My nephew (and God son), Nathan, will be celebrating his first communion in May. In the Catholic tradition this is a big deal. When I had my first communion my mom bought me a beautiful white dress, white lace gloves and a child-sized veil. It takes about a year of preparation with dozens of adults pouring time into seven and eight year olds who are only vaguely aware of the importance of the sacrament, but who grow tremendously from the experience. I am excited for my nephew, and I have been trying to think of the perfect rememberance to send him for this special day. Here are some ideas I've come up with:

1. Lego Rosary - thank you etsy, I knew I could count on you! Prayer beads are important in many faith traditions, Catholics pray the Rosary. This unique blue Lego version may be just the thing that can span the gap of the interests of an eight year old boy.

2. Cathedral Visit - Most large metropolitan areas have a cathedral, both Catholic and Protestant. I've been in gorgeous cathedrals from Italy to Kansas City and I am always amazed by the way God's people have poured their time and artistic talents into the worship of their Creator. Taking a child to a cathedral always invites interesting conversation!

3. Saint Medallion - Crosses and saint medallions are great reminders for the wearer of the faith for which they are apart.

4. T-shirt for a Cause - Based on the quote from Mother Teresa, "If you can't feed a hundred people then feed just one" the purchase of this t-shirt provides 30 meals to hungry school children.

5.  Cooking Class - Food is used as a tangible symbol of God's provision so often in the Bible. From manna in the desert, to Jesus providing food for 5,000 and of course the whole point of communion. Taking a class with a child to explore how to prepare food for those in our life, after which we can all sit at a common table and celebrate community - win, win, win.

6. Children's Bible - This is the version I had as a kid, but their are dozens (maybe hundreds) of options available now-a-days. The kids in the Sunday School I help with in Baltimore all have an Adventure version. The key, to me, is the illustrations, especially at this age. Kids may find it difficult to visualize a 2,000 year old well with a Samaritan women drawing water - but put it into a vivid picture that they leaf through for years and now the Bible comes to life!

7. Letter of Encouragement - Free and potentially full of meaning. I would tend to doodle and add lots of color for this age group, but always amongst many words of encouragement and the promises of God for this young one's future.

8. Devotional - Again, there are tons of options in this category. For the kids with lots of questions (what kid does not have lots of questions!?!) this is a great way to take their faith a little deeper.

9. Holy Water - My brother always had a little bottle of Holy Water on his shelf growing up. I don't know that he ever "used" it for anything, but I do know that it represented something to him about his faith tradition and served as a visual reminder of his baptism. Reminders, of all shapes and sizes, can be wonderful ways to bring our thoughts back to center (read: God, Jesus, and LOVE, always LOVE).

Last night was the start of Advent.

We are using the Lakeland guide from far away KC, you can too, HERE.

This year's guide includes coloring sheets, Julia gave Mary some rockin' eye shadow

so it was extra special indeed.

Since candles are not allowed in the suite,

we used construction paper flames on our construction paper wreath

beside our teensy-tiny tree surrounded by a village of felt houses...

nearby hangs our countdown-to-home paper chains.

Sometimes I want to dress them like the kids in the GAP ad, and I for sure want them to be straight-A students. When they make mile-long Christmas wish lists I panic that I'm raising greedy brats, or worse still - hoarders. When they tell me that Justin Bieber is "dreamy" I get a glimpse of the future and panic just a little more. When they dream of being figure skaters or professional gymnasts I think about how impractical it all seems and then smile because my parents encouraged me to be an engineer, and now it all makes sense. Sometimes I want them to sit like robot children at dinner and quietly make grown up conversation about "what they learned today." Usually I wonder if we're inhibiting some special spark deep within them that just needs the right nurturing and time to grow into a purpose. But mostly I just pray that God takes them by the hand and shows them who they are, and I hope its like nothing I've ever seen before.

...“We want people to know there is a call to live life for other people,” Schultz said. “Yes, we are giving them food, and yes, the kids are going to school. But the Kingdom of God is moving forward. That’s what is important.” See the entire article HERE.

Brandon is on the border this week. He is visiting our friends in Anapra, people who are feeling the financial crisis pinch in a way we can't even comprehend. We used to cross into Mexico to visit, but lately its been too dangerous. So at least for now they are meeting through the fence, as four different Border Patrol trucks look on. Hugs aren't possible, but man I sure want to reach out to each of these people and let them know that they are not forgotten. [Read more on the trip from my friend Jenn who is traveling with Brandon and others]

If you have an interest in the talk Estela and I shared at Lakeland back in May,

it has been podcasted and can be accessed at the link below...

(this is for my mom mostly, but everyone else is welcome to a listen as well)

Baptism night has got to be one of the highlights of our year. Our whole church gathers at the "beach" (and for us land-locked Midwesterners this totally counts as "beach"), and we witness the baptism of friends and family. It is sacred and sand-covered at the same time, joyful and totally marvelous. Next year Julia wants to be baptized, she pretty much has told everyone she comes in contact with including every woman in the dance studio lobby tonight. She is very much my deep thinker, and when asked why she thinks she should be baptized she is quick with a very matter-of-fact response, "To be part of God's Kingdom! And cause I love Jesus!"... Alrighty then.

It should be noted that when she told her sister, "Carolyn! Next year I'M going to get baptized", Carolyn simply replied "Where are the cookies? Don't they have cookies at this thing?"... Alright then again.

