I’ve set myself the task of trying to get an idea out of my head and make it reality during the summer break. We are putting together some ‘worship together in the pews’ bags for people coming to church with babies & pre-school children. Of course I immediately want them to include some tactile visuals helping young children learn to navigate worship and identify the different elements that shape our worship.
What I’ve come up with as a starting point is one of those small ‘blankies’ with tags round the edge that babies love to hold and play with. Soft cotton, with wadding in-between so it has a satisfying squish to it.
I have lots of scraps of felt so I cut large colourful dots to applique on, and set to the task of embroidering the basic building blocks of worship onto them, making them tactile, colourful – and with words too for parents or grandparents to be sure they know what each symbol is!
Of course, I’ve no particular skill in sewing – and my embroidery is completely by eye rather than well planned out but as an idea I like it. Now I just need to decide on where to place them on the blanket and get them sewed on.
They could be in order like a visual timetable but given the size and shape – and the variations in services that we have – I think it will end up being more like an I spy challenge where each building block is spotted and pointed out as the service progresses. Those with a keen eye will notice that 2 blankets are in progress, and I’m thinking for the second the dots will have things to look out for in the church during the service that will also help spark conversation between carer and child about what worship is all about.
Also in the bags we’re imagining a young child friendly book of Bible stories that’s lovely for small hands to hold, and inviting for small people’s big imaginations, that can be used during the Bible reading. And some activities that can be an invitation to pray. Of course there’ll also be some quiet fidgets suitable for babies, perhaps I need to create a worship themed tactile busy book?!
Do you have similar bags available where you worship? What is in them? Any ideas welcome!!
This last 18 months in the Porter household has been challenging, and I find myself with a moment to pause and the energy to write so I thought I’d post some updates.
So I have coffee, and chocolate and probably a couple of minutes of uninterrupted thinking time! Here goes…
I’ll begin with A, who finished A-levels last academic year and took up a place at Cambridge University to study Modern & Medieval languages – Spanish & Italian. He’s now completed year one and is back at home meeting up with friends and travelling for the summer.
B has been at home with us and has welcomed a new arrival into our household – the gorgeous, and rather cheeky puppy ‘Kai’. So there is training, bathing, vet visits, playing, zooming around in the garden and lots of cuddles to fit into each week. But look at that face – irresistible!
Of course, Kai has grown fast, now over one and pushing boundaries as she continues maturing. But she’s a quick learner, and very intuitive so we’re keeping on with the training – B taking the lead & the rest of us ready to support.
So, T – well it’s been quite a year and a bit. T reached the end of Primary school and transitioned to our Secondary school, where I work. We knew this would be incredibly challenging for her, and so had started the process of securing an EHCP (Education and Health Care Plan). During Autumn term we were turned down for an EHCP assessment and filled in paper work to take the LEA to tribunal. The LEA conceded before the tribunal hearing and the process of assessment began. Meanwhile T was struggling to cope with the number of challenges, sensory and expectations of Secondary. There are so many teachers and classrooms to adjust to, so many times a day to move through the building alongside so many other students, worries about homework, toilets, friends, timings, eating in the lunch hall. She was getting burned out very quickly and attendance was dropping rapidly.
The assessment process resulted in an EHCP written well – a miracle – but naming the same Secondary school as her provision. By this time T had been completely out of school for a few months and unable even to cope with the bare minimum reduced timetable of getting through the school doors to meet a key worker for an hour each day. I filled in tribunal paperwork again to ask the LEA to reconsider the named provision. There is a specialist school nearby, with experience and expertise in social and communication differences where she would be supported by staff fully aware of the sensory needs and the effects of demands on T. After submitting the application for tribunal we were granted a hearing in Feb 2024 – but we pushed, and Andrew wrote to our local MP for support to move things forward. Amazingly, against all the odds the LEA reassessed and has agreed to name the specialist school. The school themselves in the meantime had been preparing a space for T and so after half term just gone we were able to begin the process of transitioning into the school. Starting from the premise that we need to go slow, and build trust – and try not to have to take steps back too often, we have been able to get T through the doors of the school when invited. She is communicating with her key worker, is settling into her room, loves the therapy dog ‘Bella’ and is just beginning to meet other students and engage in some learning activities again. She even managed to eat there this week!
