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Dear UU Parents and Guardians,
Virtual Church Retreat This Weekend! Join me 6:00-6:45PM Tomorrow (Saturday) for an Online Sunday School Info Session! This is the link: https://zoom.us/j/91296869924 I'll simply chat about what you might see this coming year, and you can say hello to other families! Your family might also be interested in things such as: Family Movie Night with the film "Inside Out", or "Imagination Exercises With Shelly Fowler For All Ages!" Check your emails for links to the Zoom Rooms for everything which will come from the main church office. REGISTRATION TIME!!! Please register for the church year if you think you or your family will participate in ANY way this next church year. Let us know how you and your family have been or will want to participate this year - and sign up to potentially receive some goodies from the church for your children!!! Here is the link: REGISTRATION It would be lovely if you could join us for our weekly gatherings! Here is what is currently being offered: *Sunday School * Approximately: 30 minute program geared towards K-5 but open to all ages Sundays at 11am Please email me for the link *Middle and HS * We are joining up with the Omaha youth groups - Parent Orientation is highly recommended but not mandatory - Wed Sept 16 at 7pm The first youth meeting will be Wed Sept 23 at 7pm. They will be creating their covenant, and possibly brainstorming what they want to do this year (if the check-in/covenanting process takes too long they'll do the brainstorming session the following week). Please email me for the link We will also be offering a moderated Discord (app) group with details to come later as well. *Parent and Guardian Chat: * The chance for parents and guardians to just get together and chat Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon Wednesday 9/9 Noon Link: https://zoom.us/j/474526337 Password: lovemykids Thursday 9/17 8pm Link: https://zoom.us/j/866583131 Password: lovemykids NEW! Family Spotlight! In an effort for us to remember seeing faces, and to get to know one another better, I am going to spotlight one family each month in our church newsletter. Sign up HERE to participate Videos This Week: Story with Miss Chelsea (Water Communion Theme): https://youtu.be/aIxFJjyVulw Story with Miss Heather: https://youtu.be/O4Z0tTsjDRM Music with Miss Molly: https://youtu.be/9NesTBBrIF8 NEW THIS MONTH! September Theme: Renewal I will be exploring the possible use of the UUA curricula - 'Chalice Home' and 'Soulful Home' in addition to the Worship 'Core Packets' potentially. This is a trial to see how it may fit for our families this year. I'd love to hear what you think! This first week is a dive into the Soul Matters curriculum and has your family get started with what you'll need to do church at home: a chalice, an altar, a bowl for joys and sorrows, etc. Getting Started: Collect the Building Blocks for Your Chalice Home These are reflections, writings, and activities from the creators of the Soul Matters packets for Religious Education. Our worship theme for the month is 'Renewal' and we will be following that theme for families as well. This week features poet Ross Gay and thoughts on 'Tending Joy and Praciticing Delight' - also, the notion of how sometimes what our souls need is to embrace doing 'nothing'. Here are the excerpts which I thought you may enjoy: On the Porch - Raising a Child of Renewal Together and Discussion Questions I also found this, and thought it was incredibly spot-on for this time and thought I'd share it with you all: Meditation for Parents: Efficiency by Victoria Safford Dear UU Parents and Guardians,
REGISTRATION TIME!!! Please register for the church year if you think you or your family will participate in ANY way this next church year. Let us know how you and your family have been or will want to participate this year - and sign up to potentially receive some goodies from the church for your children!!! Here is the link: REGISTRATION It would be lovely if you could join us for our weekly gatherings! Here is what is currently being offered: *Sunday School * Approximately: 30 minute program geared towards K-5 but open to all ages Sundays at 11am please email me for the link This Sunday is our very last Drag Queen Story Hour!!! This summer you will find: Drag Queen Story Hour, Yoga with Maggie, and the Pioneers Park Nature Center as well as guests from our very own UU volunteer pool of caring adults. Each week is something different! *Middle and HS * Taking August off for a break and will resume in September - date and details will come as soon as they are finalized. We will be joining in with the 1st Unitarian Church in Omaha on Wednesday nights starting some date in September. We will also be offering a moderated Discord (app) group with details to come later as well. *Parent and Guardian Chat: * The chance for parents and guardians to just get together and chat Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon Thursday 9/3 Link: https://zoom.us/j/866583131 Password: lovemykids Wednesday 9/9 Link: https://zoom.us/j/474526337 Password: lovemykids NEW! Family Spotlight! In an effort for us to remember seeing faces, and to get to know one another better, I am going to spotlight one family each month in our church newsletter. Sign up HERE to participate There's only a handful of spots, so grab yours while there's a chance! No need to think about it now - just when it comes to the month of your sign-up and I will contact you again with the info. This information will show up in our UU newsletter, our email to parents, and perhaps our church 'social' facebook age. If you would NOT like for us to share this spotlight in any of those places please let me know. I'll ask for the following: 1. A photograph of your family 2. Names of everyone and ages or grade levels of your children IF you feel comfortable doing so 3. A SHORT paragraph answering some of the following questions from your family as a whole, or from some of the individual members: 1. What is your favorite part of being in our church community? Example: We always look forward to the Soup Supper each year! or Little Suzie loves the church potlucks the best 2. What is a favorite experience or memory or what brought you to our church? Example: Timmy remembers Bruce Raymer teaching his classroom when they went outside to pick up trash around the playground and talked about our earth or Daisy remembers a Christmas Eve service when she sang Silent Night and met her friend Rosie for the first time or My wife and I brought our children to this church because I came for a meeting of the Wildlife Lovers of Lincoln and saw the rainbow flags. I looked at some of brochures Chelsea had put out about the program and it seemed like a great fit for our family Community Art Project! Please color one or more of these coloring pages and then take a photo and send as a photo attachment to my email, or send to the church's address: Unitarian Church of Lincoln Attn: Chelsea Krafka 6300 A Street Lincoln, NE 68510 I can print and bring to your house if you don't have a printer Deadline extended through October 31st! Coming of Age for High School Students: Deadline to submit an email with interest is August 31st More information can be found here New in September: Look for emails from me which will start incorporating new themes: our connection with the services and the UUA through our Soul Matters Curriculum for families which can be done on your own time! *New Youtube links for this week!