Right now my heart is toward those of you who are at home with children—parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends. We’re hosting space for their difficult feelings that are coming out, and their difficult behavior...and our difficult feelings and our own difficult behavior. And my wish for you is that you may have all the grace and love you need to stay connected.
Here are three ideas for using simple items to foster spaces of connection—both connection with God, and connection with each other—during this time. I call this a “Holy Listening Connection Kit.”
Holy Listening Connection Kit
These three objects can be ordered online if you don’t already have them:
1. A battery-operated candle (tea-light)
You can use this candle as a reminder of God’s presence with you in your home, no matter what is happening. God is with us, he has not abandoned us. Use this candle for simple prayers. For example, tapping the candle and tapping your heart or someone else’s as a reminder of God’s love. “God loves (tapping candle) me (tapping self). God loves (tapping candle) you (tapping child).” Or use it with a breath prayer: “God is with me” (breathing in), “I am safe” (breathing out). Since it’s not flammable, it can also stay by the bedside at night as a reminder that our child is safe because God is with them.
2. Silly putty (or homemade play dough)
A child can use silly putty or play dough to create a sculpture of how they’re feeling. Do they feel like a roaring lion? They can sculpt a lion. Do they feel like a tiny seed hidden away in the ground? They can sculpt that seed. What a wonderful way to pray! “God, I am just a tiny seed in the ground.” Another way to use putty for connection is to read a short story from scripture (look up stories that have children involved) and invite the child to sculpt what they’re hearing, or maybe to sculpt what they’d like to ask Jesus for.
3. Blessing balm (chapstick)
This idea came from a hospital chaplain to children, Leanne Hadley. Use the “blessing balm” to draw a cross on the hand (I like to use a Celtic cross because it gets a little more goo on there). It reminds us that while we can’t see God, sometimes we can get a “whiff” of God’s presence. The chapstick cross is a sensory reminder that God is with us and we are safe.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lacy Finn Borgo has been a friend, spiritual companion, and instructor to many Novo staff over the years. She teaches and provides spiritual direction for the Renovaré Institute, the DMin. in Spiritual Direction at Fuller Theological Seminary, and at Portland Seminary. Lacy provides spiritual direction for adults through GoodDirtMinistries.org and serves as a spiritual director for children at Haven House, a shelter for women and children. Lacy’s newest book, Spiritual Conversations with Children: Listening to God Together, just released in March 2020, shares many more principles and ideas for cultivating a child’s life with God, as do her previous books, Life with God for Children: A Curriculum for the Spiritual Formation of Children and Good Dirt: A Devotional for the Spiritual Formation of Families. Lacy lives with her family on a small farm on the Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains.