It’s not too late to practice Lent at home?

This Lent did not start out in the controlled manner that I would have liked. I’ve been tired, so very tired, caring for my husband who had emergency surgery and is now Rehab(ing) at home.

On Shrove Tuesday’s pancakes were eaten for desset at dinner (nothing wrong with that) but our families tradition had been pancakes for breakfast each Shrove Tuesday, but by the time bathing, dressing and physio happened. Dinner it was.

Usually I’d head to the Ash Wednesday service, but the morning routine was still going and it was a face to face service only, and I could not leave the patient/husband.

I started to get the feeling that this was going to be a very different Lent.

Yet looking back over the years, though I have settled into a pattern, I realised it had not always been this way.

There were years when I had babies and post natal depression.

When we were travelling.

When I was mourning.

Yes there had been plenty of tough times, when the Lent routine got lost.

The season of Lent doesn’t go away just because the going get’s tough.

We started this years Revised Common Lectionary readings for Lent with a story about challenges, of being in the desert, of being tempted.

What a reminder that no matter what we are experiencing, and this year I am very aware of those being displaced at the start of Lent. Lent is here, and it’s worth acknowledging that it is, and turn the mis/adventures of the faith practice for Lent into THE practice of Lent.

No matter what is happening around me, whether I can make it to a face-to-face church service or not. My Lenten journey is between God and me.

When we live in families, be that a family of 1, you, or a tribe of kids, grandparents cousins etc.it is still Lent.

Lent is still the season of preparation. There is more to be done than just attending services each Sunday or heading to church for the annual visit come Easter. I personally understand that, because that was basically the pattern of my experience of Lent as I was growing up.

So why would I want to encourage families to adopt Lenten practices when I grew up with few in a Christian Household?

What has changed in me, that I now feel that this opportunity for spiritual development and community building should be embraced and practiced by the whole Christian community, and especially by family groups?

This is the list I came up with

1. Practicing at home extends the experience of Lent into the lived experience, and beyond the church door.
2. It extends the opportunity for children to learn and use the concepts and words of faith, away from the Church buildings, especially when faith practices are being discouraged in the wider communities and in our schools
3. It unifies the Christian community, Catholic and Protestant.
4. Gives an opportunity to deepen our spiritual practices of Biblical Study, Prayer and Action.
5. Allows us to share intergenerationally, grandparents, parents and children.
6. Faith Transmission appears to be stronger in families where faith practices are encouraged in all family members in their daily life. Youth studies show the influences, and John W. Westerhoff III”s Will our Children have Faith (Harrisburg, Moorehouse, 2012) explores this idea to.
7. United Nations Convention of the rights of the child to spiritual expression

8. As well as my own personal experiences as I have opened my life up to Lenten practices and what I have observed in the children of the Families I have ministered to.

Lenten practices do not have to be complicated. This year my Lenten plan is very simple. So if you have never experienced a Lenten preparation may I make these very simple starting practice suggestions, and encourage you to find time this Lent to be intentional and share it with your family. Even if you are running late for the start of Lent.

Mark the time.

I have found young children find it a very long season, it helps if they can count it down. The very young or the very tired or time poor can use the Lenten Calendar from Praying in Color

OR try a Lent scripture chain, for the very young you could omit the bible verses.

OR The Jesus Story Book Lent Guide also uses a chain activity. The draw back with this one is that though free, you must sign up to recieve the guide and you need to have The Jesus storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones It is wonderful though for busy families.

You may not have thought of this as a Lenten practice, suitable for all ages, try Picture Lent

FOR a study that is about to begin( so you are not late for this at all) Try the Lego Lent Challenge great for all ages

Something outdors? How about these Wonder Walks for Lent

For a small payout, Ideal for a child who loves colouring try Illustrated Ministry

SING IT OUT

You might like to sing it out, it could be changing what you do such as listening to a Christian radio station, or search Lent songs on Spotify.

Listen to Lent by Litrugical Folk

For someone new try Dan Warlow

GOOD DEEDS

Or do Lent with a good cause see

OR Lent Event can give you some ideas of things to give up for Lent.

Give it a go.

And no it’s never too late to start.

Blessings

Wendy L.

I am writing this on Wurundjeri land and wish to pay respect to all Elders, past, present and emerging.

