-perfect behaviour that makes them kids, and us the parent's whose job it is to teach them.
I think it takes a certain amount of letting go on our part to just let the kids work out for themselves how to relate to people, how to behave, how to solve conflicts and ask for help. Camping is a great time for this. As parents we're busy talking to people and preparing food, and the kids are free in a wide open space where they can feel they're off by themselves doing whatever they want, like back in the good ole days when kids had to be back home by dinner time.

On Sunday morning we made damper. We built the fire in that quiet time of morning before people are really awake, made the mixture while the kids hovered around watching, and others woke up and had pancakes for breakfast. The kids ground the coffee beans we'd roasted for hours the night before.

We set up the icons in a quiet corner of the camp ground, right at the bottom of the slope of the mountain. We planned our little service as the damper cooked in the coals of the fire and everybody else quietly glanced over every now and then. Our poor old priest (that's just a saying btw) was sick and unable to serve at a liturgy. So we chanted some hymns, and read from Ascending the Heights. Then we asked God to bless our food and shared the damper we had made.

It was a great time to get away from it all, to live simply if just for a weekend. We'd love to do it at the start of every lent and maybe advent too. It was a fabulous way to share with our friends.

Birthday Presents

We had our youngest daughters sixth birthday party on Saturday. Now that she is finally interested in reading she insisted that I point to each word as I read her invitation. I can't skip words anymore!
So when I read the part, "Please don't buy me a present but you might like to make me one, like some nice biccies or a picture," she said, "No, Mummy. I like presents from the shop."
We compromised with "home made/kid made presents welcome."

She did get some little tea cup biscuits and some drawings, and a tiny God's eye made with cotton and toothpicks, which was lovely. She also got a doll and laugh's when you press it's tummy, a beading kit and a "make a stain glass window" kit. She thinks it's all great, except that we haven't been able to make the stain glass window since it needs to be baked, and I am not turning the oven on when it's 39 C.

I made her a little doll. I also gave her three beeswax candles and a little packet of decorating wax, which she loved using, and a tiny tree puzzle.

Lent's started already?

Lent has started and I feel totally unprepared. I payed no attention to the signposts the church gives, Meatfare Sunday, the time to give up meat, Sunday of the prodigal son, always told as lent approaches.

I haven't been shopping for a while, so I've run out and got a chicken one night, and cocktail frankfurts the next. Frankfurts of all things! I don't think I've ever bought those little red-skinned-filled-with-who-knows-what hot dogs in my whole life, and now I buy them at the start of lent, when I'm wanting to give up meat.

The kids loved them. They set the table with candles and wine glasses and flowers and matching plates. Then I served them up baked potato, corn and mini bread rolls with mini hot dogs. They thought it was great. I did mean to ask the kids what they wanted to do for lent. I got as far as, "well kids, tonight is the first night of lent," and then who knows what happened. Hopefully soon we'll have our little list of customised spiritual disciplines for each child up on the fridge.

We have been reading evening prayers together. It's something I would like to continue each night of lent. Last night all the kids hopped into bed together and by the pale purple light of an electric candle left over from carols by candlelight, I read the prayers. "Yay! These prayers." said my middle one. The kids joined in where ever they could. I was quite surprised at how much they knew.

There's a fascinating article on wikipedia about fasting. It lists the goal of fasting for different Christian denominations, and in my experience seems to be correct. The little summary about fasting in the Orthodox church reminds me of what is most important to remember during fasting;

The idea is not to suffer, but to use the experience to come closer to God, to realize one's excesses, and to engage in almsgiving. Fasting without increased prayer and almsgiving (donating to a lo Tcal charity, or directly to the poor, depending on circumstances) is considered useless or even spiritually harmful by many Orthodox Christians.

as does this from Saint John "the golden mouthed" Chrysostom

Do you fast? Give me proof of it by your works.
If you see a poor man, take pity on him.
If you see a friend being honoured, do not envy him.
Do not let only your mouth fast, but also the eye and the ear and the feet and the hands and all the members of our bodies.
Let the hands fast, by being free of avarice.
Let the feet fast, by ceasing to run after sin.
Let the eyes fast, by disciplining them not to glare at that which is sinful.
Let the ear fast, by not listening to evil talk and gossip.
Let the mouth fast from foul words and unjust criticism.
For what good is it if we abstain from birds and fishes, but bite and devour our brothers?
May He who came to the world to save sinners strengthen us to complete the fast with
humility, have mercy on us and save us.

and this, paraphrased for me, from the story of the prodigal or wayward son.

