Started word searching "new year" but decided I'd do better looking for "first month" and look what I found! A very cool birthday present! :)
"It was the first day of the first month of Noah's 601st year. The water had dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering from the ark. He saw that the surface of the ground was dry." (Genesis 8:13 NIRV) As I say, a pretty cool birthday present even if they didn't celebrate birthdays. It's always fun to see things in scripture I'd never noticed before.
According to Ex. 12 Passover became associated with the first month of the new year when the Hebrews left Egypt. If you're into word studies, some other interesting things transpired over time during the first month of the Hebrew calendar. It's just interesting, if you think of God starting a new year.
Anyway...all this just to say "Happy New Year." May you keep growing and knowing Emmanuel, God-With-Us, in life changing ways and in ways that you've not known Him before.
Psalm 90
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Friday, December 29, 2006
"A voice ...in Ramah...weeping..."
I've been pondering this story from Matthew 2 (NIrV) as a scripture about children.
I wonder:
~ You're asked to go in the opposite direction from your home, family, work into another country. I wonder how Joseph and Mary felt traveling with a new baby and all these riches. What challenges worried them most? And I wonder how the Egyptians felt about Jews settling in Egypt?
~This is the part that gets me. When Mary and Joseph heard about this massacre how did they feel thinking that all these children were slaughtered because of their son? How did they feel about going back to Nazareth? How did Joseph and Mary face their relatives? When Jesus later heard about this - as a boy or as a man (flesh and blood) how did He feel? Were there boys his age to play with?
~Were they just grateful to be alive? Did they carry this incredible guilt? Did they say, "Oh well, it was God's will"? All those boys Jesus' age weren't alive to be men when he was 33 but their parents and families were. How did they feel about Herod? How did they feel about Jesus? How did they feel about God? And the children who lived through the ordeal or heard the stories? How did those children feel about Jesus?
The scriputures tell us that after Herod died, Joseph had a dream while he was still in Egypt. In the dream an angel of the Lord appeared to him. The angel said, "Get up! Take the child and his mother. Go to the land of Israel. Those who were trying to kill the child are dead."
-but surely the memories lingered among those who journeyed to Bethlehem for the censes, and those who lived in Bethlehem and around Jerusalem.
I wonder:
~ You're asked to go in the opposite direction from your home, family, work into another country. I wonder how Joseph and Mary felt traveling with a new baby and all these riches. What challenges worried them most? And I wonder how the Egyptians felt about Jews settling in Egypt?
~This is the part that gets me. When Mary and Joseph heard about this massacre how did they feel thinking that all these children were slaughtered because of their son? How did they feel about going back to Nazareth? How did Joseph and Mary face their relatives? When Jesus later heard about this - as a boy or as a man (flesh and blood) how did He feel? Were there boys his age to play with?
~Were they just grateful to be alive? Did they carry this incredible guilt? Did they say, "Oh well, it was God's will"? All those boys Jesus' age weren't alive to be men when he was 33 but their parents and families were. How did they feel about Herod? How did they feel about Jesus? How did they feel about God? And the children who lived through the ordeal or heard the stories? How did those children feel about Jesus?
The scriputures tell us that after Herod died, Joseph had a dream while he was still in Egypt. In the dream an angel of the Lord appeared to him. The angel said, "Get up! Take the child and his mother. Go to the land of Israel. Those who were trying to kill the child are dead."
-but surely the memories lingered among those who journeyed to Bethlehem for the censes, and those who lived in Bethlehem and around Jerusalem.
Friday, December 22, 2006
This is from our PTSA newsletter and MCC . Feel free to pass this along. Our local school district is offering a lot of workshops for parents right now. This is from the local community college. You may have similar resources in your own community. Doing things you have in common with people who don't go to your church or taking a friend from church with you to activities in the community is a nice place to build relationships inside and outside your faith community.
From the newsletter (Rev. Margaret Scott, communications VP):
The internet is a wonderful place, full of endless amounts of information and resources. However, some people have used the internet to promote things we do not want our children to be exposed to. Homeland Security Management Institute of MCC is offering a course entitled “Cyber Skills to Protect Our Children”. Learn what certain phrases such as, MySpace, IM, blogging, just to name a few cyber words mean and how you can help protect children at home, school or wherever they may have access to a computer.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding this important course or visit us at www.monroecc.edu/go/hsmiand click on classroom course. Hurry, seats are filling up quickly! Registration deadline is January 5, 2007.
If you know someone who might be interested, feel free to pass this along.
