Easter Club Week Six

Happy Easter! Last weekend was so full of celebration that we needed a day or two to recover! Now is the school holidays so between time with the family I am slowly catching up. Our final Easter Club was on Easter Saturday, not quite the end of Lent, but I wanted us to enjoy the celebration of Easter together, so it had a festive feel.

I told a Godly Play story about real Easter Eggs, using the psanky that I had made. I also made lots of flat egg shapes with many of the traditional Ukranian designs, colours and their meanings. The children each designed their own, on paper, then on flat wooden egg shapes. They worked so hard! They finished them with ribbons to hang as Easter decorations. 

I had also found these lovely card baskets to make. They were perfect for their eggs and some Easter candles.

And the sun shone! So we were able to head out to the garden to hunt for chocolate eggs - an essential way to finish! It was a lovely end to a lovely few weeks. I shall be happy to have my Saturday morning lie-in again, but the children have asked to get together for a Pentecost Club...of course! But I'm not quite sure what you do at one of those...I'll have to have a think about it. 

Easter Club Week Five - Brunch Club

For our fifth week, we decided to do something different.  We invited parents and neighbours to join us for a fundraising brunch for Blythswood Care, which is administered locally. My boys have enjoyed helping out at their annual shoe boxes event, where thousands of boxes, filled with practical presents, are checked and packed into lorries before being sent off to countries acroos Eastern Europe and even India. Blythswood help support many small Christain run projects, and we had heard that they were looking to raise money for nutrious breakfasts for an orphanage in Romania. It seems like a little money can go a long way.

The children all brought along their home baking - as you can see from a the impressive array above! Everyone worked hard setting up the kitchen, decorating menus, a moneybox and cakes. We buttered lots of rolls - bacon rolls are very popular around here.

It was really lovely having all our guests, including Danny from Blythswood who shared some photos of the place where our money was going - we raised enough to give a child a good breakfast for a year!

We did also have time to finish the Faces of Easter and to marvel at how fast our rye grass cross has grown this week...oh and to try out some those wonderful cakes!

Pysanky Making

Although I would love to get out to the garden and start clearing the way for spring growth, the weather has been pretty horrible recently, so at weekends I have spent some happy times playing around with eggs. Pysanky Eggs are a Ukranian folk tradition. Eggs are decorated using a batik style, with wax and layers of dyes. A finished egg can be kept for many years.

The hardest part is controlling the flow of wax. Traditionally the tool used is a kistka, and these are readily available on the internet. However, what I have to hand is a batik pen, given to me a long time ago. It is similar - a wooden handle with a metal nib and reservoir. Some beeswax pellets are put into the pen, which is held over a candle flame until melted. Then you draw the pen over the egg, in whatever design you like.

 I found this helpful book at a jumble sale just before Christmas. It has lots of helpful tips and wonderful drawings of traditional motifs, as well as descriptions of Ukranian Eater customs. I also found this site very helpful - a great introduction to Pysanky. There are some some good colouring pages too.

It is lovely seeing the pattern and layers of colour build up. The instructions help you to build up to complex geometric patterns but there are also many traditional folkloric motifs which draw from nature, and are more freeflowing.

Finally you melt off all the wax and get the big reveal! This is the exciting part! And addictive too...

A friend recently challenged me about the pagan origins of egg painting, but as I thought about it, not only are these eggs lovely objects in their own right, they are, in the words of Jerome Berryman 'real Easter eggs...the eggs were trying to say with colours and words what had happened that day'. If Christ is in the business of making all things new, then I think that can apply to our art and celebrations as Christians too.

Easter Club Week Four

Another lovely week with our group. The children really got the idea of finding something in the room to tell a little more of the ongoing story The Faces of Easter, as you can see from the picture above. I was pleased that they are starting to feel comfortable with going to my story shelf and pulling things out from other stories. They also picked up some everyday objects, including toys and were keen to explain the connection with the story - a lego Samurai reminded us of the Roman occupation of Israel, for example. My husband was really intrigued by some of the observations they made. It kept us thinking long afterwards.

I offered a few choices this week for our response time - we are fortunate to have plenty of time and it is so lovely not to rush anything. We marked out the shape of a cross with pebbles in a box of compost, then sowed some rye grass seeds. Already some little sprouts of growth are showing. We will use it for our church service on Easter Sunday then give it as a present.

I have been trying to share something about different ways of praying, and this week talked about praying when we don't have any words...a very common experience isn't it? Sometimes when I struggle to find words but still want to intentionally pray, I just sit with a wee wooden cross in my hand. I just wanted the children to know it's OK to pray like that, and sometimes very powerful! So I offered them some wooden crosses to sand and wax, to use like that if they wish. We had a short practice at the end - cue some giggles, of course!

A friend who does Messy Church kindly gave me a big bag of leftover Easter crafts - Easter week bracelets, cards, bookmarks and so on. Although these types of crafts are very structured, they seemed very popular and engrossing. Yet again, I am struck by the importance of the process, rather than the product. My boys really enjoyed the beading - but show little interest in what they have made! A couple of the older girls (in their early teens) remarked how relaxing colouring in is. I guess that they probably don't have much chance to do it now, but this simple activity is indeed very satisfying. I am going to keep my eyes out for colouring which might prove attractive to older children. 