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Sunday Reflection: Beyond Words

Somedays the words don’t make their way to the paper, even though I am still being influenced by this weeks readings.

It is weeks like this that I think of children with their limited vocablaries, those through illness or accident with limited capacity to verbalise or write. Sometimes in our lives our emotions overide our capacity to express ourselves in a verbal or written sense. I know that like me, when words fail, we have other ways of praising, sharing, expressing ourselves.

And 10% of us are dyslexic. I remember my own daughter’s struggle to find God was frustrated by worship material only being available in written format, where Sunday School meant reading aloud from the Bible and then responding to written question. She was not alone, I struggled too in trying to find material that she could relate too. Messy Church has only been around for a decade and though Godly Play has been around for decades, a product of the Berryman’s own search to find a good way of teaching children, especially their own daughter, it was not until after my daughter had walked away from the church that my studies introduced me to this method.

This is one of the reasons I often suggest play, singing, colouring-in, or craft as a response to the RCL readings in this weekly blog. Why I move away from wordsearches, written responses to questions, or private reading when I make suggestions for All-age or Family based worship.

As a teacher, I have always used multi-sense methods of teaching, never one method alone.

Like Godly Play I am influenced by the work of Montessori, but also Steiner, even though I teach and have been educated through the mainstream channels, where more theorists are using multi-sensory models now.

For those of you who follow me on Facebook or Instagram some of what is below you willl have seen.

Everything was a response to the Bible readings either this week or last week.

They were as much an outpouring of my response as a production for other’s consumption, that is they were my spiritual response. I hope they spark a response in you.

This was my response to Ephesians 6:10-20, every one is putting on protective gear these days, so I extrapolated away from the idea of Roman war attire as appropriate to the time of writing and thought about our present day situation

I created a game board for the same reading. You need to print 2 then cut one up and then match up the protective garment pictures.

At the start of the week, I created some inspiration to bring a spiritual dimension into our 2 hour exercise walks(where I live we are in lockdown due to the rising presence of th COVID-19 infection, delta varient, and the lack of innoculations). This had been inspired by Ephesians 5:15-20. Use the ideas each day to find Biblical references or to spark prayer.

https://www.canva.com/design/DAEnROnojNU/TA34Vwgb7kmtSf9CDrUS9Q/view?utm_content=DAEnROnojNU&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink

Blessings

Wendy L.

If you would like to use any of these please acknowledge my work, thank you.

Sunday Reflection: AS we move out of our buildings, who will we leave behind?

I have watched great organisations, and local congregations scrambling to produce on-line material over the last couple of weeks. Many will admit it’s stretched them, but from my observational position they have all risen well to deal with the situation as best as they can, given the constraints of technology, knowledge of its capabilities and use by both ministerial teams and congregations.

 

Many are trying to include those without technology. Also, bigger questions are being asked as to whether recreating what we had in the pre-covid world is replicable on line, and if there are different ways of doing community or faith on line? Great question. How do we deal with the children? How do we educate parents in the transference of faith? a question that those involved in Child and Family Ministry have been asking for over a decade but which has been unimportant to the wider church until now. Braden wrote a great open letter on this theme. https://victas.uca.org.au/to-the-church-post-covid-19/?fbclid=IwAR1c1AWAX3QIdBflmGlf3ZXhrWFBxDepCzYlShEpEFQCiZSLa7dH91pGWNw

 

But there seems to me to be one other group that we are not addressing. And that is the “single” faith parent, and no I don’t mean, the socially single family, I mean the family who attend our congregations without the other spouse. Two parent households that do not share the same faith convictions.

 

These are the families who will not be gathered around the livestream service together. These are the families where the differing beliefs of the partners would have been evident in the formation of their relationship or where one parent has come to, or fallen away from faith during their partnership. Each family would have made their own decisions regarding the spiritual formation of the children, but they would be renegotiating this issue, along with all the other negotiations that have been happening in homes around the world.

 

This can lead to increased tensions in these families, OR they could lead to the advancement of faith discussions and decisions. How are you helping these families deal with either situation?

 

As we race to supply services, have we addressed how we deal with those who are searching for faith?

Do you have strong pastoral care, or communication lines that stay in touch with all your families?

 

And what about the child who is searching for faith? What are you offering them and how are you making that a safe on-line environment?