* Story with Miss Heather: https://youtu.be/NJe06aJ7BZQ Story with Ms Alexa: https://youtu.be/zqp3xvV55P4 Miss Molly just had baby Estrella join the family so did not make a video this week - welcome baby!!! Chelsea's Meditation Video: https://youtu.be/whfrphNENN0 Theme this week: Community and Kindness - Mindful Parenting Words from Sumi Loundon Kim: Much of how we parent our children is a reflection of our internal world. When we are healthy and whole, we bring that into our parenting. Where we have brokenness and pain, that also comes out in our parenting. One of the most powerful gifts of meditation is that it helps us to see this personal psychology clearly, as well as to see how we act out of it in our interactions with our children. Once our internal world comes into the space of awareness, we have the opportunity to heal our pain and change our habits. A great deal of this inner work is around what we've internalized from our relationship to our own parents. Much of our inner formation is informed by our experience in childhood. As adults, we tend to re-create our childhood with our children, sometimes intentionally but more often subconsciously. Thus, raising children provides an opportunity to bring our own unconscious material to light and to heal. If we can do this, we not only find our own freedom but we give our children a family life of prenal love, acceptance, and happiness that we longed to have ourselves. Indeed, we give it to ourselves as well. Reflection: Oh, Sumi, don't tell me my parenting is informed by my childhood experience. Dang it. That's way too heavy for a weekly parent/guardian email. Skip ahead.... Let's talk about a basic message within Sumi's thoughts this week that we are better parents when we have inner peace. That I can roll with. What are you doing for self-care, dear ones? This start of the school year has been rough! Are you making time to decompress before bed? Listening to your favorite music? Choosing to do pizza carryout instead of cooking one night? Yoga? Hitting the gym? Are you remembering to breathe in and out? It is SO easy to put our children first - because they ARE first. We would do ANYTHING FOR THEM, right? Yet, I keep coming back to the notion of not being able to pour from an empty cup. I need to remember that the bath toys need to get cleared out of the tub, so that my shower can actually be relatively peaceful, and so that I don't break a leg. I need to remember that we get to actually eat brussels sprouts, asparagus, and beets, even though my children prefer broccoli and cauliflower. I need to remember that it's okay to say, "No, we're just going to read one book tonight" - instead of 5 books as we usually do, so that I can actually have a moment to myself before bed. I need to remember that I not only get to give myself PERMISSION to do these things, but that I should give myself the BLESSING to do these as well. We do SO much for our children. 24/7 - every single day - it's OKAY to do something for ourselves. It is NOT selfish. We are at our best parenting when we feel whole, rested, peaceful. Be kind to yourselves, and your families. Next month, I will begin a new series of parenting emails based on our Soul Matters themes, and stepping away from a mindfulness/meditation theme. Although, I am sure these concepts will find their way through the Soul Matters curriculum as well. Next month's theme is: Renewal. I look forward to all we can share together with what comes next. Can you please do me a favor?? As I assess whether my messages are getting through to you, will you please email back to me the words: "Mindful Parenting", if you read this far? I'm just curious as to who is still reading these messages. Thank you all for sharing this summer with me. I am excited for the coming church year, and can't wait to share with you what I'm finding with the UUA's Soul Matters curriculum. Discussion Questions: 1. How would you explain mindful parenting to a friend unfamiliar but interested in learning more? 2. What is the relationship between our inner work and our parenting behavior? 3. To what extent is your parenting informed by how you were raised? 4. As you think about the upcoming church year, what is important to teach your children with regards to the value of community? Dear UU Parents and Guardians,
It would be lovely if you could join us for our weekly gatherings! Here is what is currently being offered: *Sunday School * Approximately: 30 minute program geared towards K-5 but open to all ages Sundays at 11am Please email me for the link This Sunday is JULIE ENERSEN who will bring music into our online Sunday School group!!! This summer you will find: Drag Queen Story Hour, Yoga with Maggie, and the Pioneers Park Nature Center as well as guests from our very own UU volunteer pool of caring adults. Each week is something different! *Middle and HS Zoom * Taking August off for a break and will resume in September *Parent and Guardian Chat: * The chance for parents and guardians to just get together and chat Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon Thursday 8/20 Link: https://zoom.us/j/866583131 Password: lovemykids Wednesday 8/26 Link: https://zoom.us/j/474526337 Password: lovemykids NEW! Family Spotlight! In an effort for us to remember seeing faces, and to get to know one another better, I am going to spotlight one family each month in our church newsletter. Sign up HERE to participate There's only a handful of spots, so grab yours while there's a chance! No need to think about it now - just when it comes to the month of your sign-up and I will contact you again with the info. This information will show up in our UU newsletter, our email to parents, and perhaps our church 'social' facebook age. If you would NOT like for us to share this spotlight in any of those places please let me know. I'll ask for the following: 1. A