Miracles From Heaven with Jennifer Garner - Available Now!

I’m a Jennifer Garner fan from way back. Whether it’s her light and funny films like 13 Going on 30, or her more serious pics like Juno, something about her work – and her take on “stardom” – has always appealed to me.

When her latest film, Miracles From Heaven (from the same producers as Heaven is For Real), came to theatres a couple of months ago, my sisters-in-law and I made it a girls’ night out…and we weren’t disappointed. If you missed it then, now’s your chance to see this powerful movie – Miracles from Heaven is available for purchase on July 12^th.

The film is based on the incredible true story and memoir of Christy Beam, Miracles from Heaven: A Little Girl, Her Journey to Heaven, and Her Amazing Story of Healing, which recounts how Christy and her husband Kevin’s young daughter Anna was diagnosed with an intestinal motility disorder (her body wasn’t able to digest food). The prognosis was not good.

What followed was not only physical suffering for Anna, stress for her two sisters, and financial and marital strain for her parents, but also a crisis of faith for mom Christy, who naturally wondered how God could allow a young child to go through so much. If the story were purely Hollywood, you might roll your eyes at the ending and deem it completely implausible. The fact that the story is true makes it a miracle. (I can’t give any more away than that, in case you don’t know how it ends!)

I was interested to read that while doing press for the movie, Jennifer Garner shared that she grew up in a religious family, attending church services every Sunday, and as an adult took her children (she has two daughters and a son) back to West Virginia to be baptized. Living in Hollywood, however, regular church attendance was not part of the culture. Working on Miracles from Heaven helped reaffirm her own faith, and she began taking her children to weekly services. “That decision was a direct gift from this movie and for that, I'm very grateful,” she shared during a question and answer session.

What does this celebrity mom want us to take away from the movie? "I will be so thrilled if it lifts people's hearts…if it asks anyone to re-examine their own faith and their own beliefs; that would be the pie in the sky for me. I can't think of anything better," Jennifer shared with The Christian Post.

Faith is huge for my own family – my husband and I both work in the Catholic school system which our daughters attend, and we go to Mass every weekend – so I certainly appreciated the spiritual side of this film. That said, even if you aren’t religious you can still take something from the story, including lessons on family values and determination. Either way, stock up on Kleenex before you watch.

Miracles From Heaven also stars Martin Henderson as Kevin Beam (you may know him as Nathan Riggs, the doctor Meredith Grey just, um, became close with on Grey’s Anatomy) with Queen Latifah making appearances for some comic relief (though really her role is a touching one as well).

Miracles from Heaven is a feel-good, inspirational film worth adding to your collection. Watching it at home I caught several things I missed the first time around in the theatre, and I also look forward to sharing it with my daughters, as I’m always eager to expose them to messages of faith, hope and love.

Disclosure: This post was brought to you by Sony Home Entertainment but the opinions are my own.

For more information, visit http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/miraclesfromheaven/.

Joseph and the Colorful Coat - The Brick Bible For Kids

We know kids love Lego, and The Brick Bible For Kids series by Brendan Powell Smith (fully illustrated with Lego scenes) is a fantastic way to introduce them to powerful Bible stories.

When I was sent Joseph and the Colorful Coat for review, I decided to read it to my students (few were familiar with the story) and let them speak for themselves...so here's what they had to say.

What they liked:

• the detailed Lego pictures
• that is was a real story (non-fiction)
• that it wasn't normal drawings
• that it has a happy ending (sorry for the spoiler)
• how there's a (find-the-Lego-piece) activity at the end of the book for kids
• how the Lego people are in different positions and have different expressions
• how the brothers became nice

What they didn't like:

The book was a hit, as the only negative feedback any of them had to offer was related to the plot (and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be a good idea for the author to attempt to rewrite the Bible) or moments that didn't make it into a Lego scene (e.g. "there should be a picture of him getting out of the well", or "there should be a picture of the brothers pushing him".)

Other titles in the series include Noah's Ark, Jonah and the Whale, and The Christmas Story. More details can be found at http://www.thebrickbible.com/.

Disclosure: I was provided with a copy of this book for review purposes. Opinions are, as always, my own.

Our First Eucharist Retreat: Crafts, Baking, Drama and more!

I teach at a Catholic school, and this year I have Grade 2s for the first time (in a 2/3 split) which means I get to help prepare the students for two sacraments, First Reconciliation (which was in the fall) and First Eucharist (also known as First Communion), which will be taking place next weekend.

