Advent word - embrace

Sometimes all that matters is holding each other - to celebrate the joys and comfort through the losses.
I know not everyone is comfortable with being embraced but we all need some kind of physical contact and comfort- if not from our fellow adults then from our children or pets. If you're a "hugger" it can be hard to understand those who aren't, but we need to be empathic about other people's boundaries and respect them.

We are a manifestation of Christ in the world. Our mission is not to bring Christ to people, but to help people come to know and embrace Christ already present.

-Br. Mark Brown

On the tenth day of Christmas...

...I had an epiphany

A couple of days early for an epiphany I know, but today we celebrated epiphany in both our main Sunday service and our family service. My personal epiphany came when my 9 year old son, holding my hand, asked me why my hands are so rough. I explained that it's because of my work as a nurse- I have to wash my hands before and after everything I do and there's little time for hand cream between jobs. One of the assignments I've undertaken as part of my course was designing an act of worship, for which I designed a thanksgiving for caregivers. This included a blessing of hands. Today I thank God for my hands, as a symbol of being a caregiver.

Care For Those in Need

Today's task is one I really enjoy because I think it's really helpful to take things that are in the news and discuss them with my kids. They have amazing insights and I think it's important for them not to live in a bubble - to have knowledge of a world outside of Flixton.
We chatted about the schoolgirls who left the country, possibly heading for Syria but in the end they wanted to pray for Quinto the 5-legged sheep who's given birth to two healthy lambs.

Micah 6:8
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
   and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
   and to walk humbly with your God?

Listen more carefully

I was at home this evening- quite a rare thing- so it was lovely just spending time with my family. My daughter was upset when I got home. She'd been in trouble at school, a very rare thing, and was completely mortified at her punishment. She was worried at how her dad would react and really sad about the things she'd missed out on. She just wanted her mum to sit and listen and hug her, which I of course did.
Once she'd had tea and cheered up she wanted to tell me everything she'd learnt in her puberty classes today...quite frankly I'm not ready for my baby girl to be talking about periods or know what an erection is but I have no choice in this one! I again listened, and told her I'm her to chat about whatever she needs to.
I would, of course, have listened to her troubles whether it was today's task or not, but I was particularly mindful today of really trying to see how she's feeling and let her know I understand.
My son was just merrily going about his own business whilst this was going on. I suggested he might go and ask his Nana how she was for his task, but he turned to me and said "but mummy, I want to know how YOU are!" I don't suppose he really listened to my answer, but it was lovely to be asked!!

Care For Those in Need

Today's action was to watch the news and pray for someone or a situation that you see on it. I put BBC Breakfast on for the children this morning to see if anything struck them. The first story on was a guy who makes Minecraft videos- which the kids obsessed with- so they certainly paid attention to that, but when I asked if there was someone or something they wanted to pray for they looked blank.

Very aptly today is also Woman's World Day of Prayer. Each year focuses on a different country and this year it's Egypt. After watching the news fell flat I decided talk to Faith about Egypt, about the events of the last few years and also to discuss how women don't have equality is some other countries. We also touched on how in some countries it's very difficult to be a Christian.

I hope some of this made her think- she is a really thoughtful girl and feels things very deeply. I couldn't keep my son still for long enough for him to join in, but I'm sure he really enjoyed the Minecraft story!

I'm on a residential weekend now for my ordination training, so tomorrow's action will be a challenge to say the least! For evening prayer we used BCP with it's traditional language. The psalm was 37, which contains my most loved verses:

23. The Lord ordereth a good man’s going and maketh his way acceptable to him.
24. Though he fall, he shall not be cast away for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.

I think those verses are inspiring and uplifting at any time, but especially important to remember as we think about people in difficult circumstances.

Micah 6.8: He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?