photograph of your family 2. Names of everyone and ages or grade levels of your children IF you feel comfortable doing so 3. A SHORT paragraph answering some of the following questions from your family as a whole, or from some of the individual members: 1. What is your favorite part of being in our church community? Example: We always look forward to the Soup Supper each year! or Little Suzie loves the church potlucks the best 2. What is a favorite experience or memory or what brought you to our church? Example: Timmy remembers Bruce Raymer teaching his classroom when they went outside to pick up trash around the playground and talked about our earth or Daisy remembers a Christmas Eve service when she sang Silent Night and met her friend Rosie for the first time or My wife and I brought our children to this church because I came for a meeting of the Wildlife Lovers of Lincoln and saw the rainbow flags. I looked at some of brochures Chelsea had put out about the program and it seemed like a great fit for our family Community Art Project! Please color one or more of these coloring pages and then take a photo and send as a photo attachment to my email, or send to the church's address: Unitarian Church of Lincoln Attn: Chelsea Krafka 6300 A Street Lincoln, NE 68510 I can print and bring to your house if you don't have a printer Coming of Age for High School Students: Deadline to submit an email with interest is August 31st More information can be found here New in September: Look for emails from me which will start incorporating new themes: our connection with the services and the UUA through our Soul Matters Curriculum for families which can be done on your own time! *New Youtube links for this week!* (((Congratulations to Molly on new baby Estrella! No music from her this week and Heather took a week off as well))) Story with Ms Alexa: https://youtu.be/c8p0L6v-r1M Chelsea's Meditation Video: https://youtu.be/A3llZ4xBtPU Theme this week: Connection Words from Sumi Loundon Kim: Picture a fisherman's net with a jewel at the intersection of each node of the net. Each jewel reflects the image of all the other jewels in the net, including the image in other jewels that reflect it. like one of these jewels, we contain reflections of the world around us, and the world around us contains a reflection of us. This metaphor, known as Indra's Net, explains the 'empty' nature of self, in that no inherently abiding, autonomous self exists: self exists in relationship. As you engage in a movement or issue, you will begin to find others who have the same calling. This often happens naturally, but it is worthwhile to intentionally seek out others, for two reasons. First, collaborating with others amplifies our efforts by helping us build a strong coalition. We accomplish far more together than we do individually. Second, community is a strong antidote to fear. If fear results in feeling isolated, then it's friendship and belonging that contribute to reducing fear. When we are with others whom we trust, we feel safe, secure, and therefore more relaxed and joyful....It's important to know that you are not alone in whatever issue you choose to work with. Whether known to you or not, you have allies around the world. Reflection: This week, the book and meditation I do for the children is based around the book, "The Lorax" by Dr Seuss. I don't know about you but the above words from Sumi Loundon Kim stopped being about the trees pretty quickly. Remember the 'Onceler' in 'The Lorax'? A lonely person who holds onto the singular seed left of the Truffula tree? If you haven't read it for a while, 'The Lorax' is a HEAVY book! I started this lesson thinking I was going to talk about our 7th principle as we relate to nature, and the outdoors because I LOVE this time of year. However, I quickly started thinking about loneliness and community and our connection (or lack thereof) with each other. I also started thinking of the concept of 'renewal' which will be the theme for next month with our Soul Matters curriculum. Today is day four of all my children being in childcare at Dimensions. This is the first time in 5.5 years that I have not had a baby with me or been pregnant...and we're in the middle of a pandemic. Loneliness set in around hour two of Milo being at childcare for the first time. However, I have been feeling lonely being away from our church community for many months now. Sumi's quote above that, "...community is a strong antidote to fear" hit me like a ton of bricks. Well, no wonder there is so much stress and angst and worry and doubt and sadness during a pandemic! We are often living in fear and feeling isolated these days. Nothing about this is easy. Even for those (like myself) who are introverts...I really like having the OPTION to have time with others. And so - here I sit - outdoors on the patio of The Mill for the first time in probably more than a year, while I work on my laptop. The closest person sits more than 10 feet away from me. Yet, I get to smile at those who walk by. I got out of my house. I am connecting in some way with other humans. I made a date this week to see my friend and do a tarot card reading for her. I did a video call with another friend. I sent photos of the grandbabies to my grandmother through email. There are ways we can stay connected, yet it takes the energy and effort to make it happen. I often find my spiritual time in nature, taking photos, time to myself away from the kiddos. Yet, the other day while at the Rose Gardens, I felt lonely doing that for the first time. Our connection with the earth, with the trees, with the sun, and the sky....is beautiful...and there is a time for that. There is also a time when we crave human contact. If you are missing that, please reach out. I was feeling very 'Onceler'-ish this last week. It doesn't have to be that way. We can always plant a seed and watch and wait for it to grow. I am always up for a socially distanced cup of coffee, or a zoom call from my patio. Stay in touch, my friends. You are all dear to me. Discussion Questions: 1. Where does your sense of self come from? Can you define who you are? Is your identity static or changing? (Dang, Sumi, not going light on the reflection questions this week!) 2. Pick one other object, aside from a flower, and articulate how it is composed of other things. if any one of those things were removed, would it still exist as you know it? 3. How does the perspective of our interrelatedness counteract or work with states of fear? 4. In your own words, lay out a sequence in which your own mental, internal ecology has an impact on the ecology around you Dear UU Parents and Guardians,
