Notes from Nana Linda

It’s summertime and we’ve been seeing a lot more of our grandchildren.  I was a bit concerned that they would get bored with us since, in accordance with my daughter’s wishes,  we don’t let them have any screen time–no computer, tv, or video games.  (That’s not completely true.  Since they are older we occasionally have a movie night or I allow my grandson to see a selection of electronic cards on the computer that a friend at church sends me.)  But by and large they have to play with old fashioned toys and make up their own games.

Happy birthday, dear Yoda...

I got to see one of the results of this lack of electronic stimulus the other day when the two kids spontaneously planned and gave Yoda his 900 year old birthday party.  As you can see all the stuffed animals in the house were invited and items were gloriously repurposed for the feast.  Shells became dishes, boxes became chairs, handkerchiefs  were tableclothes, and the food was cut out of paper.  It took two days of furious play with the actual party being the shortest part of it all.

I realized that this was an old-fashioned dolls’ tea party still alive and well in the 21st century.  The power of children’s imagination is extraordinary.  It may take a little nudge to get the kids’ creative juices going but once awakened creative play is powerful and can be quite satisfying.  Child development experts are well aware of the importance of “child-initiated unstructured play.”  Our job is to make sure our children have time for this necessary developmental activity.

Now my grandkids are on to making huge medicine machines out of Tinker Toys.  What next?

A dog and his boy

What do you do when you want a pet but you like to travel?  Well, what I did first was to complain and moan and groan to my children about how unfair it was that I couldn’t have everything I wanted.  When that paled, I resigned myself to reality and hard choices, just as I told my children they need to do at times.

Then a magical thing happened.  One of my daughters suggested that we share a dog.  I floated this idea by them earlier but had gotten no positive response.  Suddenly, the perfect dog was available and needed a home.  From that point on it all fell into place so smoothly I couldn’t remember why we hadn’t shared a dog before.

The way it works is I have the dog, Logan, during the week and my daughter has him on the weekend.  Since I’m retired I can spend more time with him during working hours and he is at my house when I have the grandchildren over after school.  Then on the weekend I can relax and not worry about walks and feeding and the thousand things having a dog entails. When I go on a trip Logan will stay with my daughter.  So far (two weeks) it’s been great.  I really do enjoy having a dog around and I’ve come to believe it’s good for my health.

Another reason to teach children to share.  They can become very useful to you in your old age.

Seder meal 2010

Every year on Palm Sunday it is a Tradition for the Sunday School children of LCH to put on a modified Seder for the congregation between services.  For the last month we’ve been preparing invitations and decorations, practicing the music, telling the story of Moses, and exploring how Passover relates to our Christian faith.

Since several of the children will not be able to be there for the Seder, what is the point of their practicing for it?  Tradition!  Most of these children have been to several of the Seders.  They have participated every year, at first by asking one of the Four Questions, later by telling the story of Moses and the Exodus that contain the answers, and always by singing the music and having fun with the members of the congregation.  So the preparation calls up for them all these memories.  For children the practice is as important as the event.

So much of what we do with the children at LCH is rhythmic and cyclical.  The children remember past events and can predict what will happen in the future.  This is very reassuring for them.  Jesse Tree for Advent, Christmas Eve service, Heifer Concert in Lent, Seder, Easter, Children’s Sabbath in October; the children’s liturgical year rolls on filled with LCH’s Traditions.

We have just returned from a trip to India and as gifts for our grandchildren we brought Indian comic books.  These are not normal American superhero stories, but rather tales from the spiritual heritage of India presented in a graphic novel format.  They are delightful.  There are tales of great saints, adventures from the epics of India, and morality stories something like Aesop’s Fables.  It isn’t Christianity, but it is spirituality and it’s been wonderful sharing these stories with our grandchildren.

These comics are an attempt to give the greatest number of readers an introduction to the important moral and ethical stories of India.  Our Indian friends on the trip were happily getting copies for their grandchildren.  Even my husband and I found ourselves fascinated by the stories of the great Sikh gurus, a subject we knew very little about.

What a clever way to introduce these images and ideas to the next generation.

