{our father}

for your viewing enjoyment. 

i may be a bit biased, but he melts my heart everytime i hear it!

{living water}

our church is full of insanely talented and creative people.  people with big hearts for loving others.

as part of our advent conspiracy celebration, REUNION has collaborated with Old Try in making Christmas cards.  these aren't just any old cards, these are cards with a mission.  $3 from the sale of each card goes to drill fresh water wells for those living in developing countries.  those suffering from thirst, drought, and disease.

stats tell us that americans spend 450 billion dollars on Christmas every year.  and the thing is, it is estimated that 20 billion would solve the worls's water crisis. clean water could change the world.  Christmas [can] still change the world.   

pictures courtesy of Old Try

pretty cool, huh?!  if you are local here in boston, you can grab some at any REUNION gathering.  out-of-towners can purchase online through old try here, 

join us in helping to make Christmas Good News for all!

{little dresses for the DR party}

a couple weeks ago i hosted our second annual little dresses for the DR party.  friends came and spent the afternoon transforming pillowcases into dresses for girls living in the dominican republic.  it would have been fun to just hang out with these great ladies having snacks and sangria, but knowing we were sending love across the miles just made it that much more fun. our missions team from REUNION then hand delivered them the following week.

our playroom turned sweatshop! we were working in the attic on one of the hottest days this summer.

(i find it amusing that there is a snowman in the background of a pic taken in august.)

aiden modeling for us

and maybe the sweetest picture of all...a little dominican girl in her new dress.  makes my heart sing!

to read more about making pillowcase dresses for impoverished children, check out little dresses for africa.  you can find the instructions here, or just do a google search for a zillion variations on this dress.

more to come on the trip itself.  stay tuned...

{life after sunday}

REUNION has launched a new parenting blog, life after sunday.  you can check it out here.  here in an excerpt from the about page.

Life After Sunday is a blogging community that explores how our Christian faith impacts and shapes our lives as parents. Writers will spotlight how they are working to raise children who are followers of Christ, with the hopes of inspiring and encouraging other parents looking to do the same. We aim to tackle both practical and profound subjects. We hope to create a community where parents can learn from each other and collaborate as they each guide their children toward living life the way that Jesus Christ did. We’ll be sharing both our successes and failures in this - everything from making crafts and reading, to disciplining and tackling tough topics with our children.
This blog is powered by a group from REUNION Christian Church, a Boston-based community focused on helping others find their way back to God. We hope it serves as an extension of our REUNIONkids ministry which partners with parents to teach children how to love and follow Jesus. But we don’t want our reach to stop there. We see this blog as a community for those who have moved far from Boston and those who may never set foot in our church, but are looking for an honest, open look at what it means to pursue God as a family.

We can be reached at lifeaftersunday@reunionboston.com

original artwork by anna haman

i am writing articles weekly.  Come by and say hi!

{spend.save.share}

one of the things we hope to instill in our children from a young age is fiscal responsibility.  we want to model for them the value of money, how and what it is used for, and what a spirit of generosity looks like. 

recently, we made separate banks for their categories of spend, save & share.  the idea is that when they receive money, they immediately divide it up into each bank based on agreed upon percentages.  this makes it very easy for our kids to know what they can spend on treats or gifts, what they need to save, and they need to at a minimum share with others through their tithe and other generosity opportunities at school, etc.

we started with simple upcycled pasta sauce jars. i labeled each jar and painted the lids with primer and then chalkboard paint. by using chalkboard paint, the kids can keep a tally on the jar lid of how much money they have.

after i had started ours, i found these with a tutorial. so cute and creative for boys!

image via smile and wave

and this one is a favorite too.  love the added pictures!

(image photographer unknown)

{craft hope}

“Craft Hope is a love inspired project designed to share handmade crafts with those who need them.  It is our hope to combine our love for crafting and desire to help others into a project to make a difference around the world.” From the Craft Hope website

we are always on the lookout for ways to teach our children about compassion, social justice and love for all, in age appropriate and relevant ways.  craft hope is making this easy with project 12: orphan outreach.  through projects like this, craft hope seeks to empower a generation to change the future.   project 12 is about making bracelets to give to orphans living in a crisis center in Leningrad as a way to tangibly show them His love. 

this sunday at REUNION, the elementary kids made these bracelets to send on to orphan outreach.  they did an awesome job and we are encouraging them to make more at home with their own families.

it's just bracelets.  i can make bracelets, my kids can make bracelets.  such an easy thing to do that could really bring a smile to another child's face halfway around the world.

owen was posing with the bracelets and wanted me to take a pic of the bracelets "and his muscles!"

any kind of bracelets are accepted.  for some gorgeous pics of jersey fabric bracelets, see these images from ashley ann.  we are making some of these too and they are so fun and quick.

check out the details via the link about for deadlines and such and get busy creating!

{call + response}

have you seen this documentary?  it's an amazing film about modern day slavery.  mike called it a "rockumentary" since it is an artistic response through music.

REUNION showed it as part of our Freedom Sunday celebration.  it is thought provoking and will truly make think you about what is happening in our neighborhoods and the world around us.  slavery is more prevalent today than it ever has been in all of history. i didn't know that.  forced labor, child labor, sex trafficking, child soldiers, childhood prostitution.  and did you know it's more profitable that both the drug and arms trade combined. it's the fastest growing crime in america.

you can order it on netflix here.  seriously...order it now.  watch the trailer here.

we are trying to think through what our response can be as a community and as a family.  one of the quotes that really spoke to me was when ashley judd said that she didn't want to wear someone else's despair.  (speaking of child & forced labor in clothing manufacturing.)  i am often the one looking for the best deal, but i imagine that must mean someone isn't being treated or paid fairly somewhere down the chain of production.  we are trying to consider how we inadvertently contribute to this crime and how we can make choices that promote love and justice for all.

i would want someone to think about those things if it was my child in the video.

{a celebration of life}

this week our family is celebrating the life of a beautiful woman, florence mae brown. grandma brown lived a life dedicated to her family and her faith.  she was so fun to be with...such a spunky spirit about her! and a contagious smile and laugh.  we mourn our loss, but find comfort and peace that she is with our glorious Maker!

we are confident that she is smiling down upon us and we look forward when when we will be with her again...

{grateful}

recently, the kids and i had a hard morning.  i was trying to get them to help clean up...to pick up their toys in their playroom and bedrooms.  so much complaining and whining about all there was to put away.  really...you have a home and bedrooms and a playroom filled with fun things to play with and you are going to cry and have a tantrum because you have been asked to clean up a bit.  for real?!!

i was so frustrated with their ungratefulness.  ungratefulness for the things they have been given and how hard their daddy works to provide for them and us. ungratefulness for how comfortable their lives are. that they have never known what it is like to not have toys to play with, clothes to wear, a house to come home to.  what it feels like to really be hungry, or cold, or sick...

about that time i realized just how ungrateful i am too.  how often i forget to thank my God, my husband and those around me for the blessings they have bestowed on me.  how ungrateful i can be at times for the children that are pestering me and the husband who is coming home late...again.  forgetting that God has answered my prayers with the gift of an amazing partner and healthy, growing, thriving children, a home and the opportunity to stay home and be a full-time mom.

"your cleansed and grateful life, not your words, will bear witness to what i have done" matt 8:3-4

"gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others." ~Cicero

now...to figure out how to foster grateful hearts.  any thoughts, let me know.

{now i lay me...}

i may be a little biased...maybe
but this is pretty sweet