grandparenting | Rows of Sharon

This past Saturday I gave a workshop at the annual Spring Training event for the Episcopal Church in Connecticut. My presentation involved sharing ideas of how we can make worship more formational for children as well as how we can help parents make faith conversations and practices part of every day life at home. It occurred to me as I was putting some materials together for a “show & tell” that my process (and examples) make a great example of how to do both.

Basically, I gathered up all the supplies that I would put together in a “quiet bag” that I might bring to church with me if I had a preschooler or 8-year-old sitting alongside me in the pew for an entire worship service. What if we made such bags available to children to pick up before they entered our worship spaces? What if some of these objects were put into a “home box” and given to families for their use in at home or in the car? Continue reading A Child’s “Worship Bag” →

It’s the beginning of February and I’ve been compiling lists of resources for Lent to be used by individuals or congregations. There are many I have ‘followed’ in recent years: Lent Madness, Episcopal Relief and Development’s Lenten devotional, the annual CPI “pick” of a book that offers a study guide alongside a calendar and/or app. But this year none of them are appealing to me.

Several years ago my mother-in-law was placed in hospice during Lent. She died during Holy Week. Lent took on a whole new meaning for me that year. This year I suspect Lent will take on quite the opposite meaning for me. See . . . my Lenten practice will be getting ready to be a grandmother.

My first grandchild is due April 13th. (“Awfully close to tax day,” says my CPA/Financial Planner husband.) So I am in the midst of planning a baby shower, figuring out what kinds of baby paraphernalia I’ll need to have around the house and other deliberations, such as “How will I be able to fit a car seat in the back of my 2005 Mustang convertible?” (You can’t.) Continue reading My 2015 Lenten Practice →