Why do I follow the Way of Jesus?  It is a question that each of us who embrace Christianity need to ask ourselves.  And then, for those of us raising children, why do we want to introduce our children to the Way of Jesus and raise them within this faith?   Up until a few decades ago, we weren’t faced with this question.  We lived in a society that was mostly Christian.  On a census form, people typically aligned themselves with one of the Christian denominations, even if they didn’t go to church very often.  Now people feel free to choose...

Playing with emotions! That’s what we’ve been doing the past few weeks.   I’ve been talking about playing with our emotions because we need them.  There are not good and bad emotions.  Throw out whatever you’ve been taught about green (go for it), yellow (caution), and red (don’t do it) for emotions.  Emotions must move!  That is why they are called e-motions.  They are about a movement that is happening within, in response to what we are experiencing around us.   Our senses take in information.  Our brain processes that information and sends signals to the body, to keep us safe...

Time to play with separation & fears!   The world is a scary place, whether you are two years old looking up and out at all these things that are bigger than you and out of your control….. or you are 52 or 72 or 92 listening to the news or facing challenges among friends and family.   It does not take much to stir up fear, alarm and anxiety in our lives.  We get a daily dose and somehow have to find our way through.  Having 24/7 news accessible online does nothing to help our alarm levels.  So what are we...

Time to play with sadness!  We’ve all done it.  Boo, hoo, hoo! we have playfully cried. And we might even end up giggling at the end of our playful sadness.   Real tears, real sadness, is essential to our well-being.  Tears are not a sign of weakness.  Tears are the movement of very real emotions deep within.  If we don’t cry, or at least feel sadness to the point where we can feel tears at the edges of our eyes, then the emotions get stuck and harm us, and sometimes others, in the long run.  But tears can be hard to...

Time to play with joy!  Does that sound odd to you!   Isn’t joy natural?  Why would we need to play with joy? However, when I walk down the sidewalk, the smiling faces stand out because there are so few of them and so many sad and stressed faces.  I was flicking through photos of the models wearing a particular designer’s fall line of clothing and what I noticed is that none of them were smiling or happy.  They all had very stern faces.  It seems to be the “in” thing in the fashion industry. How sad!   And then there...

Time to play with alarm!  Hard to imagine, yet we do it all the time.   Hide & seek.  Peek-a-boo.  There are all sorts of games where we play with what alarms, with our fears.  “Daddy, be the monster and chase me!”  “Mommy, pretend you’re a ghost!”  All of these are ways that we and our children play with our fears and build some resilience and skills for facing them.   My husband had a wonderful rhyme he used with our boys when they were little (think 2-3 years).  They would sit on his knee.  He would tightly hold their hands...

Time to play with frustration!  What’s your reaction to that statement!   First of all, let me say – there are no such things as bad emotions.  Emotions are neutral and they all need to be expressed.  There are lots of statements out there about good emotions and bad emotions, and programs that encourage children to express the “good” emotions but supress the “bad” emotions – but there is no truth to that. Of course, we like emotions such as happiness better and have a bigger problem with frustration or its evolution into anger.  But all emotions need to be expressed! ...

Playing with emotions!  For the next few weeks, I’m going to explore playing with frustration, sadness, fear, separation, happiness, love and more.  But why play with emotions, you might ask?   I was walking along a path from a beach in PEI this summer.  Ahead of me were a family with young children.  The youngest, a little girl about 3 years old, was trailing her mom and sobbing.  The mom, without turning back, declared, “I don’t want to hear your crying.  I didn’t come on holidays to hear you crying all the time.”  Now, it would be easy to place all...

Doing nothing is doing something! In this time of year when our schedules are filling up again, activities are starting, and school is back in full swing, it seems that there is more than enough “somethings” to fill every minute of the day.  What at first may seem fun can quickly settle into an exhausting schedule, a demanding schedule, into which we try to fit family meals & sleep!   Into this frazzled kind of time that creeps up on us, the wisdom of our Judeo-Christian scripture speaks: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under...

Take a bit of time each day as a family to reflect on your faith. It's a great spiritual practice that helps your children and you grow your faith. Print this out - and take it with you wherever you go. Everything you need it right there. Summer_Reflections_for_Family_2017.pdf Blessings for restoring your spirit this summer! Rev. Susan  ...