It would be lovely if you could join us for our weekly gatherings! Here is what is currently being offered: *Sunday School * Approximately: 30 minute program geared towards K-5 but open to all ages Sundays at 11am Please email me for the link This Sunday is a guest from Pioneers Park Nature Center!!! This summer you will find: Drag Queen Story Hour, Yoga with Maggie, and the Pioneers Park Nature Center as well as guests from our very own UU volunteer pool of caring adults. Each week is something different! *Middle and HS Zoom * Taking August off for a break and will resume in September *Parent and Guardian Chat: * The chance for parents and guardians to just get together and chat Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon Thursday 8/20 Link: https://zoom.us/j/866583131 Password: lovemykids Wednesday 8/26 Link: https://zoom.us/j/474526337 Password: lovemykids NEW! Family Spotlight! In an effort for us to remember seeing faces, and to get to know one another better, I am going to spotlight one family each month in our church newsletter. Sign up HERE to participate There's only a handful of spots, so grab yours while there's a chance! No need to think about it now - just when it comes to the month of your sign-up and I will contact you again with the info. This information will show up in our UU newsletter, our email to parents, and perhaps our church 'social' facebook age. If you would NOT like for us to share this spotlight in any of those places please let me know. I'll ask for the following: 1. A photograph of your family 2. Names of everyone and ages or grade levels of your children IF you feel comfortable doing so 3. A SHORT paragraph answering some of the following questions from your family as a whole, or from some of the individual members: 1. What is your favorite part of being in our church community? Example: We always look forward to the Soup Supper each year! or Little Suzie loves the church potlucks the best 2. What is a favorite experience or memory or what brought you to our church? Example: Timmy remembers Bruce Raymer teaching his classroom when they went outside to pick up trash around the playground and talked about our earth or Daisy remembers a Christmas Eve service when she sang Silent Night and met her friend Rosie for the first time or My wife and I brought our children to this church because I came for a meeting of the Wildlife Lovers of Lincoln and saw the rainbow flags. I looked at some of brochures Chelsea had put out about the program and it seemed like a great fit for our family Community Art Project! Please color one or more of these coloring pages and then take a photo and send as a photo attachment to my email, or send to the church's address: Unitarian Church of Lincoln Attn: Chelsea Krafka 6300 A Street Lincoln, NE 68510 I can print and bring to your house if you don't have a printer Coming of Age for High School Students: Deadline to submit an email with interest is August 31st More information can be found here New in September: Look for emails from me which will start incorporating new themes: our connection with the services and the UUA through our Soul Matters Curriculum for families which can be done on your own time! *New Youtube links for this week!* Music with Miss Molly: https://youtu.be/77PR_0k3nf0 Story with Miss Heather: https://youtu.be/fgcMwhmD0Mc Story with Ms Alexa: https://youtu.be/237b7VTq2Ck Chelsea's Meditation Video: https://youtu.be/u3Yf1QhtDfo Theme this week: Starting the New School Year and Learning From Difficulty Words from Sumi Loundon Kim: One of the hardest aspects of parenting is seeing our children suffer, whether it's from a small scrape, a difficult issue with a friend, losing a soccer game, or struggling with a home-work assignment. Our natural impulse is to fix whatever is wrong so that our children don't suffer. Yet, we ourselves know that our own maturation came about by working through challenges. Nonetheless, some parents are so overprotective that psychologists are concerned our kids aren't learning the skills needed to encounter, learn to cope with, and grow from suffering. Our well-intended interventions result in preventing our kids from developing resilience, grit, and determination, as well as a basic understanding that difficulty is a natural part of life. A good question to ask, therefore, is what exactly wise and compassionate parenting looks like. How much should we let our children encounter suffering? When is the right time to intervene and protect them? of course, we cannot take things too far. It is our responsibility as parents to protect our children until they can protect themselves. But there are many small ways that our children can learn from difficulty, if we have the wisdom to allow it. Today's lesson is about being at peace with change. This is called equanimity, when we can be calm and balanced even when things are changing. The Buddha taught that everything in life is changing all the time. Let's think about whether this is really true. Can you name something that doesn't change? Whatever your child might point out in response to this question - point out ways it might change. For example- a mountain eventually wears down from water and wind into sand, albeit very slowly over millions of years. The sunrise and sunset change with teh tilting of the earth's axis as it orbits the sun throughout the year. And 5 billion years ago, there wasn't even an earth. And so on. You may suggest seasons, body growing bigger, or starting a new grade at school. Second, there are unexpected changes, things we didn't know were going to happen. What are some unexpected changes you've experienced? Children might say getting sick, not going to a friend's birthday party; dad brought home ice cream. Some of these unexpected changes make us happy, like surprises, but some of them can be pretty stressful, right? Unexpected, unwelcome changes are the hardest kinds of change. What are some unwanted, unwelcome changes? What are some ways we can deal with unexpected difficult changes? If your children don't come up with this themselves, remind them of the following: *talk to our parents *take a break and do something relaxing *talk to ourselves and provide reassurance *breathe slowly *remember equanimity Equanimity means to keep things in perspective. We don't know if something is actually bad until much later. Sometimes things are actually good. And sometimes things turn out to be bad after all, so what can we do then? Reflection: Friends, wow, this week has been hard, eh? The start of in-person school for some, or considering remote learning next Monday. Perhaps you are navigating homeschooling for the first time? One way or another, your children and your family will be entering into a school season