It’s been a lot for all of us. It’s tested us, and we’ve reached tiredness we haven’t before – now that’s saying something. But God has so clearly been at work providing what we have needed, along the way and now as T settles into this school which flexes around her and fits like a glove. I have felt so supported by my work colleagues at the Secondary school where I am Chaplain through all the ups and downs, the failures and triumphs of this last academic year.
So – as you can imagine it’s been full on for Andrew & myself since I was last able to update you all – and I am hopeful that we are turning a corner with some of the latest intense craziness – of course we are the Porters, there’s always some to be found! But ministry continues; in the school where we have been welcoming around 60-70 to opt-in worship services twice a half term, and I am able to come alongside so many young people to encourage and to listen; in the community (still loving being involved in Girlguiding, making a safe space for girls to develop their confidence, skills and faiths) and in the church here with all the different groups and ministries; and of course at home through patience and imagination, listening and growing.
Much of my non-work time at the moment is spent in the dining room – or more specifically in Flower-lake City, T’s playmobil town. As you can see over the Christmas break a huge number of different buildings and sets have been put together, carefully arranged to form a town with a main street alongside an out of town area for the stables and the conservation and animal rescue center. It has given us the opportunity for hours (yes literally hours, I really wouldn’t want to keep count!) of storytelling, co-operative play (as long as I do & say exactly as I’m told of course; any of you with any experience of PDA will know what I’m talking about) imagination and stretching our thinking, and sharing outside the box.
As you can imagine it’s not always smooth sailing, there have of course been the usual obstacles because it is incredibly difficult for T to share the imaginative space and story tell with me. Sometimes we have to replay till I get it right, other times I get away with a suggestion or my own twist on what’s required – quite often with a lot of giggles. We’ve had a few moments when cats have wanted to join in too, which have proved a little tricky to navigate without meltdown. Those moments have brought back vivid memories of having to call A a ‘Giant’ whenever B’s games were changed or ‘ruined’ by her baby brother crawling or walking through – especially when he picked things up en route. Giving A a character took the intensity of the reaction away from him a little and over time became more of an expected part of the stories we played out with the dolls, marbles or whatever figures of choice we had organised.
The very first building as you go into Flower-lake city is a church. Over Christmas we had an exciting event in the community. Izzy & Charlie got married – we had no church at the time, and so we created a very outdoor wedding which suited them very well. But T got thinking, and Daddy made suggestions and our community church was created. A building that was in the loft (thank you Aunty E!), origionally a school building was found and cleaned and with a bit of card and imagination transformed into a welcoming church. Rev Ricky joined the town as our minister – still in need of a planned wardrobe change so she has a collar but very much becoming part of the furniture of the town.
What’s been so lovely to watch is the way Rev Ricky has got involved and the way the community has been using the building. I’ve found it so exciting to see T’s own experiences of church being played out so positively. To be honest sometimes (esp over the pandemic) I wonder if church is a positive for T at all.. or if she even wonders at why we do what we do. So what an encouragement. Rev Ricky has come in to do assemblies in the school – which is next door to the church, just as our church infants school is where we live. Most days she fetched the snacks and drinks for the school kids and drops them off. PE lessons have happened in the church space – with the stack of chairs neatly at the back out of the way of course – health and safety!
And when it’s church day in Flower-lake City a lot of the families come to a service, during which the children have their own teaching groups – acorns and mighty oaks (I’m pretty sure B helped name these groups one day when she popped in) – and they have their own notice boards to display their art work in the church building. Next plans Rev Ricky has are a mid week acorns group for the babies, and a movie night – always a favourite here where we live. I’m not going to lie, its also been a lovely excuse to do some mini crafting at the same time as trying my hardest to assist in the play as I’m asked to!
Social media is giving me the impression that everyone has managed to achieve great and exciting projects during lockdown. I think I’m developing a good dose of lockdown envy, and guilt that I haven’t! There have been no home improvement DIY’s, no de-cluttering, no clearing out – the house is in fact messier and more chaotic than usual. I haven’t learnt any new interesting skills (apart from with tech for our ministry tasks). There just hasn’t been the time or the energy!
