The kids were out with me this evening looking 
around the yard for three leaf clovers, when they spotted the fireflies. We haven't seen fireflies since last summer, when we were house-hunting, and they are now lighting up all over our neighbor's yard. Good thing we have nice neighbors!
around the yard for three leaf clovers, when they spotted the fireflies. We haven't seen fireflies since last summer, when we were house-hunting, and they are now lighting up all over our neighbor's yard. Good thing we have nice neighbors!The hunt for three leaf clovers is because I have the children's Sunday School this week and, as usual, I am planning how to fill my 20+ minutes at the last minute. Tomorrow is Trinity Sunday, the Sunday which celebrates the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and this, I am finding, is not a topic which lends itself to easy explanation in twenty minutes to a group of (mostly) 8 to 12 year olds. 
It is, in fact, something that we (our church, at least) accept as a mystery, but we celebrate it anyway, and I need material! I had borrowed The Complete Children's Liturgy Book, Liturgies of the Word for Years A,B,C, hoping for ideas, but the activity suggested for Trinity Sunday is, in my humble opinion, spectacularly dreadful. The teacher (me) is supposed to explain that God has three "hats" and switches his hat according to which person he is being at the moment. Ouch!
It is, in fact, something that we (our church, at least) accept as a mystery, but we celebrate it anyway, and I need material! I had borrowed The Complete Children's Liturgy Book, Liturgies of the Word for Years A,B,C, hoping for ideas, but the activity suggested for Trinity Sunday is, in my humble opinion, spectacularly dreadful. The teacher (me) is supposed to explain that God has three "hats" and switches his hat according to which person he is being at the moment. Ouch!This brings us to the three leaf clover. I know the story is supposed to be apocryphal, but St. Patrick's explanation of the Trinity to the pagan Irish, showing them the clover and explaining that God is three distinct persons in one, like the clover, seems much better than the crazy hat-switching thing. I have printed up the Gloria Patri, in Latin and in English, and the kids will stick three leaf clovers to the paper (thus using up time and involving gluesticks), and learn to say a doxology in Latin. Now doesn't that sound like fun? Also, I have a magnet, a car, and a piece of stiff paper with which I can demonstrate how the Holy Spirit (the magnet, under the paper) can guide you (you are the car) through life (the paper). I haven't thought through the theology of this, but T. and K. found it amusing so I expect that the group tomorrow will be entertained, and that counts for quite a lot.
I bought a new rose today. Ed has been very upset over my one Wayside Gardens climbing rose that has Still not showed any signs of life. It is right near the driveway, and he feels that it is a glaring gap in the garden. We went to Lowes today, and he told me to pick out a rose to replace the non-growing stick (we will put the stick in a pot and give it a few more weeks to perform). Normally this would be a wonderful treat, but the selection was so poor that it wasn't. There were red climbers, but I have a couple of those already, and there were white climbers, but I have one, and white roses tend to look like used tissues after the first day, and there were hot orange climbers. I wanted pink, but there were none, so I went with the orange. I was thinking about the color coordinating with the red rose on the left, but totally forgot about the pink rose on the right. Orange and pink are not a good combination. I don't know whether to return it and get a red rose, which wouldn't clash, or plant it and get used to the color combination. Opinions?
4 comments:
ROFL. I love the challenge of trying to find a way to explain the more intricate theology in, not just laymen's terms, but in very young laymen's terms. Sounds like you'll have a good time, though, and hey, if you can pique the children's interest, that's a huge thing, there. They'll keep asking questions and learning and growing. They do that.
I say just go for COLOR. It's the theme of the South - color, color, color. Love the orange, actually. Is there room to plant other colors, as well? You could do the old-school, burst o' color thing.
And aren't the lightning bugs wonderful? We are actually getting supper on the table earlier now (read: on time) because that gives the kids time to chase lightning bugs after supper. Good stuff, this.
Dy
Wow! I miss fireflies, and I hadn't thought about them in a long time. When I was a kid in the midwest we used to go out and "chase lightnin' bugs" on warm summer nights. They seemed endless.
The lightening bugs have arrived here, too.
How close are the roses? I like to plant alot of things in front of the rose bushes to hie the ugly bottoms. If you did this, I think that the colors really would be fine. They really are beautiful. (And if it were me, I DEFINITELY wouldn't take it back......just move it, if anything at all!) Really pretty!
Dy,
The kids (a small group, as it turned out) seemed to enjoy learning a Latin prayer, and the three year old loved the car/magnet.
I'm going to take your and Melissa's word for it and go for the color. It will look exuberant, anyway.
Rodrigo,
Glad you enjoyed my blog -- thanks for visiting! Your t-shirts look very nice!
Elisheva,
The fireflies are really fun! I don't remember seeing them in Florida.
Melissa,
The new one is a tangerine-y orange, and the pink is a blue-pink, not a peachy pink, so they definitely don't coordinate according to any traditional rules. I have been planting flowers around the roses, so maybe some yellows and blues would help things blend (or at least make it look like I'm color blind and can't be held responsible!).
Post a Comment