But while she was still a long way off, her father in heaven saw her and felt compassion and ran and embraced and kissed her.

The God candle

I chatted with some mums, sans kids, in a noisy Greek restaurant surrounded by 40 bikers who included our husbands. We made a little holy huddle, shouting to be heard about our desire for our kids to live as Christians, dedicated to Christ.

My middle child is very good at making connections between her prayers and God's actions. She remembers what she has asked God for, and tells me when she sees God answer. She has a little round carpet that she calls her prayer mat. She will take it off to a quiet corner and decorate the space with icons, candles, tinsel, a gold goblet, stones and anything that helps her tell a bible story. She has a prayer journal that she places there too.

She has moments where she cannot believe that God loves her because she feels so bad. She knows she does not do the good things she wants to do. She has moments when she is overwhelmed at how sinful the world is, and moments when she is filled with complete joy at the wonderful way God has made things. It is very easy to know your child is developing a relationship with God when they come out with things like this. It's a little harder when they show no interest in prayer, or church, or at 5 or 7 0r 13 just say, "God is dead."

One thing we all did in situations like these, was never give up. We continued to say bedtime prayers with our non participating children, or said grace, or continued to take them to church.

Sometimes we have crazy ideas, like a Saturday night family worship night where the family sits around and sings songs and reads the bible and has little talks about God. I say crazy because despite all those American books that recommend the idea, every person I've met who has suggested it to their partner has not been greeted with enthusiasm. Possibly because it is so contrived. (Feel free to comment if you have found a way to make it work for you. Everyone is open to ideas that work. )

What has worked for us, is little everyday rituals that slip into family life. My all time favourite easy-to-start-with God ritual is what we call, "The God candle." We found a little triangular plate that we sit a big fat candle on. It sits on the dinner table and each night at dinner we light the God candle to remind us that God is always with us, and that He is the light, who chases away the fear we have in the darkness. We have a candle snuffer, and whoever snuffs out the candle says a short prayer.

At night time when the kids are scared of the dark, we pray, we sing, "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal , Have mercy on us," we ask God to lock up the scary things and send them away ande I leave the God candle flickering away on a cleared, high shelf.

The youngest one was lying all over the seat and me in church yesterday, when she realised the others were holding candles. So she jumped up and ran across the front of the church to join them just as Fr. John swung the censer towards the congregation. It missed her head by centimetres.
Do you think it's an extra blessing if the censer whacks you in the head?

Off to school to change the world

School has started and my attached-to-my-arms baby has gone off to school for the first time with a quick kiss and a hug. She's loving it. And so am I.

My mum still remembers the first day all her children went off to school. She came home to do all her morning jobs. All finished, she thought it must be time for lunch. It was only 10am!

I'm finding I can do all those little extra things that I always left before because I knew my kids were getting tired, or hungry or had been at the baby sitters long enough. There's no real free time when you have young kids at home. You always have to be aware of their every need. Even when babysitting can be arranged that time has to be used so carefully.

Speaking to a much older friend, he warned that this is a dangerous time in my life. His theory is, I've been mothering for years, waiting for when I would be free to do all the things I used to do. Now I discover that I'm a totally different person to what I used to be, while my husband has stayed the same.

Only, I've never believed my life was on hold while I raised children. Life continues with children. Children are part of life too. I've had to change my direction, or not the direction, but certainly take a different path, and my husband has come along too.