 

I have asked more questions but not solved any. Because the answers are also situational.

 

Assuming that all your efforts will be acceptable in a multifaith environment, is to fail those families that are in that situation. Find out what they will need, ask the questions rather than assuming that you have the answer, or solution. If there is one thing I have also noticed it’s that the consultation process has been lost as congregations try to move their physical activities on line. The wrong people are leading and those who are familiar with “living online” such as the ill, the travellers, those with disabilities are again being overlooked by those in the “physical congregation”. Let this new opportunity to be church be an inclusive one, or maybe one with multi access points. We are so use to the spiritual model of the labyrinth, one entry and exit point that maybe now is the time to explore faith formation as one of multiple entry and exit points. We have the technology.

 

With a background in the Wesleyan tradition, I’m encouraged by the story of being refused the capacity to preach in the Church of England, John took his preaching beyond the constraints of the buildings and took it into the fields. Christ saw the ill, those outside of society, the shamed and oppressed. As we enter this brand-new world, may we see the opportunities to not let anyone be left behind.

Blessings

Wendy Lewis

Sunday Reflection: Praying with your Adult Kids

Last week our 13 year old white dog collapsed on his daily walk, my adult daughter was alone with him and his sister for an hour in the local park as dusk gave way to darkness. Her phone was low battery, I was at a Church council meeting and had forgotten to take my phone with me and her father was flying home from an interstate business trip. A kind cyclist, helped her carry the dog to the car, we only know his name was John and that he too had had a dog collapse like that on a walk. Our thanks go out to the kindness of this cyclist, even though we may never see him again to do so personally.

But this is only the prelude to the issue I want to share with you this week.

We took our dog to the 24hr Vet, but he didn’t make it and when the time came to say goodbye, incidentally on our other daughter’s Birthday. I did something I sincerely never thought I’d get a chance to do again. I prayed opening, with my adult children, and here is the other incredible thing, they did not criticise me, nor complain loudly that I was a “freak”, we all stood, in a circle as I openly prayed, just as I did when they were young, before they knew better and rejected this faith I had been sharing with them. They gave me space, and the gift of respect for something that was intrinsic in me, the need to place all before God. This was going to be tough on us all, and I needed God’s strength in my family and my children gave me that. It felt natural, and so it was it was something we shared everyday of their lives until the middle of High School, their mid -teens.

My husband and I had agreed that when they refused to go to church we would not force them. That time duly arrived, in fact I was surprised on both occasions because I had felt that as a faith practising family unit this wouldn’t happen. But it did. And we maintained our pact. I didn’t want them to rebel, but I have experienced the loss of sharing within my faith with my children, because of that. I have often wondered if I had held firmer to the view that this is what we do and you must do it. That they would not let it go. My husband often waves the fact that the children follow his football team not mine as a sign of achievement for his good parenting. So, on that basis their loss in my faith journey has been turned on my parenting. But God gave me free will, and as a practitioner of the Christian faith I can not deny that to the people I love dearly. But every now and then I reap the rewards of that effort I put into these young people, like at Boyd’s death, and we all prayed again, like we did when they were young.

Sunday Reflection: Family Worship

So often I hear Congregations bemoaning the fact that children are not coming to church. They clearly want to see, that the way faith has been represented in the community stays that way. That is that families come to Church every week, send their children to Sunday School and participate in whatever social or faith based activities that community offers.

 

But families are being pulled in so many directions,

• Finding time for traditional faith gatherings while living in a community that shuns that, is problematic for the children and friendship circles in which they must move.
• Sport and other school activities are scheduled on Sundays
• Families want family time
• Growing children need rest and Sunday is often the only time that can happen
• Traveling has become more difficult due to the constancy of Australian development.
• With only a handful of children, if that in a community, families can feel that they don’t belong.

Churches have solutions.

But it takes brave congregations to step outside their lifetime experience to foresee another way.

Though organised faith is being shunned, spirituality is strong in the Australian landscape.

So where are families finding their faith or spiritual practice?

They turn to what they have learnt that’s been helpful in the past.

What I have noticed within the community is,

Many pray.

Do yoga

Practice mindfulness.

Walk the dog.

Are environmentally aware.

Form communities.

Turn to the internet. And what a choice awaits them. How do they distinguish a “false prophet” a bad theorist, a charlatan? With all the savvy whiles they can.