for the first time during a pandemic. Personally, I have been up in the air up until a couple of days ago about what to do with my kindergarten student. Only today, Friday, in the afternoon, did the homeroom teacher at his school finally email parents what the Zoom schedule would look like. I think what I'm currently deciding for my son is for him to be in childcare at Dimensions, a nature-based education center, while also taking one day a week to be super intentional about homeschooling for him. My biggest worry in all this has been that he won't learn what he's supposed to learn in Kindergarten (ie: abcs, 123s, starting to write, starting to read left to right, beginning addition and subtraction, etc). However, I need to give myself a break from the mental stress. My son is a bright child. He will catch up. I will be intentional, and he will learn what is needed to enter 1st grade next year with a great start. He WILL have difficulty because he has not been in a 'typical' classroom. There will be a period of adjustment. He will struggle with what I missed, and what his teachers expect from him according to Nebraska State Standards. This is not easy for any of us parents. This is such a difficult year to feel like we are making the right choices, and doing right by our children. ALL of our children will experience difficulty this year in some way....because we are in the middle of a pandemic! Whether it is getting used to wearing masks, washing hands, learning social norms albeit 6 feet away from other children most of the day, or learning new technology, or adjusting expectations, or adjusting to parents and guardians as educators....this is a difficult year. HOWEVER, it will most certainly be a MEMORABLE year. They will be resilient. They will overcome the challenges, and there will be brighter days. They will allow the difficulty to be a teacher in their lives, and it will make them stronger, and more able to adapt to challenges in the future. We're in this together. I'm here for you. Please feel free to reach out if you want another parent to talk to. Discussion Questions: 1. How is silence currently experienced in your family life? 2. How much unstructured time do you have? How much do your children have? What would you like to change, of anything? 3. What are some instances in which allowing difficulty is not appropriate, when it is important for the parent to intervene? What are some instances in which allowing difficulty can serve in learning and transformation? 4. What are some other ideas that would contribute to wise parenting or wise family life? Dear UU Parents and Guardians,
It would be lovely if you could join us for our weekly gatherings! Here is what is currently being offered: *Sunday School * Approximately: 30 minute program geared towards K-5 but open to all ages Sundays at 11am Email me for the link This summer you will find: Drag Queen Story Hour, Yoga with Maggie, and the Pioneers Park Nature Center as well as guests from our very own UU volunteer pool of caring adults. Each week is something different! *Middle and HS Zoom * Taking August off for a break and will resume in September *Parent and Guardian Chat: * The chance for parents and guardians to just get together and Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon Wednesday 8/12 Link: https://zoom.us/j/474526337 Password: lovemykids Thursday 8/20 Link: https://zoom.us/j/866583131 Password: lovemykids NEW! Family Spotlight! In an effort for us to remember seeing faces, and to get to know one another better, I am going to spotlight one family each month in our church newsletter. Sign up HERE to participate There's only a handful of spots, so grab yours while there's a chance! This information will show up in our UU newsletter, our email to parents, and perhaps our church 'social' facebook age. If you would NOT like for us to share this spotlight in any of those places please let me know. I'll ask for the following: 1. A photograph of your family 2. Names of everyone and ages or grade levels of your children IF you feel comfortable doing so 3. A SHORT paragraph answering some of the following questions from your family as a whole, or from some of the individual members: 1. What is your favorite part of being in our church community? Example: We always look forward to the Soup Supper each year! or Little Suzie loves the church potlucks the best 2. What is a favorite experience or memory or what brought you to our church? Example: Timmy remembers Bruce Raymer teaching his classroom when they went outside to pick up trash around the playground and talked about our earth or Daisy remembers a Christmas Eve service when she sang Silent Night and met her friend Rosie for the first time or My wife and I brought our children to this church because I came for a meeting of the Wildlife Lovers of Lincoln and saw the rainbow flags. I looked at some of brochures Chelsea had put out about the program and it seemed like a great fit for our family Community Art Project! Please color one or more of these coloring pages and then take a photo and send as a photo attachment to my email, or send to the church's address: Unitarian Church of Lincoln Attn: Chelsea Krafka 6300 A Street Lincoln, NE 68510 I can print and bring to your house if you don't have a printer Coming of Age for High School Students: Deadline to submit an email with interest is August 31st More information can be found here New in September: Look for emails from me which will start incorporating new themes: our connection with the services and the UUA through our Soul Matters Curriculum for families which can be done on your own time! *New Youtube links for this week!* Music with Miss Molly: https://youtu.be/QN_qiK7t8T4 Story with Miss Heather: https://youtu.be/5V9FZ0-hP9U Story with Ms Alexa: https://youtu.be/NE59jy9hpjQ Chelsea's Meditation Video: https://youtu.be/0Zlf8Jc15Tc Theme this week: Karma and Kindness Book: "Fly Free" Author's Note from "Fly Free": This week, the YouTube video which I created has the story, "Fly Free" by Roseanne Thong. This is what she says at the end of the book: "Once, while traveling through Vietnam, I saw a family pay for the release of small birds. A student named Mai described the tradition to me. "Buddhists believe in reincarnation, or the idea that we are reborn many times," she said. "Our goal is to be reborn as a higher being each time, until we reach what we call nirvana, or perfect wisdom." Mai explained that good or bad actions affect the way we are reborn. She called this karma. "When you do a good deed, good karma will return to you," said Mai. "Bad deeds will create bad karma." Karma can be thought of as a boomerang- our thoughts and actions eventually find their way back home. Buddhists believe that the effects of Karma may come now, later in life, or in another life altogether. Another Buddhist idea is samsara, or the wheel of life, as illustrated above, with the story's characters. This ancient Buddhist and Hindu symbol represents the circle of life: birth, death, and rebirth. It also shows how past deeds circle back to affect our present and future. Reflection: I have three children ages five and under. They don't always get along. For the most part, they have a great relationship. However, there have been phases such as my middle child knocking over the oldest child's block towers. The youngest wanting to play with a toy and the middle child claiming, 'mine', or demanding, 'get him away from me!'