I guess I'm lucky in that I've always believed that wherever I am, I bring the kingdom of God with me. There's always people to love, and to journey with, justice to be done, or simply jobs to be done for the glory of God. Another older friend said it took her years to learn that, and until she did, she was always unsatisfied and looking for the really big thing she could do for God.

I want my children to learn that they can make a difference in the world. I want them to learn that every person is important, every person an icon of Jesus. I want them to learn there's a whole community that needs their input, to make the world a better place. I want them to learn about the world and life. So I've taken them along for the ride.

They've seen us help at church, organise a playgroup, chat to people in the park, pick up rubbish on the street. Helped to make casseroles for people, visited nursing homes, been to funerals, stopped to help people at the side of the road, helped build a community frog bog, pulled out weeds in the bush. Actions speak so much louder than words. But words, when they come at the right time are important too. When the kids ask, "why are we picking up rubbish?" I tell them.

Of course life comes in waves or stages. Sometimes it takes all your energy just to feed everyone and try to sleep. Providing for your child's basic needs will teach them how to love too. If you can do just this for the first two years of your babies life, you will be giving a little person the resources they need to be able to love and trust, and you will make the world a better place.

The best explanation for school I've ever heard came from Tony Campolo. Paraphrased by me, he said, "If you want to change the world, then you need to learn all about it. You've got to know what you're talking about when you start presenting solutions. " I'll keep doing the real life stuff, but now I guess my little one takes a small step onto the path of learning how to find things out for herself.

Morning Prayer

My girls do not like getting out of bed. No one in our household has ever been an earlier riser, (except no.1 son, who knew he had to lie still in Mum's bed until 8 - 0 - 0 was on the clock.)

I go into the girls' bedroom and kiss them on the head. When they stir they get a cuddle. I lift them out of bed. The youngest puts her little arms around my neck, the oldest feigns sleep, and I carry them to chairs in the lounge room. They bury their heads down in the cushions and put their tails in the air. I do have a photo...

I've been reading "7 times the sun," a Steiner inspired book about developing everyday rituals with your kids. There are various short rhyming verses included to say as part of a morning ritual, but to me only welcoming the sun seemed to be lacking in depth, and any true meaning. I've been half heartedly keeping my ears open for a little verse that better expressed a thankfulness to God. I couldn't work out either just when to say this verse without making it all a bit contrived. How could I make it a natural part of the morning?

This morning the girls were snuggled into their chairs, one either side of our little prayer corner book shelf. I stood in between them and started my morning prayers. I looked down and wondered. Then I read aloud, "Arising from sleep, I thank you, O Most Holy Trinity, that for the sake of Your great kindness and longsuffering, you have not had indignation against my, for I am slothful and sinful...You have shown your customary love for mankind, and raised me up as I lay in heedlessness, that I might sing my morning hymn and glorify your sovereignty..."

I did wonder if I should translate into kiddie language, but mostly I left it.

I finished the rest of the prayers silently as the girls slowly started talking.

This evening as I put them to bed (the second time. The first time I was cross at them for not putting away their game like I had asked. I thought I should go back and do it gently) they asked, "Can you say one of those prayers like we said this morning?"

It was another moment to be stuck on the fridge, this time for me, to remember that, "Yay, I did something right. I did something that impacted on them. I have helped them want to pray."

We finished our thankyou prayers, and our please help prayers, and I tried to recite the little blessing for the mother of God, "Truly it is right to bless you, ever blessed and most pure Mother of our God. More honourable than the cherubim, and more glorious than the seraphim, in purity you gave birth to God the Word; True Mother of God, we magnify you.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

God bless you.

Birthday Presents

I've always tried to impress on my kids that they don't need a lot of stuff. For presents I always request homemade things, and we put on invitations that go out from our house, "you don't have to buy me a present, but you might like to make me something nice, like a picture or some biccies." My daughter has developed a policy of making birthday presents for everyone now. Whenever she gets a birthday invitation she asks, "What can we make for a birthday present?" We've made flags with bamboo from the garden, biccies, pictures, mammoth cards, lavender sachets, given flowers from the garden, and this latest present is a wide headband made from our bag of material scraps.