It's a tradition at our school to hold a day-long First Eucharist retreat at the Parish Hall across from the school. I was a bit overwhelmed by the planning of the event, and woke up in the middle of the night a few weeks ago with a brainwave: I should contract my mom to help organize this! (I would say that I get the organizational gene from her, but in fact I get it from both sides, in different ways. My Dad, for example, has an alphabetized list of every book he's ever read, and very precise systems for loading the dishwasher and rotating ice cube trays.)

Thankfully, my mother (a retired teacher herself) agreed to help out, and I owe her a huge debt of gratitude. From buying supplies to preparing materials to testing out the activities, she put in hours and hours of time on top of any work I did. We used many of the centres that my creative and talented predecessor shared from her years as our school's Grade 2 teacher, as well as a couple of ideas provided by our school board's Religious Education Consultant, and one or two we came up with on our own.

I am also extremely grateful for the parent and grandparent volunteers who joined us. The centres ran so smoothly and were cleaned up in a jiffy with so many hands to help, and the ladies were all great company for our pizza lunch (which we dug into while the kids were still busy playing outside!)

Here are some shots of the retreat activities (I'm choosing not to show any of the children, but you can still get an idea of what we did) partly in case the ideas can be of help to any other teachers, and also as a way to visually keep track of what I may need to remember for next year! The centres were 20 minutes each (4 kids per centre), and I gave the students a booklet of First Eucharist word searches and colouring pages to work through if they finished any centre early.

1. Chalice Decoration (when you lift up the host, you see Jesus underneath)

2. Decorating People (scrapbook paper is much easier to cut than fabric)

Note: The kids were amused to find an old Sears Photo Studio charm with my picture in it mixed in with my mom's button collection!

3. Doves of Peace

4. Drama: The Road to Emmaus

5. Mod Podge Candle Holders

6. Decorated Foam Crosses

7. Bread making 

(We had a grandma stationed in the kitchen, who was actually my mom's roommate during their first year of teaching! They enjoyed getting caught up.)

8. Wine Making - no photo of the set-up for this one, but each child had a 

baggie of grapes to squeeze and strain into a cup which was added into their grape juice at snack time.

(Yes, we let them have a bit of butter on their unleavened bread...and most of them still didn't like it - but they loved the process of baking!)

Extra activity (when done grape squeezing): Altar Cloth Decorating - each child put their hand print and name on the cloth, to be displayed at First Eucharist

Table for extra supplies:

We were joined at lunchtime by the Monsignor from our church, who spoke to the children and let them try a couple of unconsecrated hosts so the taste and texture won't be a surprise on the big day. Our classroom "supporters" (students who are not Catholic and won't be receiving the Eucharist) even got a chance to try. 

After lunch, our amazing choir director/music teacher popped by to run through the music for the Mass...and boy, do my kids love to sing!

I was so pleased with how the day went, and I can't say enough how thankful I am to everyone who helped to make things run so smoothly.

It seems like only yesterday that Frannie made her First Eucharist, but it was actually a whole year ago. Just since I love this photo so much, let's reminisce, shall we?

Next year it will be Maggie's turn, but for now it's all about my beautiful students and their special day next Sunday. Please say a prayer for us!

P.S. Feel free to ask if you'd like any details about our retreat activities!

The Virgin Mary's Diary: Kids Write the Cutest Things

I gave my kids a writing assignment: after listening to the Gospel account of when Mary learned she would be giving birth to Jesus, students were asked to complete a diary entry from Mary's point of view. Here's one particularly astute entry, shared (as always) with parental permission. Love it!

The Happiness Project: August (Contemplate the Heavens)

For the month of August, "The Happiness Project" author Gretchen Rubin tackled a pretty big project, which was to "Contemplate the Heavens":

I definitely consider myself a religious person. I've inherited a very strong faith and I value Catholic education, Mass and sacraments.

This chapter of Rubin's book was about more than religion, though.

Her goals:

• Read memoirs of catastrophe
• Imitate a spiritual master
• Keep a gratitude notebook

These ideas didn't resonate for me this month. I've certainly done the first, and since Jesus counts as a spiritual master, I spend my life attempting to do the second.

As for gratitude, I've tried the notebook approach before, but couldn't stay consistent (which is what happened with the author as well). I do, however, take time every day to be thankful for all of the blessings I have in my life.

I don't think it would be appropriate to start rambling about what I have, especially when there may be readers out there who are struggling with what they don't. I would, however, like to share a quote that, while biblical, can be applied in all sorts of contexts regardless of your beliefs:

"To whom much is given, much will be expected." (Luke 12:48)

Are we meeting the expectations?

Mommy and Her Girl on First Communion

I'm rarely wordless, but after a wonderfully full weekend this is all I have for you today:

Have a fantastic week, everyone!