. My middle child is going through an occasional hitting phase. I wonder how this happened?!?!? I started reading books, "Hands Are Not For Hitting!" and telling her how she is a teacher for our youngest and needs to teach him how to do the right thing. We ask her to consider how she would feel if someone hit her. As I'm typing, my 3 yr old is taking paints away from the baby and refusing to let him hold them. Teaching empathy and compassion to children is no easy task. As Unitarian Universalists, many of us either question or don't believe in the concept of Heaven or Hell. So, what is the motivation for making good choices? For many of us, it is that we believe in kindness, in trying to make the world a better place for ourselves and for other humans. However, TEACHING how to make good choices is a complicated task for parents. Discussion Questions 1. Do you believe in Karma, or some form of it? 2. What do you teach your children is the motivation for doing the right thing or choosing good deeds? 3. Have there been moments in your life that have stayed with you where you thought, "I think this is a really good (or bad) Karma moment"? How is that a teachable moment for your children? Although it's a Hindu perspective as opposed to a Buddhist perspective, this UU sermon talks about the connection between the notion of Karma and Unitarian Universalism. https://www.uuman.org/pdf/UUismAHinduPerspective.pdf -- Dear UU Parents and Guardians,
It would be lovely if you could join us for our weekly gatherings! Here is what is currently being offered: *Sunday School * Approximately: 30 minute program geared towards K-5 but open to all ages Sundays at 11am Please email me for the link Yoga with Maggie this week!!! This summer you will find: Drag Queen Story Hour, Yoga with Maggie, and the Pioneers Park Nature Center as well as guests from our very own UU volunteer pool of caring adults. Each week is something different! *Middle and HS Zoom * Is taking a break during August! Join us again in September. Look for a message about a parent orientation. *Parent and Guardian Chat: * The chance for parents and guardians to just get together and Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon Wednesday July 29th at noon Link: https://zoom.us/j/474526337 Password: lovemykids Thursday August 6th at 8pm Link: https://zoom.us/j/866583131 Password: lovemykids *New Youtube links for this week!* Music with Miss Molly: https://youtu.be/MPurYox_-5Y Story with Miss Heather: https://youtu.be/KIQYg3ig9v8 Story with Ms Alexa: https://youtu.be/9IOgwLvMM-g Chelsea's Meditation Video: https://youtu.be/PBP0b1rBFB4 Theme this week: Getting Through Tough Times (Dragonfly Meditation) Story "The Lotus Seed" Words from Sumi Loundon Kim: Just as in meditation, everyday life presents difficulties that we can identify and incorporate into our practice. When we're not enjoying our work, or our partner is upset, or something doesn't go our way, these are times we take up the challenge as an opportunity to practice mindfulness in our responses, to exercise right speech, or to take a breath and respond with patience. In these moments we are building up our spiritual muscles for 'the big time'. Learning from these small difficulties prepares us to be more skillful for the hardship that's truly devastating or catastrophic. As with weightlifting, we train frequently with the lighter weights so that we can lift the huge weights when needed. If we think back on the key moments in our lives when we grew significantly, we may find that most often these times are linked with difficulty. In fact, there seems to be a direct correlation between the degree of our suffering and how much we learn and grow. It's not that we should be asking for trouble - we shouldn't go out of our way to make ourselves suffer. Rather, when suffering arises, we can ask how we can learn from it, allowing the suffering to work on our heart and to help us mature. The Lotus Flower The relationship between a wise and compassionate heart and suffering is illustrated in the iconographic image of the lotus flower. The flowers grow in muddy swamps, yet the lotus, resting on the surface of the water, glows with color and beauty. Likewise, it is from the mud and swamp of our lives that we find the energy and nutrients to open our hearts. In that way, we can actually feel gratitude for the suffering in our lives, because it is through these experiences that we learn to be more awake, compassionate, and free. Reflection: These are DIFFICULT TIMES (such an understatement). I honestly keep hearing my mother's advice repeating over and over, "Just breathe". What else can we do??? I personally feel so powerless often. Yet, here many of us are, faced with such huge decisions to make coming up. How will I balance work and family? How do I navigate this pandemic? How do I stop feeling so lonely? How do I make a choice about school for my children this year? There is a LOT on our plates. We're in this together, my friends. I have no advice besides to, 'just breathe'. I'm here if you want someone to talk to. Discussion Questions 1. When difficulty comes up in your life, what are your typical strategies for dealing with it? 2. Share a moment that shifted how you thought about the experience of suffering. How did your relationship to suffering change in that moment? 3. What have been some key transformative moments in your life? Were they in connection to an especially challenging situation? Resources: Mindfulness during a pandemic: https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2020-03-24/meditation-tips-coronavirus-crisis If anyone is considering homeschooling this year, you may want to check out this UU facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/unitarian.universalist.homeschooling/ Dear UU Parents and Guardians,