But most churches in Australia do not have a dedicated section in their website to those external to their congregation who might want some guidance as to how to live a faith filled life in the Christian Faith.

Many people are already wary of the established churches involvement in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse, so most websites deal with the measures they are taking to make their church/congregation legally responsible.

But I would love to see congregations orientated not just to how to join them but to Family Faith Formation.

Some of my favourite sites for busy families are

 

For Busy parents

 

https://www.loyolapress.com/3-minute-retreats-daily-online-prayer

also available as an app

https://www.sacredspace.ie

 

For busy kids

 

https://biblesociety.org.nz/our-bible-projects/new-zealand-projects/big-little-bible/

 

https://bibleappforkids.com

 

https://guardiansofancora.com

 

 

If on facebook I have a page called The Cross in My Backyard https://www.facebook.com/The-Cross-in-my-Backyard-196655824053543/?eid=ARBZT1cM7HzOh-cUDECMrLZoOW6_aD4uArNdSk2WahD2qZ83YZCJpNaNLyZIePZeGiqEnKRnaQ6JC3XF

It was set up to help Australian parents and small congregations find useful information on Faith Formation.

 

Blessings

Wendy L.

Sunday Reflection: School Holidays

When I was teaching in the classroom, this was the break I was most desperate for. Yes, I know it was only 10 weeks since the last break but maybe it was because this term is the coldest, the one filled with the most germs, coughing kids, flu, sore throats, etc, all I wanted was a break, and not to catch up with prep or marking but a break for me, no classes, no prep, no alarm clock.

So, I really get it that this is the term break when most families disappear from church, even when they are not going anywhere. Give me a break.

But when I was working in an inner city church, it surprised me that this was the break where we saw the largest increase in children, and not just our own members, we would see more travellers and their children, though of course the Christmas break and it’s luxurious 6 weeks was always the one where we had more non-community children present. Having come from the Suburbs, where universally the Sunday School program would end with term, the 3 weekends of the break would see the congregations average age increase dramatically as the children and their parents/caregivers disappeared.

It has always intrigued me that congregations, particularly congregations still running the Sunday School at the same time as church, a 250 year old model, don’t think outside the square and make these term breaks an occasion for experimentation. Make it a goal to run Intergenerational Services, or try Messy Church consistently each school break, or at the very least supply material that can help younger worshippers understand and participate in a traditional service.

Ok, I hear you say well what about the Sunday School Teachers? This is their chance to worship with the rest of the congregation. True, but I also find they are missing in action during these breaks.

OR if your congregation is happy to let the youngest members of your community rest away from Worship for 10 weeks of the year. Then the least you can do is use this time to encourage Family Faith Formation, by supplying programs that they can do as home worship. Some resources you might find useful are https://www.methodist.org.uk/media/14905/homegrown-participants-guide.pdf

https://www.youthandchildrens.work/Faith-at-Home

https://t.e2ma.net/webview/vcnvjw/df93bd798132e1718011ac64fbe7e8d0

https://d6family.com

https://www.faith4families.org

https://thinkorange.com

http://www.faith5.org/resources/resources

https://familygodtime.wordpress.com/2019/03/13/childrens-devotion-time-march-2019-jesus-is-tempted/

 

Use your websites to give out suggestions for the Break,

or supply your families with websites or books that give good Family Faith Formation ideas.

At the very least start a lending Library so that Families and Grandparents can borrow beautiful Bibles, story book Bibles and storybooks that allow them to share the faith with a new generation.

Oh by the way, did I say I need a break!

Safe travels, safe downtime

Blessings

Wendy L.

Sunday Reflection: The importance of Grandparents in Faith Transmission

The Question I most often have from Grandparents is this one “How can I help my grandchildren, come to know the Lord, when their parents have rejected faith?”. It is a continual source of frustration for very devoted, loving Christians wanting to pass on the faith they hold so dear. They feel disappointed by children that have walked away, and still want to share this important part of themselves with the next generation.

 

It seems to me that there are 3 parts to this dilemma.

• Is how to negotiate with their children about what can and can’t be shared regarding faith with their grandchildren.
• To understand what Spirituality is and what it must do with faith, so that they understand what it is that they are trying to discuss with their children.
• How they can express their faith in their own homes, respect their children but remain true to themselves. Or how to be missional in your own home.