P.S. Frannie was quite tickled that her First Communion photo drew one of the largest ever number of "Likes" on This Mom Loves' Facebook page, as well as many comments. Thanks for that!

Wednesday Words From the Gospels

Wait! Don't surf away/delete this e-mail just because you aren't Catholic. Or Christian. Or a believer at all. Even if that is the case, I would be hard pressed to believe that there isn't a single tidbit of advice, encouragement or support for you to glean from any of the quotes below. Give the words a chance to change your day.
As you may remember, it was my New Year's resolution to read the Bible, and I have already shared my favourite quotes from the Gospel of Matthew. I have since made my way through the other three Gospels, and have collected here the passages that meant the most to me.

Mark

"Let the children come to me, do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." 10:14

"For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God." 10:27-28

"One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, 'Which is the first of all the commandments?' Jesus replied 'The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." 12: 28-31

Luke

"Love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the most high." 6: 35

"Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." 11:9

"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." 14:11

John

"Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." 8:7

"I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die." 11: 25- 26

"I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another." 13:34

And the final words of the Gospels:

"There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written." 21:25

Wednesday Words - Thanks To My New Year's Resolution

While I'm not big on New Year's resolutions, I did set a few goals for myself for 2013, and one of them was to read the bible. Cover to cover. Seriously. While I've never been a huge bible reader at home, I use it constantly with my class. One of my favourite teaching resources ever is my "Bible Story Puzzles" book, full of worksheets that correspond with different scripture references. It's a fantastic way to expose kids to Bible stories and give them something to "do" with them. Very helpful this year with a split grade too.



Anyway, back to my resolution. January had barely begun and I was digging into Genesis...and made my way through...but I have to say that the Old Testament just doesn't provide me as much inspiration as the New Testament. The genealogy alone is mind-boggling!

I decided to skip ahead and read the Gospels next (it's not like I don't already know how the story ends) and I've been much more motivated. By Chapter 5 of the first Gospel, Jesus is already trying to undo several of the misconceptions from the Old Testament: "You have heard it was said to your ancestors ____________, but I say to you __________________" (repeated with several different examples). So I think I'm going to stick with what Jesus said.

Some of my favourite tidbits from the Gospel of Matthew:

"Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father...when you give alms, do not let the left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." (6: 1-4) This one is actually the Gospel for the Ash Wednesday Mass my class is preparing.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroys, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroy, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." (6: 19-21)

"Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself." (6:34)

"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few." (7: 13-14)

"Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few'" (9:37)

"I tell you, on the day of judgment people will render an account of every careless word they speak. By your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." (12:36-37)

and the beautiful end of Matthew's Gospel:

"Then Jesus approached and said to them 'All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." (28:18-20)

Books For Teaching Christian Kids About Hanukkah

While my students are Christian (most Catholic, as are my daughters) I see a great value in reading stories about Judaism (as well as other religions). I mean, we share a whole Old Testament of history and beliefs with the Jewish people, and it creates a great opportunity to teach about differences. The simple bottom line that I share with kids is that the Jews don't believe Jesus is as important as we do, but we still have lots in common.

Two titles I've shared with both sets of "kids" recently:

The Story of Hanukkah by David A. Adler, illustrated by Jill Weber




This picture book has a fairly short chunk of text on each page, along with colourful illustrations that take kids back to Israel at the time of the King Antiochus IV and the Maccabees. My kids were fascinated to learn about the miracle of the oil, and are so innocent that they were shocked to learn religious freedom didn't (and doesn't) exist everywhere.

The back of the book also has a recipe for latkes and instructions for how to play the dreidel game, two other ways to expose kids to other religious traditions.


The Christmas Menorahs: How a Town Fought Hate by Janice Cohn, illustrated by Bill Farnsworth



Also picture book style, this story is actually much longer than a traditional picture book, with many of the 39 pages completely full of text. (Not a quick read-aloud.) I read this to my students over the course of two days, and used it as an exercise in visualization, as the kids sketched what they were picturing as they listened.

The Christmas Menorahs is the true story about the town of Billings, Montana, where a rock was thrown through the window of young Isaac Schnitzer's bedroom simply because it was lit up with a menorah. The book recounts how the community came together, with many of those who were not Jewish placing menorahs in their windows as well to stand up against hate and prejudice.

One line that really resonated with the students and helped them to relate: "She had been trying to imagine how she would feel if someone threw a rock into her window because she had a Christmas tree."

While on the one hand I think it's very important for children to have a certain awareness about prejudice, I also find it heartwarming that at this point, the idea that someone could be targeted because of their religion is a completely new concept for most of the children in my life.