It would be lovely if you could join us for our weekly gatherings! Here is what is currently being offered: *Sunday School * Approximately: 30 minute program geared towards K-5 but open to all ages Sundays at 11am Email me for the link Drag Queen Story Hour this week!!! Mrs. Yuka will be doing an amazing lesson and story and I hope you will join us! This summer you will find: Drag Queen Story Hour, Yoga with Maggie, and the Pioneers Park Nature Center as well as guests from our very own UU volunteer pool of caring adults. Each week is something different! *Middle and HS Zoom * We are now combining with Omaha youth groups and this will be offered *Wednesday* nights 7-8:30pm Come meet some other cool UUs! Email me for the link *Parent and Guardian Chat: * The chance for parents and guardians to just get together and Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon Wednesday July 29th at noon Link: https://zoom.us/j/474526337 Password: lovemykids Thursday August 6th at 8pm Link: https://zoom.us/j/866583131 Password: lovemykids *New Youtube links for this week!* Music with Miss Molly: https://youtu.be/pCXtZKL7fy4 Story with Miss Heather: https://youtu.be/rSfP1tkuWXI Chelsea's Meditation Video: https://youtu.be/PBP0b1rBFB4 Theme this week: Mindfulness of the Senses (Apple and Raisin Meditations) Words from Sumi Loundon Kim: Because we are so busy as parents, we usually just give our kids half of our attention - and when we're using the computer, even less. Our kids know when we're not truly present with them: haven't we all heard them ask a question over and over again until they got a real answer? This can make children feel ignored or that their needs aren't important. What would it be like to turn off our automatic 'uh-huh' and 'mmm' responses and take a more decisive approach to responding to requests for attention? As soon as I ihear one of my children ask a question, I will either stop what I'm doing to give my child my full attention or I will say, "As soon as I'm done with this, I will hear what you have to say." Consciously directing our attention, which is strengthened in formal meditation practice, helps others feel more fully acknowledged while also giving ourselves space to focus on what's at hand. Reflection: Okay, so I love these meditations, and the discussion questions and reflections from Sumi Loundon Kim. However, this last one totally made me feel guilty. I know I am often dismissive while on the computer. I am often multi-tasking. It's pretty often my children are pulling at my leg for a snack while I am finishing an email. I know that I need to be better about wrapping up work after my children get home from school. Admittedly, I also know that I will sometimes 'check out' and zone into Facebook or a news article when I could/should be playing with my children. Many of us may be in this position even more as we explore work from home and juggling children and remote learning. Progress, not perfection, right? The hope and intent to be more mindful of what happens, and when, and the hope to make a change for the better DOES matter. I try to make up for it later with trips to the lake where I keep my phone in my pocket except to take photos, or when we go to the zoo and I focus entirely on the little people in my life instead of the animals. Please know that I am here for you if you want to talk. Small changes. This is a hard time that we're in. Please reach out if you want another parent to relate with during this time. Discussion Questions 1. What ways can you envision extending mindfulness through your senses in your home? 2. Which of your senses do you think you are most attuned to in regard to your children and family life? Least attuned to? 3. What are some common moments at home in which you have automatic responses to requests for your attention. Dear UU Parents and Guardians,
It would be lovely if you could join us for our weekly gatherings! Here is what is currently being offered: *Sunday School * Approximately: 30 minute program geared towards K-5 but open to all ages Sundays at 11am Please email me for the link Yoga with the amazing Maggie Pleskac this Sunday! Please wear comfortable clothing and bring a yoga mat if you have one. This summer you will find: Drag Queen Story Hour, Yoga with Maggie, and the Pioneers Park Nature Center as well as guests from our very own UU volunteer pool of caring adults. Each week is something different! *Middle and HS Zoom * We are now combining with Omaha youth groups and this will be offered *Wednesday* nights 7-8:30pm Come meet some other cool UUs! Please email me for the link NEW The Central East Region is creating CommUUnity Creek, an Online Middle School (for youth who graduated from 6, 7 or 8th grades this spring and are entering 7, 8 or 9th grades this fall) Adventure, August 3-7 Conferences for middle school students are SUCH an amazing opportunity to get to know other UUs around the country. Learn more here: https://www.uua.org/central-east/events/youth/middle-school-virtual-summer-camp-experience-820?fbclid=IwAR1V0xM9rM7WrHTRi8REKGNFr9yZAff68pM_RNt0fEvg25KnELSkUlPR55U *Parent and Guardian Chat: * The chance for parents and guardians to just get together and Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon Thursday July 23rd at 8pm Link: https://zoom.us/j/866583131 Password: lovemykids Wednesday July 29th at noon Link: https://zoom.us/j/474526337 Password: lovemykids *New Youtube links for this week!* Music with Miss Molly: https://youtu.be/d_TajNsTe40 Story with Miss Heather: https://youtu.be/BTvcfwGPmZg Story with Ms Alexa: https://youtu.be/7COjJqqNDso Chelsea's Meditation Video: https://youtu.be/CnrXlxHL7GE Theme this week: Effort Reflection: I'd like to share with you a story which I use often when I lead my teacher trainings. When we were at Faith United Methodist Church while our own building was under construction, I stepped into a classroom when a teacher told me they were struggling with a student. I came into the class to find the student had his head on the desk and was not engaging in class. He had been pounding his fist on the table. He had tears in his eyes. The teacher told me, "He's being difficult. I don't know what to do because I have all these other children to work with". The assistant at the time also was busy with the other children. I took the boy outside of the classroom. I know that sometimes simply changing the environment can help. "What's going on?" I asked. "I'm ready to listen to you." What he said next has stuck with me for years. "I just wanted my picture to be perfect". This hit me right in the heart. How often have we worked on something and tried and tried and just couldn't get it 'perfect'? It is a long life lesson to let things go. To recognize that sometimes we need to practice before we get something done the way that we want it 'just right'. Or, to