Doing work, ministry, volunteering, schooling, family life; being Mum, carer, wife, author, a disciple, a human – all simultaneously, all in the same space for all these weeks has been an intense challenge with no respite. The worries of the lockdown and the virus have made T more clingy than usual, set back our sleep (which lets face it wasn’t great anyway), caused bigger and more frequent waves of anxiety that have had to be managed… and everything has had to be done differently – and we don’t like change in this household!
I’ve been counting it as a good day when we are all up & dressed for some of it, and we get to bed having been fed & watered (which we are always – thank you Andrew!) and still in one piece!
Just for a moment this morning we all went to the garden, at the same time and stood looking up at the house martins circling the garden, and trying out our house walls and window ledges for size. It was breathtaking – the birds, and the all stopping together to take it all in.
In a whirl of busy-ness where when ‘work’ (voluntary & now job as well – that’s taking some getting used to) can be put down, something or usually someone else needs to be attended to it was like a long drink of cold water on a hot day!
I do thank God for those unexpected moments he provides which, of course, turn out to do self-care and rest so much better than anything you could have planned … and not quite achieved.
It should I suppose come as no surprise that because God the creator of the world also made us we have an innate close bond with his creation. The Bible reminds us that everything in creation reveals God’s glory to us – points us to God.
Every little part of his creation is a testimony of his character and his heart.
Scientists will tell us that gardening boosts good mental health, anything creative and focused helps us become grounded and mindful of the present which reduces anxiety and regulates emotion. It has all the health benefits of getting outside in the sunshine and fresh air, and physical exercise to help us stay healthy and sleep better.
Animals too are well recognized for their therapeutic benefits. Again, potentially reducing anxiety and regulating emotion.
None of this is any surprise to God, who made us and placed us in a garden to live in harmony with his creation and himself. Caring for creation is a part of what makes us tick.
So how on earth can we stay connected, keep caring for creation during lock-down?
Easy enough I suppose if you happen to have a private garden, all that’s needed is the motivation to get everyone out there and taking part! A scavenger hunt, or a personal little patch of soil and some seeds; a mud kitchen; or a fairy garden or dinosaur landscape to play with.
But what about caring for creation if you are inside, without a garden?
I was reading today that in Spain at the moment children are not permitted to leave their houses at all. That does require a lot of outside the box thinking in order to care for creation (and ourselves!). Here are 5 ideas for connecting with nature during lockdown that don’t need a garden!
Grow caterpillars – We sent off for a kit that included a butterfly (zipped and netted) enclosure, and a pot with 5 tiny caterpillars in containing all the food they needed. Simple! It has been amazing to watch them eat, and grow – shed their skin, eat, poo and grow some more. (They became huge!) The sealed pot has made it so easy to keep them safe and well as we have enjoyed watching them change. Today they have all turned into chrysalises and we have moved them to the butterfly enclosure to wait for butterflies.
Window watching – make time to bird, bee or butterfly watch out of the window. RSPB are hosting a bird watching breakfast between 8-9am in the UK during the lockdown. The Big Butterfly Count(which happens between July – Aug in the UK) has a good printable guide to UK butterflies. Now is a good time to start getting in some spotting practice. There is also an app and ID guide to help with spotting bees from Friends of the Earth.
Share the care forpets – if you have a pet, get everyone who’s in lockdown with you involved in their care. Invent new toys for them, study their behaviours, find out more about them, take photos, enjoy more cuddles than usual.
Watch a nature documentary – yes it’s not the same as getting out there, but it’s good. Be amazed at God’s creation. Get up close to animals or places you wouldn’t be able to normally in the great outdoors and be inspired to marvel at the God who made and sustains it all.
Fruit and Vegetables – spend some time really noticing and enjoying the fruit or vegetables in your kitchen. Make some pictures using vegetable prints and be amazed at the patterns they make. Do a blind smell or taste test and find out who can guess all of the fruit and veg correctly. Find out where they grew, and what their plant looks like. Hold a seed from a fruit in your hand and think about how it contains all that is needed to grow into a new plant which will produce new fruits. God is an astonishing designer.
clearly nurturing 