From the newsletter (Rev. Margaret Scott, communications VP):
The internet is a wonderful place, full of endless amounts of information and resources. However, some people have used the internet to promote things we do not want our children to be exposed to. Homeland Security Management Institute of MCC is offering a course entitled “Cyber Skills to Protect Our Children”. Learn what certain phrases such as, MySpace, IM, blogging, just to name a few cyber words mean and how you can help protect children at home, school or wherever they may have access to a computer.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding this important course or visit us at www.monroecc.edu/go/hsmiand click on classroom course. Hurry, seats are filling up quickly! Registration deadline is January 5, 2007.
If you know someone who might be interested, feel free to pass this along.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Artisan update
You can find Pastor Brian's children/family moment podcasts and the family worship folder at the Artisan website under worship. There was talk of a forum about kids. I don't know whether that's in the works or not. George and I have stepped back a bit this season.
But another wonderful and interesting development at Artisan, that in some ways is very Rochester: Rochester has a large community of deaf and hearing impaired, particularly at RIT. And we have a School for the Deaf. One of the largest city high schools offers ASL for foreign language/regents credit. Unusual, but I'm guessing that Spanish and ASL are the primary 2ndary languages in this town and learning either is a useful tool for students in this particular city. Artisan has had a number of RIT students coming all along and that number has included more and more deaf and hearing impaired students partly perhaps because Artisan uses multimedia and various tactile, sensory tools so we have a very visual/sensory as opposed to a mostly auditory presentation.
Lyrics are on overhead. Not unusual. But, apart from lyrics, I wonder what a visual (not auditory) musical presentation would look like with color and movement and ways to feel the beat... interesting possibilities...
Anyway, sharing an ASL class will help bridge the language barrier and foster community in fun and unique ways. A unique community for children.
But another wonderful and interesting development at Artisan, that in some ways is very Rochester: Rochester has a large community of deaf and hearing impaired, particularly at RIT. And we have a School for the Deaf. One of the largest city high schools offers ASL for foreign language/regents credit. Unusual, but I'm guessing that Spanish and ASL are the primary 2ndary languages in this town and learning either is a useful tool for students in this particular city. Artisan has had a number of RIT students coming all along and that number has included more and more deaf and hearing impaired students partly perhaps because Artisan uses multimedia and various tactile, sensory tools so we have a very visual/sensory as opposed to a mostly auditory presentation.
Lyrics are on overhead. Not unusual. But, apart from lyrics, I wonder what a visual (not auditory) musical presentation would look like with color and movement and ways to feel the beat... interesting possibilities...
Anyway, sharing an ASL class will help bridge the language barrier and foster community in fun and unique ways. A unique community for children.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Index
Look! A real live index of labels with links and everything!
(The initials are initials for book titles that earned more than one post. You'll find other individual books under "resources.")
IC Invisible Child by Katherine Paterson
CS Children's Spirituality Donald Ratcliff ed.
RKRF Real Kids, Real Faith by Karen Marie Yust
YCIW Young Children in Worship by Sonja M. Steward
4/07 WWTK Where Were the Kids? - not a book, just thoughts looking through scripture for children
7/07 CHMT Children Matter by Scottie May, Beth Posterski, Catherine Stonehouse, and Linda Cannell.
2/08 LCW Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
12/08 TCITB The Child in the Bible edited by Marcia J. Bunge
Emerging Kids yearly anniversary is May 31!
The One Anothers post - Tuesday, November 08, 2005
PLFC - Paul's Letters for Children
2/27/10 LFK: O & Q & KFW Looking for Children: Observations & Questions & Kid-Friendly Words
7/2012 CRT God and World in the Old Testament: a Relational Theology of Creation by Terence E. Fretheim
(The initials are initials for book titles that earned more than one post. You'll find other individual books under "resources.")
IC Invisible Child by Katherine Paterson
CS Children's Spirituality Donald Ratcliff ed.
RKRF Real Kids, Real Faith by Karen Marie Yust
YCIW Young Children in Worship by Sonja M. Steward
4/07 WWTK Where Were the Kids? - not a book, just thoughts looking through scripture for children
7/07 CHMT Children Matter by Scottie May, Beth Posterski, Catherine Stonehouse, and Linda Cannell.
2/08 LCW Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
12/08 TCITB The Child in the Bible edited by Marcia J. Bunge
Emerging Kids yearly anniversary is May 31!
The One Anothers post - Tuesday, November 08, 2005
PLFC - Paul's Letters for Children
2/27/10 LFK: O & Q & KFW Looking for Children: Observations & Questions & Kid-Friendly Words
7/2012 CRT God and World in the Old Testament: a Relational Theology of Creation by Terence E. Fretheim
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