I'm quite proud of it really. The pattern comes from Altered Cloth

Now of course, I've had to make one for all the kids, son included. His is narrow in plain brown. At least it keeps his hair out of his eyes. Although I don't think Dad is too keen on his boy in a headband. I might make one for me too.

Trying on wedding dresses

Emergent Kiwi tells about the grandkids trying on Granma's wedding dress and wonders if this is part of their formation, and exploration of how the importance of marriage.

Better than Bushells

Bushells is a brand of black tea that has been around for about 120 years. They have a little jingle that goes, "Is it as good as Bushells?" We'd heard the song, when no 2 daughter Miss5 said, "I know some things that are better than bushells." Hence our list.
It was just one of those spontaneous moments when you get to see God in your kids. One of those moments that should be noted, savoured, encouraged and stuck on the fridge.
When the other older children saw it, they added some notes too.

A house blessing

T is for Theophany by Kristinsdottir. Used with permission.

Last night our wonderful priest came for dinner. After our salmon and silverbeet quiche and roast sweet potato (my favourite food) he bought out his little bottle of holy water collected from the Theophany blessing of the water service a few weeks back.

We are blessed with a priest who takes an empowering approach to leadership, to equip the whole church for the work of service (Ephesians 4), who stands back, and lets us be involved as much as he can to let us grow and use our gifts and talents for the church.

He gave the girls the task of carrying candles, which they did with much care and solemnity, while the boy carried a bowl of holy water for our priest to dip his little branch of leaves into. The kidlies followed him as he prayed and flicked holy water into each room. Pretty soon they were leading him from room to room calling, "What about the bathroom?" "And the cupboard," "Now the laundry," "Don't forget the chickens."

So now we have all, cats, chickens, guinea pigs, land, house, wife, husband and children been blessed.

Theopany is one of those moments that I remember when I think of my journey to Orthodoxy. I was happily attending the Liturgy each week, learning so much about the symbolism and story behind every action of the priest and people. When a little table appeared at the front of the church covered in it's classy (I mean it, it was pretty fancy in a modern inner city way) white tablecloth, I always panicked a little. Here would be something new and strange that I would have to try to accommodate into my God view.

The first Theophany I attended, I just wasn't up for struggling to participate in things I didn't understand. Restless small children were my easy out (how often is that the case) and I 'had' to take them to the foyer.

The friend who had first invited me to the Orthodox church was there. He had rushed up to the priest after he had prayed for God to enter the water, to ask, "How can this be?"
The priest replied in his joyful, patient, understanding way, "the Orthodox believe that God can be present in matter." My friend was satisfied. I stood there, marvelling at his ability to so quickly accept that answer, as I continued to struggle, wondering just what was I supposed to do with a bottle of holy water.

The children on the other hand have no problem with it. When they're scared at night, I go and get the holy water for them to take a sip. I say, "We have asked God to be in the water, and now we ask God to be inside you, giving you his energies and protection." When they're scared of the darkness, we pray that God chains up the dark scary things and takes them away to lock up. Then we make the sign of the cross on their beds with holy water, or sprinkle it in the room.

"Mummy," they say going to bed, "bless us with holy water." So I make the sign of the cross on their heads with a finger dipped in holy water, asking God to bless them.

Theophany is the feast wherein the Church performs the ritual of the “Great Blessing of the Waters” in which we pray, “Grant to all those who touch, who anoint themselves with it or drink from it, sanctification, blessing, cleansing, and health.” The Church acknowledges that it is Christ himself who blesses the waters and all of the elements of our earth by extension. Through Christ’s Incarnation, all material things are made holy.

