Easter for 50 days

Easter is a season of fifty days and not a celebration of one day. Here are a couple of resources that I have found which help to keep Easter and the amazing and joyous implications of this season upper most in my thought and prayer life.

Lent and Beyond  is an Anglican prayer site - often inspiring and thought provoking

 I have mentioned the book 'Living Easter through the Year ' by John Pritchard before. I am using it again this year and highly recommend it.

I would very much like to hear of any ideas or resources that others use ......

An apology

My blog has been very neglected recently. I have started a return to practice for midwifery course and it is absorbing much of my time and thinking space. We still celebrate the seasons but I have little time to write about it! I am enjoying my first springtime Easter in a number of years - today I crystallised primroses and violets to decorate the Simnel cake with. We have shared much of this holy week with our church family and tomorrow we celebrate with my parents and sisters and their families.

I hope that before the end of the year I will have finished my course and will be back to regular blogging. In the meantime -

A very Happy Easter to any readers who drop by!

Ideas for St Valentines day..

Activities that promote discussion..

Listen to some stories of romance
 At Storynory you can download stories for free

Watch a romantic film.- obviously your choice will depend on the age of your kids , how about;
Love Story
Love Actually.
Cinderella - maybe a modern day version like Maid in Manhattan or Pretty Woman
Roman Holiday or another Audrey Hepburn film.
The Time Travellers Wife
Titanic
The Princess Bride
Shrek
.....the list is endless! A Disney list here

Make an appreciation tree. Cut out paper hearts, each heart should have the name of one family member on it, distribute them to family members who then write something they appreciate about every person on the heart with that person's name. Hang the hearts on a branch and place in a jug on the table.

I am going to give my family a quest this year - the one that can find the best definition of true love will win a chocolate heart.

Any other ideas?

St Valentine's Day.

We do not celebrate saints days except for one or two - St Valentines day is one of those exceptions. He is the patron saint of love and love is the very essence of God  who we worship in all our celebrations. To love as God loves is to what we aspire  in our relationships. In our commitment wary and self centred culture of today I would like my children to learn what true love is , and indeed remind myself  of its  height and depth and breadth.

'Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. it does not demand it's own way. It is not irritable, and keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices when ever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never looses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance'

1Corinthians 13:4-7

Red roses or heart shaped chocolate boxes do not feature in our celebrations; I do bake a heart shaped chocolate cake for dessert though! But activities that provoke interesting discussions become increasingly pertinent as my children head into the teenage years.

A happy discovery for someone who loves books was that the 14th of February is also International Book Giving Day  What better way to spread love and cheer around on a chilly February day than to give a book away. So, this year our St Valentines Day plans include leaving some books lying around for others to find, maybe in a cafe or a bus stop - I hope they are blessed.

Zoe at playing by the book  also has suggestions  that are relevant to the UK.

Do you celebrate St Valentine?  What do you do?

Our Candlemas plans.

To celebrate we are going to:

Make beeswax candles to decorate the house and our table.

The children are going to make and perform a shadow puppet  show of the story of the presentation. The theatre is already finished - made from a cardboard box and baking parchment.To make the puppet figures we use free downloaded colouring pages as templates and trace on to card.
(This idea comes from the book The Year and our Children by Mary Newland Reed.)

http://www.sermons4kids.com/simeon_abda_colorpg.htm
http://www.sermons4kids.com/simeon-anna-colorpg.htm
http://www.calvary-kids-pages.com/cm60.html
http://frontpage.velocity.net/roaminka/EACH/colorpages/presentation.gif

Share a fondue meal with friends. I also plan to serve pretzels to represent the arms of Simeon and black olives to represent Anna , who was a widow. (If you want more ideas for food to serve at Candlemas try Alice's blog.)

Listen to some great music.

Candlemas

This Thursday - February 2nd  - is the feast of 'Candlemas' .

Ron Dicianni   'Simeons Moment'

This little known , but delightful celebration is a feast of light , commemorating the presentation of Jesus as a baby, by his parents at the temple in Jerusalem. In the gospel story in Luke chapter two Mary and Joseph attend the temple as required by law to offer  sacrifices. As they enter the temple they are met by Simeon, an elderly and devout man who has been promised by God that  he would not die until he has seen the Messiah. It a dramatic and intense moment as Simeon takes the baby in his arms and  prophecies.

Imagine holding the infant Son of God in your arms.

His  parent are amazed and probably not a little disconcerted. To add to their perplexity they are approached by Anna, a prophet and widow who spends her days in the temple. She also recognises the baby for who he is.

The celebration of Candlemas includes three symbols; time, light and music.

Time

God's timing uniquely perfect and beautifully executed. Simeon had waited a long time , faithful and patient , to see God's salvation. Now he would die in peace and  confidence.  Candlemas falls precisely between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Just as the days are beginning, ever so gradually, to lengthen and small quiet signs of spring discreetly emerge we celebrate the light of the world publicly recognised. We move from winter towards spring, from Christmas towards Easter.

‘The snowdrop, in purest white array, first rears her head on Candlemas day’

Traditional rhyme

 February is the month  when glimpses of the sun and early flowers give hope for the spring after the bleak days of January. Snowdrops flower at this time of year and are sometimes called Candlemas Bells. The tiny infant who was taken to the temple that day is a glimpse of the glory of God's salvation - for both Israel and all the nations.

Light

 It is predominantly a feast of light. Simeon's words remind us  that Jesus is ' a light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory for your people Israel'

Some churches hold candle lit processions into darkened church buildings and the candles to be used during worship for the rest of the year are blessed; this is where the name Candlemas comes from.

Music

The words of Simeon are known as the Nunc Dimitis; they have been set to music by a variety of composers. The following links take you two lovely but very different recordings.

The first is Aled Jones and Ben Crawley singing Geoffrey Burgon's setting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PzTrC9fREY

And Michael Card singing 'Now that I've held Him in my arms.'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBZiPRPogn0

January Days - feeding the birds.

 We are enjoying the birds that come to our garden and have started to feed them over the winter months. I have a pair of binoculars on the kitchen windowsill and we are gradually learning to identify the different birds that visit.

According to the RSPB half the adults in in Britain feed birds in their gardens! Winter is the often the time when we think about feeding the birds , especially during harsh weather conditions when food is scarce. The RSPB website has lots of good advise on how, when and what to feed.

Also, this month on the weekend of the 28th and 29th is the Big Garden Bird Watch . All you have to do is commit one hour to watching the birds in your garden and recording the species that visit, then send the results in to the RSPB.

It looks like fun.