Sorry I'm Not "Just Spiritual"

As I began planning this post, I was just going to tell you about my latest Pandora bead purchase, and touch on how faith is so important to me and my family. As I got going, however, I decided that I wanted to share a little bit more about my thoughts on organized religion.

I always find it interesting when parents boast that they aren't forcing any religion on their children, and that they are going to allow them to "decide for themselves". I completely disagree with this philosophy, because for me, being raised Catholic was one of the strongest influences in my life. Once I got old enough, it was certainly my choice to stay, but I think a big part of a person's faith is developed through childhood rituals. It's not like these parents are going to a weekly service and paying for a babysitter until the kids are old enough to decide. It usually just means they don't have any religious affiliation themselves, or they aren't happy with the one they were born in to.

I also find it amusing when I hear someone say "oh, I'm not religious, I'm just spiritual". I'm sure that for some people this is perfectly authentic (and if that is you, then no offense intended), but for others, it's a copout ('spirituality' can be pursued while sitting on the deck; 'religion' requires some time on hard pews and kneelers) or just a safe, politically-correct assertion. Sort of a "don't-hate-me-because-I-go-to-Mass/temple/mosque, I'm not really one of 'them'" kind of thing. I am definitely a spiritual person, but I am proud to say that I am also religious, and my religion is Catholicism. Whoosh. And some readers bounce away.

I harbor no ill-will towards atheists; if anything I kind of feel badly for them, because I can't imagine a life without my relationship with God. Despite being told during one sermon that Catholicicm is not a buffet where you can take some things and leave others, I do sometimes question rules and decisions of my Church, and I'm no perfect Catholic (I've been married 9 years and have two children. Enough said.) I do, though, consider Catholicism to be a huge part of my identity. I have no interest in convincing anyone else that it's the 'best' religion; I just know that it's mine. Ours.

As a child, we attended Mass EVERY Sunday, as well as all other days of obligation. My father comes from a long line of Irish-Catholics, and my mother is a very active convert; both are retired Catholic school teachers. And when I say we went EVERY Sunday, that means we hit a church in every city on my brother's summer-lacrosse circuit, and Saturday weddings did not replace Sundays' obligations. While attending a Catholic school in a little Irish community (I have since moved 40 minutes away to my husband's hometown, which could easily pass for the same place I left) I was in the choir, and eventually read on the altar. I wanted to be an altar server, but in 1987 our priest just wasn't ready for girls in that role.

When looking for a partner, a belief in God was a deal-breaker, a strong faith was very important, and finding a fellow practicing Catholic was a huge bonus. My husband and I both teach for the same Catholic School Board we attended as children, as do two of my husband's sisters and my brother. I enjoy teaching the catechism and incorporating our faith in to our daily lessons and activities. (And I'm not just saying this in case my employer is reading!)

Our parish really feels like extended family for us. Admittedly we attend Mass a little less often than our devoted parents: compared to my in-laws, who often go more than once in a weekend, our attendance rate is an embarrassing 90 - 95%. Frannie and Maggie were baptised within weeks of their births, and their godparents were chosen carefully for the example they would set. All future sacraments will be very special occasions for us.

Lately, I have been reading a Frannie a story each night from her children's bible, though at age four, some of it is a little over her head. Her big thing right now at storytime is that she wants to "be" any female character we read about:

Me: "This story is about Abraham and Sarah, who --"
Frannie: "I want to be Sarah!"
Me: "Fine, you can be Sarah. Whatever. Just let me read."
The other night I had to try to explain to her why she really wouldn't want to "be" Delilah.

It's not always easy to try to explain something as abstract as religion to young children. The other day, while driving to daycare, Frannie said "I'm glad there aren't any bad guys in heaven. You said there aren't any bad guys in heaven, right?" I don't even remember that discussion, but sure, okay. "But I have another question. Do we all have to die on a cross?"

Despite all of your efforts to instill your beliefs in your children, if you raise them to think for themselves, they may very well grow up and choose to abandon your family's religion, to find another, or to question God's existence altogether. But you still will never know the impact of the gift of a childhood full of faith and religious tradition.

So back to my bead. I chose this beautiful crucifix as a symbol of my firm religious beliefs. I truly never question the existence of God, and if some details of Jesus' time on earth have been tweaked a little in translation (as I am sure you DaVinci Coders will be quick to argue), it certainly hasn't hurt me, my family, or my students by setting our standards as high as those of a man we know once lived and died for us.

How about you? Are you religious? "Just spiritual?" What role does faith play in your childrearing? Do you still have the same beliefs and practices that you did growing up? I am very interested to hear my readers' thoughts on this. I welcome opposing ideas, but please be gentle. Remember, what would Jesus do?