Blessing of the Animals this Sunday

 

Bring your pet along to church this Sunday!

Wilderness Sunday

What better way to celebrate Wilderness Sunday than to make some sand saucer art! Do any of our grownups out there remember doing this as a kid?

In the 'old days' we had sand saucer competitions at Industry Fairs and Parish Fêtes ... 

First ... we took an old saucer ... 'What's that?' I hear you ask! Ah ... long before disposable coffee cups and bubble tea, we drank hot tea from a teacup, which rested on a tea saucer. A little plate, smaller than a sandwich plate. 

Next ... we put a layer of sand on the saucer. (I was using some special 'magic sand' in the photo below).

Finally ... we arranged flowers, greenery and whatever else we fancied, to make a little garden scene. 

I remember making one many years ago for the Greymouth Industries Fair and I used a little piece of broken mirror for a lake. 

If you're interested in reading more about sand saucer competitions, there's a great short story on the Christchurch City Libraries website. You can read it here: https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/new-zealand-childrens-authors/phyllis-johnston/sand-saucer-competition/

These photos show the beginnings of a creation ... I forgot to take a photo at the end, so you'll have to use your imagination! (I got a little distracted playing with the magic sand!) Or, why not make your own sand saucer art at home and send me a picture for the blog!

Prayer:

God of the wild, the beautiful, the mysterious,
We thank you for the wilderness of Aotearoa,
for open spaces, beaches, mountains, forests, bushland,

for lakes and rivers.
Thank you for space to play and be.
Help us to step out of the noise and busyness of our lives,
away from electronic devices;
to be kind to our world, to be kind to each other,
and to be still, breathe and focus afresh on you.
Amen

Garden Update!

 Look how well the little gardens are doing!

Land Sunday

For Land Sunday in our Seasons of Creation, Carol and Maureen talked about how we are all connected to each other and the earth and we need to take care of the earth.

Our Awesome Kids played a board game and planted some little gardens. I hope they are better at watering plants than I am!