simply realize it is something we may never perfect. I used to practice piano and eventually gave up. I couldn't read music. It just wasn't my thing. However, for a long stretch of time, I practiced dance for hours and hours every week. I never was 'perfect', but at one point when I was taking 8 classes per week, I like to think that I sure was doing a great job. More than anything, it FELT good to do it, no matter how 'perfect' the moves may have been or not. The moral of the story is two fold. A child can teach an adult just as much if not more than adults can teach children. Also, that an adult simply asking, "What's going on?" can make a big difference (we never know what is going through their minds). However, to the point of the theme of 'effort', I am always reminded that perfection is rarely attainable. Words from Sumi Loundon Kim: Mindfulness, as developed by meditation, allows us to identify various states of mind, while ethics and wisdom discern their wholesomeness or unwholesomeness and determine how to work with them. Kindness ensures that we don't feel judgemental about the unwholesome states we identify. Patience lets us not rush to dismiss these states from a place of suppression or denial, but rather make the important effort to welcome these states into our awareness and work with them. SOmetimes acknowledgment, reflection, and insight are needed. Our faculty of wisdom helps guide us to knowing what the appropriate course of action is to take with difficult mind-states. Discussion Questions: 1. What level of effort are you putting into developing your spiritual life right now? That of your family? How might you adjust this? 2. Children have a wide range of dispositions, just like adults. One child may be a high achiever, so much so that they need our guidance so as to learn not to take things so hard, that failure is a teacher, that who we are is not solely defined by achievements, or that establishing ourselves socially isn't always found in performance. Another child may be more defeatist or self-limiting. For those children, we may tack toward teaching the value of persistence, perseverance, or grit, that commitment to a team or activity is beneficial, and that practice can be a joyful experience. In this way, what children need from us differs based on their personality. What are the dispositions of your children? How are you working to teach them what a balanced effort means? Dear UU Parents and Guardians,
It would be lovely if you could join us for our weekly gatherings! Here is what is currently being offered: *Sunday School * Approximately: 30 minute program geared towards K-5 but open to all ages Sundays at 11am Email me for the link Yoga with the amazing Maggie Pleskac this Sunday! Please wear comfortable clothing and bring a yoga mat if you have one. This summer you will find: Drag Queen Story Hour, Yoga with Maggie, and the Pioneers Park Nature Center as well as guests from our very own UU volunteer pool of caring adults. Each week is something different! *Middle and HS Zoom * We are now combining with Omaha youth groups and this will be offered *Wednesday* nights 7-8:30pm Come meet some other cool UUs! Email me for the link *Parent and Guardian Chat: * The chance for parents and guardians to just get together and Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon Wednesday July 15th at noon Link: https://zoom.us/j/474526337 Password: lovemykids Thursday July 23rd at 8pm Link: https://zoom.us/j/866583131 Password: lovemykids *New Youtube links for this week!* Music with Miss Molly: https://youtu.be/7VF7Q8HpdA8 Story with Miss Heather: https://youtu.be/J0Y9pS61hKc Story with Ms Alexa: https://youtu.be/CBSIWiASIUY Chelsea's Meditation Video: https://youtu.be/q5zyP5fXqoU Theme this week: Walking Reflection: Ever since March and we started being inside more often, I have taken walks as part of my way to de-stress. I often have the children with me, but sometimes I walk on my own. With how often we are inside these days, walking has been a really great respite from being stuck indoors. I have also often brought my camera along. Taking moments to appreciate the sounds and sights of nature have helped me calm down and refocus my perspective. A simple shift of environment can do a world of wonders. Words from Sumi Loundon Kim Walking meditation is one form of practice easily integrated into your home life. Here is an inspiring excerpt from senior meditation teacher Kamala Masters on practicing walking meditation as a young mother: (My teacher) noticed that I walked through the hallway from my bedroom to the livingroom many times a day. The hallway was only about ten steps long, and he suggested it could be a perfect place to do walking meditation....He gave me some simple instructions. "Every time you step into this hallway, see if you can use the time as an opportunity to be present with the simple fact of walking. 'Just walking.' Not thinking about your mother, or about the children...Just experience the body walking....Do this without judging, condemning, or criticizing. In a simple and easy way, bring your attention back to just the walking, noting, 'stepping, stepping, stepping.' Your practice in this hallway will be a wonderful training for you. It will also benefit those around you because you will feel more refreshed." It didn't seem like much of a spiritual practice, but every day as I walked back and forth through the hallway on my way to do something, I would have a few moments of clear presence of mind - unhurried, unworried, at ease with life for a precious ten steps. When we are with our children, we can verbalize what we are noticing. For example, while ona walk, we can say, "I smell rain drying from the sidewalks," "I see the sunlight touching the leaves on the tree," or "I hear cars passing by." Children, following our example, begin saying what they are noticing. This practice has the double benefit of increasing our own awareness as well as that of our children. Discussion Questions 1. How do you think walking meditation can help us work with our anger? 2. Is there a stretch of your house where you can practice walking meditation, particularly as part of your daily routine? 3. What is particularly enjoyable about walks you take around your neighborhood? Another article suggestion: Parenting during a pandemic is not easy. 'Parenting With Heartbreak' https://www.uua.org/re/blog/parenting-heartbreak?fbclid=IwAR3jtvvM0LuTqRYpXKchTepwseoWNWfsehElPnkhOfJniA0Nt_z7qgk24Fw |
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AuthorChelsea Krafka is the Director of Religious Growth for the Unitarian Church of Lincoln. Archives
August 2021
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