Next week (Saturday 23rd March) our Easter Club is planning to have a brunch for friends and neighbours, in aid of Blythswood Christian Care. If you live in the neighbourhood and want to join us for coffee, cake, bacon rolls etc, you would be very welcome to come along at 11am to our house.

Easter Club Week Three

Our group met again yesterday, a little smaller than usual, but I don't mind, as there is always more time for each child in a smaller group. I took a little extra time to help the group get ready for the story. It is a wonderful group as they are so enthusiastic and participate in everything, but I realised that they also need to know about being ready on the inside - which isn't about being quiet and sitting still - although that can help! We talked about being quiet on the inside so we don't miss something which may be just for them. This is such a helpful part of Godly Play, and respectful of where each child is at. It helps them to learn about themselves and prepare themselves internally.

I started telling the Faces of Easter story, which can be told over several weeks. Last year my material was very simple - laminated pictures, but this year I am so happy to have the artwork mounted on boards and a nice wooden rack. There are a few people in Inverness and the Highlands starting out with Godly Play. We have got together a couple of times to make some of the  materials together. I will have to share about those days another time but they have been great fun and very enjoyable - especially all the cake that people bring along!

 At the end of the story, instead of the usual wondering questions, the children are asked to find something else in the room that helps tell the story. They were very enthusiastic about that! As it was in our living room there were many items they could choose, and their reasons for doing so were very interesting and beautiful.
As this first part of the story focuses on the birth and childhood of Jesus, I asked the children if they wanted to make a gift for Mother's Day. In Great Britain it is always three Sundays before Easter.  I supplied some simple cloth bags, pens and fabric paints and let them create a special bag for their mothers. They worked really hard on this and everyone produced a gift to make any mother's heart fill up.

 Of course I had to be very careful not to look too much at what my boys were doing! I'll show you their's in another posting, but if you were celebrating Mother's Day today, I hope, like me, you had a wonderful day.

More Godly Play at L'Arche

 Here's a link to a post on the L'Arche Inverness blog about a Godly Play session I ran this week. I didn't take the pictures - the first one will give you a laugh - my boys think I must have found something scary in the desert! There, you can't resist looking now, can you?! It's almost worth a caption competition!

 I had a chance to use my new Desert Bag - which is a big strong bag with cords to pull up and safely transport the sand used for a number of the stories. I told the story of the Exodus, as we'll be having a Passover Meal in a few weeks time and I thought it would be a good way to help understand the meaning of this meal. Then we really get to 'taste the story'!

Another view of the bag - a bit of an odd angle, not sure what happened there...I made it using these instructions from Johanna at Godly Play Finland. Instead of making it square as suggested, I went for a rectangle as I think it's important to have plenty of space. However, the instructions were great, especially the corners which are really strong and nicely done. I had to think about them for a while to 'get' them, but they are brilliant.  I had to use two lengths of thinner cord doubled up, and ended up with 3 layers of cloth for strength. It was what I had in my stash and I'm really determined to use what I already have for making things. I'm very pleased with the result and got some enthusiastic help with pinning and cutting from my youngest. Another reason to love Godly Play! Both boys enjoy the finished product too...although I have seen the odd dinosaur creeping in...not surprising really!

Easter Club Week One

The wee group of children that came to Advent Club in December asked me if I could run something else for Easter - with pleasure! This sort of rhythm suits me well - rather than plug away at something every week. So, as before, we will meet on a Saturday morning in our home. When the children arrived they were rather surprised - to see this nativity set up 'But it's not Christmas'...well no indeed. However, in Godly Play, a pared down nativity plus a figure of the risen Christ, takes centre stage as a focal point all year round, reminding us that Jesus 'grew up to be man and died on the cross. That is very sad, but it is also wonderful in an Easter kind of way...He is not just back then, in this place or that place. He is everywhere and in every time'.

I told the story of the Holy Family using the nativity. The wondering was very animated. When I asked what we could leave out and mischieviously removed a figure, each and every figure - person and animal was very staunchly defended. If it had been a balloon debate I don't think we could have thrown anyone out!

One of the mothers kindly lent me her olive wood nativity from Bethlehem, but we are slowly making our own...it takes time and a few legs getting cut off by mistake! I am learning which way to have the grain of the wood going and how to be less afraid of the jigsaw blade! My husband made the baby and the sheep for me. They proved irresistible to a visiting child last week, which made me very happy. I am also very happy with the risen Christ figure I cut from an old ikea desk that friend was throwing out. New life indeed!  Together we made a very sweet donkey this afternoon - although it took us a few goes and a few missing limbs to get it right...

Instead of an open response time - something I will offer next week - I suggested the making of Lent 'gardens' as a way of getting ready for Easter. We talked about the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert and the children filled dishes and trays with sand. I had provided some bare twigs and most of them decided to make a cross with them. They enjoyed using a small hammer and nails. Everyone filled a dish with pebbles - it was mild enough to go outdoors to hunt for them. When they go home they can put a pebble in their desert for each day between now and Easter.

