LUBASI HOME FOR CHILDREN, Zambia

Some of you may have heard about a project that one of our own is taking up.

Hedi and Chris T. are heading over to South Africa (the land they hail from) at the end of the month.  In Hedi's plans, she decided to weave into the trip a stop at an orphanage in Zambia.  It wasn't long before she found a need.  And, Hedi being Hedi, she went right to doing something about it.

Thanks to the support of Chris and Hedi's community and church family, they will be taking 45 fairtrade soccer balls to enliven the children at Lubasi.  Hedi was particularly moved when the idea of bringing soccer balls connected to a video where she witnessed children playing with a make-shift soccer ball.

Here is a link the the orphanage's website:  http://www.lubasihome.org/

Please keep Hedi and Chris in your prayers.  May God continue to direct their efforts and relationships as they travel. 

NEW YEAR PRAYERS FROM OUR KIDS

Prayers for when we feel hurt (inside and out): Thank you God for ... bodies that heal.  Thank you God for tools that heal us like First Aid kits, wet cloths, ice packs, dry cloths.  Thank you God for helping us feel better.  Please help us God ... to find comfort, to take care of people who are sick (by bringing soup, drinks, and our company).  Please help us when we feel disappointed (like when we get toys for Christmas that we already have).

Prayers for clothes and other things that we need and that make us happy:  Thank you God for ... rainbow dresses with matching tights.  Please help us ... to help other people to have bicycles, jerseys, helmets. 

Prayers for adventures we'll have in 2012:  Thank you God for ... cars and all vehicles.  Please help us ... to trust you even when I feel afraid (like when I pray that I won't see big cats at night but I sometimes still do).

Prayers for adventures:  Thank you God for ... bodies which take us on adventures (like walking to Cora's and taking 2 buses to get there).  Please help us ... to not get hurt.

More prayers for clothes and other things that we need and that make us happy: Thank you God for ... dresses with ruffles on them in the winter and the summer, Canucks jerseys.  Please help us ... to share.

Prayers for our creative experiences in the New Year:  Thank you God for ... fun painting and pictures, making up games, sports and making volcanoes out of something.  Please help us ... to have lots of new ideas, to make beautiful things in the world.  

Pre-decorated pictures taken from Taro Gomi's Scribbles.

After Sunday school we decided to have a little dance party in my office to this:

Happy New Year!

"The Lives They Loved"

As we leave this year and the darkness of winter behind, we continue to hold the losses of the year.  These losses don't, after all, just disappear.

Readers of The New York Times were invited to contribute photographs of loved ones who died this year.  This link was on Twitter yesterday and I was mesmerized by the common and still spectacular lives of those who passed away. 

We remember those we've shared this holy holiday with in Christmases past.  May those memories fill us with gratitude, not overwhelming despair.

Peace.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/12/20/magazine/lives-they-lived-reader-submissions.html?GN-D-E-TWTR-AD-TXT-MAG-ROS-1211-NA&campaignId=397U6#index

LET'S GET OUR ADVENT ON

Here are a couple of things you can add to your Advent preparations.

1)  Family Activities for Advent Calendars, 2011

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XDO6ivVDgJWnCG8p6_svNWdGOTtK2HLztVpVpoAUHQw/edit?hl=en_US 

2) Scripture Verses Connected to Kits Sunday School, Advent Calendars, 2011

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FOd4lFUecUQRrufo7Tqy0o4rTtg9lNfjFYgqFfi_aMs/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1

Here are a few links to craft Advent Calendars, if you don't already have one that you use:

http://www.thecraftycrow.net/2010/11/24-advent-calendars-to-make.html
http://www.quietfish.com/notebook/?p=1244
http://go.tipjunkie.com/ch/337/www.tipjunkie.com/christmas-advent-calendar/

Send Bobbi photos of Advent calendars and traditions and we can add them to this helpful post!  

Feist Makes Kits Cooler

At church a couple of Sundays ago I (Bobbi) did a Kids Moment tied to the story of Jethro and Moses.  Our kids in their Sunday School classes were exploring the ways that this story reminds us that we need one another to accomplish the good work of healing in our communities and (I add) the good work of healing in relationships and in creation.

I had so much fun sharing this song with you, that I may have neglected to make my points really clear.  It doesn't matter so much anymore, now that the moment has passed, but I did want to share this song with you in its complete form.  It reminds us of how hard relationships can be, even when there is a "good woman" and a "good man."

Linking that back to the kids moment, may we all be reminded of the ways that, like Moses, we can't solve our broken relationships on our own.  We need each other.  Feist has a beautiful voice all on her own, but when we add the other instruments and voices and beats in the song, we get something more nuanced, alive, and full.

Enjoy the song, it is the first on her newest album "Metals."

Advent Art

We hope that you are getting creative with the opportunity to add your art to the Advent reader this year.  Submissions are due to Anna by next Tuesday, November 15. 

I came across this how-to on making an Advent silhouette.  It looks like a cool project to try for yourself or to do with your family.  Here's the link:  http://www.thatartistwoman.org/2008/12/how-to-make-nativity-silhouette-art.html

LIGHTING IT UP FOR A GREAT CAUSE

Vikki, wearing her HomeStart hat, wants us to know about these VERY COOL lamps that are being sold to benefit HomeStart.  If you were in church on Sunday, you know that HomeStart is working hard to secure the wheels needed to move furniture to homes that need it most.

Check out the beautiful lamps – made of legacy sails fabric from Canada Place – that Kevin at www.Designersatlarge.com is selling to benefit HomeStart.

http://designersatlarge.com/Listen_Closely/Listen_Closely.html