 

 

Before I try to expand this conversation, and these dilemmas, I want to make it clear that I value your thoughts so please help me out here and share your own thoughts.

 

Also, I have always written short non-academic posts for sharing with time poor parents/grandparent/guardians. To continue in this vein, I will break this post down into parts over the next few Sunday’s.

 

But the very first thing I have the privilege of sharing with Christian Grandparents is the privilege of prayer. Every grandparent I have spoken too, when asked, has admitted that they pray for their children and their grandchildren. As Christian’s they have been doing what is expected, they take it to their Lord. And I believe in the power of prayer. From my own life experience, to the studies we read in Pastoral Care classes. There is a connectedness in prayer. Right through the Gospels, our example of Christ, takes time out to pray (Matthew 14:23,26:36, Mark 6:36, 14:32; Luke 5:16, 6:12, 9:28) so in their example these Grandparents have been bringing their faith to their family. Some have negotiated the path to being able to say, “I pray for you each day” to their children and grandchildren, the best others can do is to tell their family that they think about them each day. But for some even this “toning down of ideas” tends to result in a family schism, so nothing is said. This is when we trust to the power of prayer.

In their conclusion in Families and Faith, Bengtson, Putney and Harris[1], make some recommendations from their research and from other sources to conclude that “families do matter in determining the moral and religious outcomes of young adults.”(p.195). Their study was longitudinal, over 35 years and involved different generations, and they make the point that “increasingly grandparents are the defacto moral and religious teachers”(p.197), thus we can extrapolate that their second point on the warmth and affirming family relationships being associated with “higher religious transmission” applies equally to the grandparents as to the parents. So, your relationship to your grandchild is important, as is your relationship with your child. And don’t give up on your adult children, Bengston and Co’s research suggest that “prodigals do return” (p. 197). Finally, “families where grandparents reinforce the parents’ religious socialization efforts succeed more than where they do not”.

.

Blessings

Wendy L.

[1]Families and Faith: How religion is passed down across generations, Bengtson, Vern L., Putney, Norella M. and Harris, S. (2017, Oxford University Press, New York)

Sunday Reflection: Pentecost

I know it’s been said in a few places, but isn’t it nice celebrating a day of faith that consumerism isn’t a part of. The liturgical colour of red, dresses the church up, but many congregations go all out to make it both a liturgical and physical experience, with sights, sounds and movement bringing us into the day.

During the week, even though our congregation would be worshipping away from “home” our church was decked out in its Pentecost colours for all to see who visit our buildings but don’t make it into services.

We worshipped in one of our neighbouring denominational church’s, and the sight and sounds added to the experience. We were given red balloons that were released during the first hymn, the noise as they popped on spiky objects as they rose to the roof was powerful. The experience, echoed through the Acts reading, giving the words experience and depth.

Most members of the three worshipping communities wore red, in all its hues and in many varied ways. I trotted out my flame jumper and red stockings for its annual parade.

It was a visual experience.

Outside the few remaining red leaves clung precariously to the trees they had clothed since Spring. It was as if the environment was contributing to our all senses Pentecost experience. Making it a legitimate immersive experience.

Today is sensual.

We use all our senses to worship today and it is also one of the most inclusive, not just because the two texts of Acts often called the Day of Pentecost and the Genesis Reading, known as the tower of Babel story, concentrates the significance of languages uniting rather than dividing us, but the messages today are understood by all ages in many ways, including being able to “read” both of these stories through our senses. The day is a truly intergenerational experience.

Now I could go two ways with today’s post, I could dwell on the importance of everyone hearing the word and take the opportunity to point you toward some resources that are multi lingual.

OR I could go into how we can take this experience of Pentecost and extend it beyond the bounds of the church, and into our homes, which is what happened on that first Pentecost day.

So today I will take both options.

Here are some multilingual resources for children

Max 7 https://www.max7.org/en

Sovereign Grace Music https://sovereigngracemusic.org

Bible gateway https://www.biblegateway.com

Illustrated Children’s Ministry https://www.illustratedchildrensministry.com

Thy Kingdom Come https://www.thykingdomcome.global/resources

 

Most Australian states are enjoying a long weekend to mark the Queen’s Birthday. Many families take the opportunity to grab a quick break and visit relatives or just to relax, so they may miss this significant event in the Church calendar. There are so many ways of incorporating a Pentecost day into family time.