Continue reading →

LCH as an ark in a troubled world

On March 12th at 4:00 the Sunday school children of LCH will put on a benefit concert. This is an annual event where our young use their talents to energize the congregation to give money towards buying an Ark through Heifer International as a gift from LCH’s Sunday school. This is an idea that has come from the children themselves and a way for them to contribute.  Many of the kids have wonderful artistic talents that we as their church family are unaware of .  This is a time for them to share these talents.  I don’t know the details of what will be offered but I do know that it will be enjoyable and well done.  I hope to see you there.

The newest member of God's family

“You are God’s Work of Art” is a hymn we often sing on the Faith and Arts Sunday at LCH.  The message of the hymn was brought home to me this last Sunday when my youngest grandchild was baptized.  It happened to be Faith and Arts Sunday and the courtyard was full of art and craft pieces that the various members of the congregation had brought to share.  It is a great way for us to appreciate each other’s talents and grow closer as a congregation.

And then there was this tiny perfect baby, God’s work of art.  LCH was full of love and she was in the middle of it.  It was quite a Sunday and it turned out to be the perfect day to acknowledge the presence of a new member of our community.

We have so many new babies at the church.  We have two baptisms on February 27, one at the Easter Vigil.  I love a baptism, and especially a baby’s.  So I’m looking forward to a lot of happy times as we welcome in these young members.

Recently the Sunday school lesson was on Luke 9:46-48.  In this story the disciples argue about who will be first, who is most important.  The faith trait we concentrated on was humility.  How could I get the idea of humility across to first graders? 

Nana Linda's card showing I'm good at singing, knitting, and golfing

I tried something I’d done with older children, not sure if it would work with kids this young.  Each of us had a card with our name on the front.  Inside it was blank.  We passed the card around until each of us had someone else’s card.  Inside we all drew a picture of something that person whose name was on the front of the card was good at.  We continued until everyone had drawn on everyone elses card.  It was fun and got across the idea of thinking about the other person and how they could be first.  It also made for interesting conversations and discoveries since we had to ask each other about interests.  Even though these were 6 year olds, they really got into it. 

It’s amazing what can come out of these lovely children during a Sunday school lesson.

If Candlemas be fair and bright, Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, Winter will not come again.

February 2nd was Groundhog Day/Candlemas.  Both these festivals have to do with hope.  With the storms that have been sweeping the Mainland this year, these images of hope are an important reminder that the year is turning, the days are getting longer and lighter, and spring will return.

Phil, not seeing his shadow

Groundhog Day is what we are more familiar with in America.  This is the day the famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, is taken out of his home and all the people wait to see if he sees his shadow–meaning that it will be a late spring. Happily I understand he didn’t see his shadow and that means that spring will come early this year.  The idea of Groundhog Day comes from Germany where the farmers would watch the behavior of hibernating animals to see if they could predict how long winter would last.  Candlemas became the day to observe the animals since it is midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.

Candlemas Bells (Snowdrops) are a sign of hope

Candlemas is the older festival that falls on February 2nd.   It is 40 days after Christ’s birth and is the day Mary would have gone through her final purification after giving birth.  It is also traditionally the day Christ was presented in the Temple. This was the second revealing of Christ during the season of Epiphany. At this presentation Simeon declared him a light to the Gentiles. (The first revelation of Christ was when the Three Wise Men visited.)  Because Christ was seen as the light of the world, February 2nd was traditionally the day all the candles in the church were blessed for the new year.

Even in Hawaii where the weather doesn’t overwhelm us with winter, we need to remember that Christ is our light, leading us out of darkness.

My granddaughter harvesting lettuce from her container garden

My daughter and grandchildren just informed me that they are starting on a 5210 campaign.  This is a national initiative to prevent childhood obesity by establishing good habits.  The idea is each day to:

eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables

have less than 2 hours of screen time (this includes TV, computer and iphone)

get 1 hour of activity

have 0 sweets and sweet drinks

My daughter’s family will encourage each other by having a chart where they can get gold stars for keeping on plan.  My grandson is sure his dad will lose because he drinks a lot of soda.  The children have a great attitude about their lifestyle change and seem to see it as an adventure.

I’m going to support them by having fruit as the Sunday School snack.  I can’t divert them from the snack table at church, but I can provide an alternative.  Ultimately they have to learn to make their own good choices and resist temptation.  In the meantime maybe they will motivate me to join them in 5210.