I also let them choose a roughly cut out figure to represent themselves.They have some sandpaper to work on it, and we talked about how God's love works in out lives, transforming us and smoothing off our rougher edges. They took these home with some readings for each day.

I also told the Mystery of Easter story. Some of the children chose to work with some paper crosses or to take one home.

We finished with a very un-Lenten feast! But it was wonderful, as one of the families had made us cakes and peppermint creams to share, and was really enjoyed. After sweeping up all the sand, we now have a pair of desert gardens to grace our kitchen table. Watch this space to see how they develop!

Just in time for Advent!

The last time I took any photos was back in early September - a glorious day spent on a local beach - the pictures tell of swimming, rock-pooling, kite flying, beach combing and frying up bacon and mushrooms for sandwiches. What the pictures don't say is that there was a very strong wind that day or that sand got into my camera lens. The poor thing was understandably rather unhappy and made ominous crunching sounds. Oh dear....Three months later and one (almost) new lens later and I'm reunited with my precious camera again, feeling wiser and poorer!

So in the record of our family life we go straight from sand to snow, and right into Advent. The autumn has been a strange one anyway, and I have a lot to ponder this season. My husband was diagnosed with a form of epilepsy, which causes him to have a type of 'absence' for a couple of minutes at a time. We had seen the symptoms building up for a while, with no conclusive diagnosis last year, but with time it became obvious. Actually having this diagnosis gives us a lot of peace, because it could be a lot worse, and the medication he is able to take is working brilliantly well. The only downside really is that he is unable to drive this year, which sometimes requires a bit of planning, but we have been so grateful for assistance from friends, who have also been praying deeply with us. Thom has had to make various adjustments to his life, especially to have more rest, but in some ways it feels like a season of growth for him.

For me, Advent is very welcome, reminding me to wait and welcome the ways of God in our lives. I have felt very run down and especially tired this year, and it causes me to wonder about the one life I have to live. How I can live it as well as possible, in step with God's Spirit and the yearnings of my heart?

However, a particular source of joy has been the continuing discovery of Godly Play, and the possibility of doing small things well. I'm always so inspired by the Godly Play community, and especially by Sheila over at Explore and Express . As our church situations are very similar - just small seeds beginning to grow - we don't have weekly services, so often we do Godly Play at home as a family. However, Sheila's Advent Clubs seemed to be something we could offer to a few other children.

So today, and for the next three Saturday mornings of Advent, we are meeting in our home with five or six children. I can't tell you how nice it is to get to know these children better! Today, as it was our first time together, and we come from a totally non-liturgical church, I took the time to explain what Advent is, using the Godly Play story of the Circle of the Church Year and the Advent wreath - they were fascinated!

I also told the Parable of the Mustard Seed, which does feel very appropriate for Advent, all that waiting and growing...

In stead of an open response time, we were working on making some table decorations for the local Seniors Christmas Lunch, and for some house-bound folk in our church. The group responded really well to the idea of giving in this way. Today we took some rounds of a log, which the older ones drilled holes in, then 'planted' some twiggy stems. We all spent a very happy time painting, gluing and (lavishly!) glittering the branches, as well as some pine cones to hang on them. The photos don't do these wonderful looking trees justice! They really echo the icy ones outdoors.  Next week we'll make some more decorations

Another possibility for the children was to make a gift for the birds - which they had loved and wonderfully named in the Parable. We used more pine cones dipped in soft vegetable fat and then rolled in bird seed. You can find a simple tutorial here. We enjoyed a well-earned feast together, but it was just wonderful watching the crowds of different birds coming to enjoy their feast.

Wishing you a very joyful Advent!

A story with a view

One for the Godly Play community...in the most recent GP newsletter they included a few stories about unusual locations for storytelling - on a frozen lake from Rebecca Nye probably comes top! However, I recently had the chance to tell The Great Family in one of the world's most beautiful - and famous spots. 

The team I am part of at L'Arche had the rare opportunity to spend the day together - with the previso we didn't go too far and didn't spend much money! Hmm, a challenge. Happily we are less than ten miles from Loch Ness, so we planned a day on the beach there, with a barbeque.

There is always one tiny problem with planning such days in Scotland...the weather. But we prayed and hoped and trusted. And had one of the most beautiful days possible, it was calm and wonderfully warm. Being on a beach, albeit a rocky one, was a good place to wonder about Abram and Sarai's journey, as we pondered on our journey together in L'Arche. Seasoned and sharp-eyed Godly Players will spot a few extra stones in the desert. Each of us placed one in response to ourselves in the story. 

We also broke bread together and thought about the hospitality of Abraham, and what that means for us in L'Arche as we welcome folk, well known and new, each day. This icon sits in the house at L'Arche and often reminds me to go beyond the necessary in my welcome, as well as to take my own part in the feast to which I am invited.

PS No, Nessie did not come to join us for the story - maybe she's just not ready yet!