Wear red

Have a cake, with candles and retell the story or read it from a one of the story book Bibles or read the story the Day that God made Church. See last week’s blog for some reading suggestions. https://wordpress.com/post/thecrossinmybackyard.wordpress.com/669

Set a table in red.

At dinner talk about those things that “set us on fire” what are we passionate about. Think about ways that you could tell others about Christ so that they will listen.

Use a colouring in page such as Illustrated Ministries as a placemat and let them colour it in during or after dinner.

Go and play in the autumn leaves.

So, it’s too late this year.

Hopefully I’ve sown the seeds for thinking about how you can extend the church experience into the home.

Blessings

Wendy L.

Why practice Lent at home?

So I’ve eaten my way through a tonne of pancakes on Tuesday and I’ve attended an Ash Wednesday service on Wednesday, nothing else now to do until for the 40 days until Easter, right?

NO. Lent is the season of preparation. There is more to be done than just attending services each Sunday or heading to church for the annual visit come Easter. Yet that was basically the pattern of my experience of Lent as I was growing up.

So why would I want to encourage families to adopt Lenten practices when I grew up without any in a Christian Household and nor did we practice Lent as my children were growing up?

This was the question I asked myself as I tried to prepare a Lenten list of resources for Families this year.

What has changed in me that I now feel that this opportunity for spiritual development and community building should be embraced and practiced by the whole Christian community, and especially by family groups?

This is the list I came up with

1. Practicing at home extends the experience of Lent into the lived experience, and beyond the church door.
2. It extends the opportunity for children to learn and use the concepts and words of faith, away from the Church buildings, especially when faith practices are being discouraged in the wider communities and in our schools
3. It unifies the Christian community, Catholic and Protestant.
4. Gives an opportunity to deepen our spiritual practices of Biblical Study, Prayer and Action.
5. Allows us to share intergenerationally, grandparents, parents and children.
6. Faith Transmission appears to be stronger in families where faith practices are encouraged in all family members daily. Ie https://parentingforfaith.org/topics/resources try John W. Westerhoff III”s Will our Children have Faith (Harrisburg, Moorehouse, 2012) and even youth studies showing the influenceshttps://theconversation.com/new-research-shows-australian-teens-have-complex-views-on-religion-and-spirituality-103233
7. United Nations Convention of the rights of the child to spiritual expression https://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx

As well as my own personal experiences as I have opened my life up to Lenten practices and what I have observed in the children of the Families I have ministered to.

So if you have never experienced a Lenten preparation may I make these very simple starting practice suggestions, and encourage you to find time this Lent to be intentional and share it with your family.

Mark the time.

I have found young children find it a very long season, it helps if they can count it down so try https://www.catholicicing.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/printable-lenten-calendar-packet.pdf, even the very young like to colour in a square each day.

OR https://www.max7.org/en/resource/lentscripturechain, for the very young you could omit the bible verses.

OR https://www.mothersunion.org/sites/default/files/resources/public/A%20lent_calendar%202019.pdf?utm_source=The%20Mothers%20Union&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10300814_Mothers%27%20Union%20February%20Newsletter&utm_content=Lent%20Calendar%20title%20link&dm_i=1I8Y,64S5Q,B06CYJ,O3TK5,1

OR https://www.thykingdomcome.global/posts/79/new-family-prayer-adventure-map-launched-at-synod?fbclid=IwAR0xjT09boyR0XqtKUOKdTKDJlDRukXrHIwMWK7_4rgkzvgjzFgiDdNkerc

FOR family studies try

If you use the Jesus Bible Storybook, here is a list of readings for each day https://gallery.mailchimp.com/ab72d4fa9d5333c84cac6e2b1/files/ccf110c4-5b89-46fb-a561bc1714a8ab83/The_Jesus_Storybook_Bible_Lent_2019_Printable_Reading_Guide_by_Sally_Lloyd_Jones.pdf

OR http://www.ctmresourcing.org.au/2019-lenten-resource

OR http://www.conversations.net.nz/uploads/2/6/9/4/26944819/for_god_so_loved_the_world_lenten_study.pdf?fbclid=IwAR36JsuiFUVUs1iXw_SYhvRUbmu9xJfDWBQfGIuC7AgO7TnoVywaisAinjI