As Bishop Kallistos Ware explains,“This, then, is part of the meaning of Theophany: in the eyes of one who is a Christian, nothing should ever appear trivial or mean, for the redemptive and transforming grace of the Savior extends to all things, however outwardly despicable.” from byzantineimages.com

Ten Lepers Sunday

Image © Henry Martin.
Free use for ministry purposes.
Not to be used for publication or profit.
www.sermons4kids.com/ten-leper-ppt-slides.htm

My kids love stories. I've been telling them stories for about two years now. Fairy stories, stories of my childhood, their childhood, other people's childhoods, bible stories, stories I've read. If you listen carefully, people are always telling stories. I collect them all up to tell. My kids are turning into very good listeners.

I told this story to the girls a few days before Sunday so they'd remember it when they heard it in church. I told it to my big boy on Sunday night.
As soon as I mentioned 'the spot,' he said he'd already heard it, in church that morning. Hooray! He is listening.

When I mentioned the word, "temple," the penny dropped for the girls. "This is a Jesus story."

There once was a man who had moved with his family to a new town. He left his home and his friends and his job and he moved to a new town to build a better life for his family. It was hard at first. There were so many new things to learn, new people to meet, a new way of life to learn, but they did it, and they were very happy.
One morning while the man was eating his breakfast he looked down and saw a white spot on his hand.
"What's that?" he thought. He tried to brush it off, but it didn't go. He tried not to worry about it too much, and off he went to work.
At lunch time, one of his co-workers saw the spot and stared at it. "What's that?" he asked slowly.
"Oh, nothing," said the man.
But his co-worker looked at him suspiciously. He said nothing more, and didn't go near him for the rest of the day.
That night at dinner, the man's wife asked, "What's that white spot under your chin?"
"What white spot?" the man asked, and he bought his hand up to wipe it away.
"There's another one on your hand," she said.
"No there's not," said the man. His wife said no more about it, but she put the children to bed herself refusing his help. She stayed away from him all night, and after her husband had gone to bed, she slept near the children.
In the morning, there was another spot and the man could no longer deny them. "You'll have to go to the temple," said his wife, and she didn't kiss him goodbye.

"You are unclean," said the priest. You will have to call out, "unclean, unclean," everywhere you go so people know to stay away from you."
The man left the temple and walked down the street. Every time he came near people, he quietly said, "Unclean." Everyone moved away from him, and women gathered their children and pulled them close, and then over to the other side of the street. He went home, but his family stayed away from him also. He couldn't bear it, so he left, but everywhere he went people ran away. He walked out of the city without looking at anyone, calling "unclean," without even looking if there were any people to move away from him.
Out in the desert he saw a group of people gathered around a fire cooking. The food smelt so good. He hadn't eaten all day. He approached, hoping the people would leave him a piece of bread to take. He called out, "unclean," but the people just laughed.
"We are unclean too," they called. The man relaxed and joined them.
They all tried to look after each other, but sometimes it was hard if someone was very sick, or when someone was sick themselves. They missed their families, and their jobs, and their homes, and being able to walk down the street without people running away.
They had heard about Jesus. He was the man who healed people, and forgave sins. And they saw him, walking into the town. They called out, keeping their distance, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."
Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priests."
As they went, they were healed. Their skin was clean and smooth and soft, better than before. One of the men, seeing that he was healed, turned back while the others ran on to the priests and to their families. He praised God in a loud voice, and fell down at the feet of Jesus thanking him for making him well.
Jesus said, "Where are the others? Didn't I make ten people well again? Only you who comes from another land came back to praise God and thank me."
"Come," he said, "stand up and go on your way. Your faith has made you well."
So the man ran into the city, back to the temple, and his friends, and his home, and his family because Jesus had made him well.

Welcome

Last week I was really kicking parenting butt. I was great. I was happy my kids were happy, I was full of creative ideas, and ready to share them. That's when I decided to start this blog.

This week things are not going so well. Now I'm wondering what I should do with my three lovely children who are failing to appreciate that I think this week should be the same as the last.

That's the thing about kids, and so parenting them - always changing. But I'm not alone. Other people have gone before me. Other people are going through similar joys and struggles right now.

Here I, and hopefully some others, would like to share some of the joys and struggles in bringing up kids to love God and love people.

Please feel free to share your own stories.

Welcome.