Today is the beginning of Lent. For us that looked like an Ash Wednesday services in the evening and aquisition of our Lenten poster on which there are 40 activities for "Prayer, Fasting and Giving" that we will undertake as we anticipate Easter. If you'd like a copy of the poster, shoot me an email and I'd gladly share the PDF.
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And here's something I'd love to have for our family next Lent - A LENT wreath.

There is this place just across the border where people are hungry and struggling to make ends meet. For a very long time I've had a vision of recreating a home from this place here in our own comfy suburbs, to bring the poverty "home" and allow people to experience a glimpse of what it looks like to live in desperate need. Last night Brandon and a group of our amazing friends assembled a pallet house (based loosely on the one we photographed above on a trip to Anapra) on the soccer field of our church, and this morning hundreds of people got to experience far-away Anapra first-hand.

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These things I know for certain: Life is good,
and ultimately love will win, even (especially) in Anapra.

New leaves. Turning over.

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Leaning in. Enjoying. Day in and day out. Leaning day in. Praying day out.

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Resisting the urge "to do", just like I promised. Just like 2010 taught me.

Just like God taught me.

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Quilting on Saturday, leaving the house a mess.

See mom on Sunday, and dad and sister and barbecue, and do nothing but enjoy them.

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Glorious un-doing.

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Even those projects I thought I might do. Undone. Glorious.

The girls explore their own "Path of Life" after reading Tommy dePaola's "Clown of God" this weekend (one of the top ten favorite books at our house). Check all of that fun out HERE as we continue our weekly posting on the As One devotional blog.

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I also read grown up books from time to time and "The Problem with Money" has me so confused and inspired that I have arranged a call with the author tomorrow. I can't wait to pick her brain and find out if she can figure out what's going on with mine!

Today we welcomed the infant light of spring. It was a little hard to see through the white-out blizzard and twelve inches of snow, but we perservered.
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The first day (or second) of February have been celebrated for thousands of years as the mid-way point of winter. In pre-Christian times it was a Festival of Lights celebrating the lengthening of days. The early Church celebrated the presentation of baby Jesus at the temple 40 days after his birth when Simeon proclaimed him to be the "light of the world." Many places around the world still celebrate this holiday, called "Candlemas" with various traditions, all involving candles in one way or another.
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In an effort to incorporate a seasonal rhythm into our lives, and largely inspired by the book All Year Round (which also inspired the Weather Tree), we celebrated "Candlemas" by making candles today.
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I chickened out of any boiling of hot wax and opted for rolling sheets of wax instead. THIS tutorial from Brown Robin was super helpful. I ordered the wax and wicks from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm. The sheets are very cheap, however the shipping is not. Next year I will solicit orders from friends so we can all share in shipping and candlemaking fun!

The girls enjoyed heating the wax with the hair dryer and picking the colors for their candles. I thoroughly enjoyed how they turned out, and how simple they were to make. Our intention is now to use these special candles when we celebrate other holidays as part of the rhythm throughout the year.

from Kobo Design

There is a blizzard outside our window. The girls have already requested movies, homemade cookies, warm blankets, and more origami. See what we did with origami boats this weekend HERE.

memories from our beach vacation
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Children are little theologians. Not just my children, all children. They all wonder (some out loud) where Grandma went when she died, or how God can be in Kansas City and China at the same time. They all have big questions, valid and challenging questions that many adults still grapple with.
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Tonight Julia described a recent eschatological debate she had with a group of children about coming back from the dead, an argument that ended with her pronouncement that she was right and that was that (she's passionate, though not too humble just yet). Carolyn wondered whether we would all have bones when we got to Heaven. Then they both hypothesized what Heaven might be like, and how they can't wait to see Grandma again.
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I try to stay on the side-lines of these discussions, careful not to burden them with too much of my own understanding. I answer their questions simply, the way my dad used to patiently do for me night after night, car ride after car ride. It is enough for me to simply enjoy listening to their questions and the spiritual wrestling that is happening inside of their growing minds.

If you feel like praying, thinking, questioning, reading, growing or knowing more about God, you should check out the project we've been working on for the past few weeks. ("we" being many of my sweet friends and the handsome photographer and me, too). Tonight I posted our first of eight family activities, check it out HERE.

Once I had a plan for a new year full of "doing". And then, on day 8 when the Christmas tree was slowly (painfully slowly) dismantled I felt overwhelmed by all there is to "do". Crafts to make, cards to write, stuff to "do" to "do to "do". And I read a post on RESOLUTIONS and I felt compelled to buy paint chips and sharpy markers, and also to make resolutions.
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Not only must I "do" but I must plan to "do" and list it out, and even write the plan creativly so I can smile everytime I see the list on my refrigerator.
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And I was worried about how desperate I felt the need to "do". And I began to wonder why no one else is "doing" as much as possible in every free minute. And I wondered what Glee is, because that does not seem like "doing" much at all. And I thought, "Well, aren't you just a big ball of production and not much else at all lately?" And I thought, "There must be more to do than 'do'."
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I will still "do". Probably less. Maybe.
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My resolution however is simply this: To wonder what to "do".

In Sunday School they used to make us Advent wreaths out of egg cartons and a little bit of clay to hold the candles in place. Man I loved that.
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Our Advent time involves a little bit of candle, a little bit of nose picking (I'll just be real with you, they're not saints just kids), a little bit of Bible, and a lot of quiet. Sitting around candles and Christmas trees is good for the soul.
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Then there is the "who gets to blow out the candle?" bit which tends to spoil the mood just a little, but soon there will be two so they can each blow one out.
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[If you'd like a copy of the Advent guide that we are using in 2010 - email me and I'll send you a pdf of the file...]