April Theme: Earth

Faith Tradition: Pagan

 

Welcome Spring!! April is here with many exciting things to look forward to.  It feels like all the winter rain decided to fall in the last two weeks.  But, warm weather is on the horizon and we really needed the rain.  Get ready to pull weeds!!

 

The first two Sundays in April will be dedicated to spring holidays.  On April , we will celebrate Easter with lots of festivity and an Easter egg hunt, of course!!  Then, on April , we will celebrate Passover by holding a Seder during Service.  This will be a first, and I am very excited to share my favorite Jewish Holiday tradition with the larger congregation.

 

Next comes Earth Day and our Earth Fair.  Again, this year we will be doing something a little different.  In the spirit of reducing, reusing and recycling the children will have a booth at the Earth Fair where they sell used toys and items their families no longer need.  Families will have a chance to go through their toy boxes & cabinets together and practice de-cluttering to make room for what comes next.

 

In honor of our theme for the month, I would like to share with you this parent reflection from the Families Weave a Tapestry of Faith section of the Spring 2018 UU World Magazine….It really resonated for me.

 

Our children are like seeds: future yet to be revealed, cultivation required immediately.  The nurturing a child needs to blossom comes first from the home and family into which they fall.  But, unlike when we plant a seed, when we begin to raise a child we cannot know what sort of “ground” will be best for them, because we cannot know what sort of “flower” they have the potential to become.  As parents, unlike as gardeners, we lack the seed packet with its picture on the front, its instructions on the back.  Are you doing everything a chrysanthemum ought to need?  Maybe your child is a sunflower or a daisy. 

 

We can only try to do what we think is best: Provide safety.  Model kindness.  Teach open-mindedness.  Invite play.  Create opportunities for our children to discover who they are, what they are good at, what and whom they love.

Only time and experience—theirs—will reveal whom you are raising.  We pray that who we are and how we parent will be good enough.