This Week - June 22nd

Mosaic is gathering at the Majestic this week at 5 pm and we'll be chatting about John 9 with both kids and adults. See you then!

Praying the Psalms

My post the other day about this book got me thinking about Eugene Peterson's thoughts on the Psalms. Before he wrote The Message, Eugene Peterson was a Pastor... of a church plant, no less! He describes, in his introduction to the book of Psalms in The Message, how as a Pastor he was "charged with, among other things, teaching people to pray." He would frequently point them to the Psalms, and eventually he started paraphrasing them for people to use in prayer, leading to his now famous project of paraphrasing the Bible into what we know as The Message. What I love about Psalms for Young Children is that just as Eugene Peterson paraphrased the Psalms for adults to use in prayer, Marie-helen Delval has now done the same for children. This book is a great way to teach children to pray, using these Psalms written in words they can grasp.

Here are Eugene's thoughts on praying the Psalms:

"Faced with the prospect of conversation with a holy God who speaks worlds into being, it is not surprising that we have trouble. We feel awkward and out of place: 'I'm not good enough for this. I'll wait until I clean up my act and prove that I am a decent person.' Or we excuse ourselves on the grounds that our vocabulary is inadequate: 'Give me a few months - or years! - to practice prayers that are polished enough for such a sacred meeting. Then I won't feel so stuttery and ill at ease.'
My usual response when presented with these difficulties is to put the Psalms in a person's hand and say, 'Go home and pray these...
...Untutored, we tend to think that prayer is what good people do when they are doing their best. It is not. Inexperienced, we suppose that there must be an 'insider' language that must be acquired before God takes us seriously in prayer. There is not. Prayer is elemental, not advanced language. It is the means by which our language becomes honest, true, and personal in response to God. It is the means by which we get everything in our lives out in the open before God."

So, like I said, grab a copy of the book, and let's teach our kids to pray and to live lives of open communication before God.

image from _multifaceted on flickr.

Quote of the Week

"The soul is healed by being with children."

-Fyodor Dostoevsky

Buy This Book!

Many of you have taken heed of my book recommendations in the past. Allow me to add another. I have shared about this book with a few of you, but everyone needs to know! I can't say enough good things about it.

Psalms for Young Children by Marie Helen Delval, with illustrations by Arno.

It's only intro is this: "This selection of Psalms, paraphrased for young readers, uses language and imagery appropriate for children while remaining faithful to the spirit of the biblical texts."

It's true! These are Psalms rephrased for kids. But I love them for me, too! They are perfect to use as prayers, any time. They go through the range of emotions: fear, sadness, trust, hope, praise. You can find one to express whatever you are feeling. I recommend reading one together as a family for prayer time. There are some for bedtime, some for waking up in the morning, as well as Psalms of praise... perfect for mealtime.

Here's an example:

"God, you are good
and you forgive me.
You are full of love.
When I pray to you,
I know you will answer me;
I know you will show me
the right path to take.

Psalm 86"

and to top it all off, the illustrations awe awesome, as you can see from the cover shot above. I want to frame a few of these, Psalm and illustration, side by side.

So, order it today (click on my handy Amazon list to your right), or stop by Barnes and Noble to see if they have a copy (that's where I got mine!)

I'm loving this

http://bridge45.blogspot.com/

Now who wants to join me??

Father's Day @ Bloedel Donovan

This week - June 15th...

Mosaic is celebrating Father's Day together. We'll gather on Lake Whatcom at Bloedel Donovan at 5pm for a BBQ. Bring your own picnic meal, something to grill, frisbees, whiffle ball, and footballs. If you need directions, click here.

There will be a craft station set up for kids of all ages to make Father's Day *surprises*!

See you there!

image from Paint and Shoot on flickr.

Up Next - Team 1 - June 22nd

Ages 4-9

Delia B
Hilary E
Joanne S
David G
Matt & Elinor

Ages 2-3

Kelli G
Shaun P
Laura A

Babies
Hannah A
Andrea G

See you at 4:15 for set-up

image from: http://www.metro.co.uk

Henry Zonio on Family Ministry

I read a really interesting post on Family Ministry here today.

His thoughts are things I've also been thinking about and mulling over. What we do with our time at Mosaic can only add to what children are learning from their parents, teachers, mentors, relatives and siblings. But, I loved what he said here:

"While family ministry programs and systems and initiatives and whatever else you might want to add are good, I don’t believe they are the answer. We, as ministry leaders, need to model for our community that church is more than just a building… that worship is more than just a church service… that everyone in God’s family is a minister and needs to be doing ministry in the greater community together as families… that all parts of our lives need to be lived out as worship… that wherever we are, we are carry the image of God as lives transformed by the Holy Spirit…"

This is something I think we are trying to teach our kids at Mosaic... something we're attempting to live out together. Super encouraging.

Team 3 - June 1st

4-9
Julie H
Jacky S
Steven S
Charissa & Brenna

2-3
Gabrielle N
Ryan R
Lauren R
Amia F

Babies
Shannon N
Krysta H

image from: http://www.metro.co.uk

Mosaic Kids Needs

I posted a little list of needs on the sidebar to the right. Just a few things we could use right now.

On top of the list: BABY GATES

We need 2 baby gates for our area downstairs. Kids are super curious people and a few are extra curious and tend to venture where they ought not. If you have a baby gate or two that you are not using, would you think about donating it to us?

Thanks!