OR http://sacraparental.com/2014/03/01/lent-with-kids-getting-ready-for-week-1/?fbclid=IwAR3J3OuXenTMXIxkDzopMWz66QMQL3XzM6ilE_kG22G8RzbF1rkoyE22hhM

OR for a small financial outlay, for a down loadable guide try https://store.illustratedchildrensministry.com/collections/illustrated-family-resources/products/an-illustrated-lent-for-families-reflections-on-prayer  great for families that love colouring

SING IT OUT

You might like to sing it out, it could be changing what you do listening to Christian radio station, or playing any of Seeds music https://www.seedsfamilyworship.com

or https://www.fischy.com

GOOD DEEDS

Or do Lent with a good cause see https://40acts.org.uk/?fbclid=IwAR37q6DUWNPDpVVwZTeHRZ-2jAzAdHSHdAMe1BFsMHOnv9XGYSSyTZ73zLU

OR https://www.lentevent.com/?fbclid=IwAR2WXTnJoTMeobhMH9bJQOPD5qpyRLtE8qiJEQISeH2Z0BE0lsNcZtCu4ys

Give it a go.

And no it’s never too late to start.

Blessings

Wendy Lewis

Running late for Lent?

It’s not too late to begin your family’s preparation for Lent, some family Lent studies are for each Sunday in Lent so you’re actually —“EARLY”!!

Or really just one day late. So you missed Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, the important point is that your ready to make an effort.

Or maybe you don’t know how to. Like me, you may not have grown up in a Christian Tradition that celebrated Lent only Easter, or come to the Christian faith separately to your birth family.

Well I really value Lent now, this time to spend time deliberately studying Jesus’s life i’ve found refreshing. I grew up thinking that Lent was a Catholic tradition so was quiet happy to watch my cousins struggle with the things they had to give up for Lent. I now see the wider protestant view can be powerful and love the idea of Lent being a home practice faith time.

I’ve seen greater understanding by the children of families that deliberately define the Lenten period.

Here is a beautiful explanation of what Lent can mean for your family. http://www.growchristians.org/2018/02/03/our-family-observes-lent-by/

So here are some simple suggestions for those running late — for Lent.

1. Define the period by making a Lenten paper chain. The forty links DO NOT include Sundays’ so make the 40 days purple, Sunday’s white, and Good Friday Black. Add a chain a day, and say a prayer or read a Bible story book or a couple of pages on Christ’s life each day.
2. Listen to a Christian Radio station, if there isn’t one near you try digital radio on the internet. Or play the children’s favourite Christian performers or songs. Make it a point to learn a new song each week.
3. Use purple, placemats, napkins and Candles for meals during Lent and start each meal with Grace.
4. Follow the Lent Ideas for Families, 3rd item down, downloadable family ideas for each week of Lent from FLAME

http://flamecreativekids.blogspot.com.au/2018/02/shrove-tuesday-ash-wednesday-and.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+FlameCreativeChildrensMinistry+(Flame:+Creative+Children%27s+Ministry)

5. Or follow this calendar from our friends across the ditch http://kidsfriendly.org.nz/wp-content/Uploads/Families-Journey-through-Lent-Calendar-2018.pdf

5. Or try Praying in Colour this Lent https://prayingincolor.com/lenten-calendar-templates-2018

6. This one costs a little bit but it’s downloadable and the families I’ve used these resources with have always valued them. (don’t forget it is in American dollars and your bank may charge an international transaction fee. That said it’s still a  wonderful resource if you can squeeze it into the budget) https://store.illustratedchildrensministry.com/products/an-illustrated-lent-for-families-2018

6.  If you have teenagers and want a social orientated Lent try https://40acts.org.uk

Spoilt for choice.

Unsure what to do with your family? Just pick one if it doesn’t work try something else. But above all else keep the conversation going.

I love the idea of this book BUT it is written for the northern hemisphere and there may be some faith practices that do not suit your faith tradition. I omit pp.4 and 5, and 18 and 19. You can take a look here to see if it’s suitable for your family https://www.paracletepress.com/Products/6599/make-room.aspx?bCategory=CHILDB!SEAS They will post to Australia.