Theme: We carried on with December's worship theme since Mystery/Wonder are part of so many of December's holidays. We talked about Advent as a season of waiting... for Christmas which began as a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Things we do while waiting: sing carols, open advent calendars, light advent wreaths. Also:
- Set up Nativity scenes: During that time of waiting we might set up Nativities. We looked at three different examples of Nativity sets. Ask your child to describe them to you.
- Hear the Christmas story: More details on this below. We'll do this again on December 23rd, with the No Rehearsal Christmas Pageant. We talked about coming dressed as shepherds, angels, or magi.
- Share gifts for those in need: Just as Rev. Joan's Story for All Ages mentioned that "The Messiah is among us." We can all act in a way that cherishes the worth and value of those around us and celebrates the spirit of love that Jesus represents. There are two local families in need that we've signed up to help through Neighbors Helping Neighbors. 11am preschoolers made cards for these families that anyone participating can sign. All the other children made "wishing stars" and helped put them on the tree, and during coffee hour many helped find people to sign up for getting the gifts.
Follow-up questions:
1. For those who celebrate Christmas, Advent is a time of waiting. What are other times we have to wait for exciting days to come along?
2. If you took a 'wishing star,' make a plan for finding the gift and wrapping it (make sure to put your star on the outside so we know what it is). If you didn't take a star, ask "What is something generous we as a family could do for others this season? (Invite someone who lives alone over for dinner? Make cookies for your mail carrier or the crossing guard? What are the kids' ideas?).
3. If you have a Nativity set, tell the Christmas story using the pieces.
More on the stories from yesterday:
Read stories: We read A Christmas Story by Brian Wildsmith. I love the illustrations and the perspective of the narrator as Rebecca, the neighbor girl who eventually becomes a friend of Jesus, but we talked about how their would NOT have been people with blond hair Bethlehem or Jerusalem at that time.
We looked at the pictures in this book, to see illustrations of people with darker skin and dark hair, more like what the real Mary and Joseph might have looked like. That book is called The Most Precious Gift by Marty Crisp. It was a different story than the basic one, so we didn't read it but I'll get it back to the library soon so you can!
Next Sunday:
- We will explore the Winter Solstice through songs and activities. One group will help make cranberry sauce for the Community Lunch Holiday meal the following day.
Above: Margaret Blanchard (left) and Pam Cameron (right),
two of our fabulous Sunday morning Spiritual Exploration leaders.
Above: LSE leader, Liz Meehan, reads A Christmas Story by Brian Wildsmith while Nancy Schulz and the preschool pair for the day look on.
Above: Instead of playing the game "hangman" we played "snowman." Same fun theme without the connection to lynching.
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