Saving Faith: A Family Journal

As I thumb through my notebook of ideas, starting points in what I want to share in this space, I linger over the words: symbols, connection, intention, family, faith...

How do we give these words meaning and prominence in our day-to-day lives? When I am old and gray, my children grown, what will lead me back to these days of chaos, joy and wonder? So often, my days feel rushed and misplaced; a race to finish one just to tumble into the next with high hopes and bags of exhaustion decorating my eyes-such little space for grace and forgiveness when my "list" is left undone.

I am a champion list maker. I am a planner, a dreamer. Filled with good intentions and lacking the enormous demand for follow-through my life commands. It is easy to float through this life. To succumb to the urge to 'just get through another day'. And yet, floating leaves me empty and worn. It robs me of my memories, my joy. Steals the everyday boosts of confidence and faith I have in myself for a job well done.

When I allow myself moments to seek gratitude, to reflect on the thousand little gifts of joy this life with nine quietly-and sometimes quite loudly-gives me, I find peace. I find my faith deepens-my faith in myself, in my family, in my abilities, in my dreams.

Writing is my outlet. I sometimes feel if I don't write it down, it will be gone. So sadly, I have found with regret, this is true. Pictures, disjointed journal entries, facebook updates all mark and record little bits of our lives. But they are all just that: disjointed. Recorded moments in scattered places with no story. Just independent snapshots of our lives.

Keeping a family journal has given me a place to record our days. To capture those precious, poetic words my children utter and the darndest things they say. A place to tape in a ticket stub, to tuck away a love note and include a photo. A place to record a favorite recipe, a favorite song or prayer, a list of dreams. A 'safe place' to share words of love and admiration that sometimes come easier on paper than embarrassingly spoken aloud. A handprint on their birthdays. A pressed leaf or flower from our first garden. A shared calendar of dates and events to remember. A family journal is the perfect home for my little ones' crooked first attempts at writing their names, and the hand-written credos my young teenagers so bravely share with our congregation as they Come of Age.

It is a place to honor and celebrate our family. To see how we've grown inside and out. To document the sacred scriptures of our own truths as we discover them. A symbol of our faith-as wide and varied, and closely connected as ours may be. As we begin to journal, my hope is to have these pieces of our lives bound together to tell our tale. To share in times of joy and celebration. To savor when my memories fade. To treasure in moments of regret and guilt, or to lift me from feelings of hopelessness when the day is long and my resources seem few. I intend for this journal to become my much-needed reminder that these days are short and all-too-quickly fading. A living home we can always come back to.

Bless This Meal: Saying Grace and Giving Thanks

When life takes over and our days become a blur, it is so easy to become disconnected. Many bodies living separate lives under one roof. In these moments, the powerful connection of sharing food, nourishing our bodies, and togetherness is lost to fast food, fend-for-yourself meals, and TV dinners.

When I feel disconnected from my children and my home, re-embracing family meals is a simple, instant healer. Planning and preparing meals together, gathered together at the table, we are given the opportunity to reconnect, laugh, talk, linger. It is a time to learn. A time to grow. To nourish not only our bodies and minds, but our hearts and spirits.

As I contemplate enriching our mealtimes and giving them a place of honor and connection in our days, my goal is to imbue a sense of reverence and sacredness to this special time we have to truly be together: to come together as a family, light a candle, hold hands, and give thanks; spiritually and physically nourished, and connected.

When our days are chaotic and rushed, I find a spoken, rhythmic blessing to be calming and centering. On happy, light days, we enjoy singing our blessings. Over the years, and from many sources, we have gathered these:

Thank you for this food, this food
This glorious, glorious food
And the animals, and the vegetables, and the minerals
That make it possible
Bon Appetit! Let us eat!
~
Blessings on the blossoms
Blessings on the roots
Blessings on the leaves and stems
Blessings on the fruit
~
Earth who gives to us this food
Sun who makes it ripe and good
Dear Sun, dear Earth, by you we live
Many thanks to you we give
~
The silver rain, the shining sun
The fields where scarlet poppies run
And all the ripples of the wheat
Are in the bread that I do eat
So when I sit for every meal
And say a grace, I always feel
That I am eating rain and sun
And the fields where scarlet poppies run
~
Oh, the Earth is good to me
And so I thank the Earth
For giving me the things I need
The Sun and the Rain and the Appleseed
The Earth is good to me.
~
Thank you for the food we eat.
Thank you for the children sweet.
Thank you for the clothes we wear.
Thank you for the nice, fresh air.
~
We are thankful for this food
For rest and home and all that's good
For air and rain and sun above
And most of all for those we love