God, help me

This was a blog post I did for River Road Church a few weeks ago.

I hurt for people who are treated differently, for whatever reason.  In the midst of Advent, a season of hope, I hope for people of faith to actively work to break down the walls that separate, many of which we have erected ourselves (knowingly and unknowingly).  In light of what happened in Ferguson and in New York with the incidents with two African Americans and police, how will we respond?  As a person of privilege (because I was born in America with the correct colored skin and to a family who didn’t have to worry about where my next meal was coming from), God, help me to do something.

How will we respond – in our churches, in our schools, in our homes?  It is easy for me to sit on my couch, to be saddened at the goings-on in Missouri and other places around the world, and then just continue on with my life, not wanting to be bothered with the difficult reality of how I’m not really doing my part to make sure it doesn’t happen again, and then just continue on with my life as-is.  God, help me to move beyond just feeling sad.

We can talk about whether the police officers were “justified” or not (I have difficulty with justifying lethal force and violence, but that’s for another time).  We can have conversations about why there is more crime in certain neighborhoods or why people in some parts of the city struggle to put food on their plates or why prisons have a larger percentage of people of color than not (according to one statistic I read, African Americans make up 30% of the general population and 60% of the inmate population).  For those of us who are privileged (most of us who are reading this fall into that category), what will we do about this?  God, help me to move beyond just having conversations about who is at fault and move toward building relationships and working for justice so that these incidents stop happening.

We have some great opportunities at River Road to be involved in reconciliation – our prison ministry, CARITAS, CrossOver, ESL, the Richmond Baptist Centers, and the MICAH initiative to name a few.  All of these ministries provide opportunities to build relationships, to spend time getting to know people who are different than we are.  God, help me to actively work for justice for those who are treated differently.

Resources for parents to help with the season of Advent

What a wonderful time we had at our ADVENT-ure lunch - for children and families for a time of fellowship and learning more about this season of preparation we call Advent.  We had over 80 people to attend.  Many, many thanks to all the folks who helped to make our time possible – Ella Ryan, Meg Rooney, Beth Rooney, Lindsey Stevens, Jennifer Freeman, Jan Davis, Christine Kellett, Betty Rose Sexton, Tuckie Paxton, Jane Terry, Ann Bagwell, Margaret Almond, Peggy Stevens, Betsy Lowery, Russ Collins, Bonnie Way, Jean Cauble, Chuck Ursiny (sexton).  Folks who helped that I forgot to mention - my sincere apologies.

I wanted to provide you with the resources from our time together.  Here is the folder for Advent resources.  In the folder, you'll find:

Directions to make a pipe cleaner advent wreath - a good way for preschoolers or other children to have their own advent wreath and not have to worry about burning the house down.

A coloring book about the story of Jesus' birth.  A good opportunity for young children to have to color and learn about the story of Jesus' birth.

We created an Advent jar at our lunch (see picture below).  We took a jar and 25 popsicle sticks and wrote different ideas on each stick that will help us prepare for Jesus' coming.  Some examples:  Share your Christmas dinner with someone, do a favor for someone without being asked, or share your favorite Christmas memories.  A lot of ideas to choose from (the ideas are in the folder).  Each evening, as you eat dinner together, select one of the ideas from the jar.

Some general information for advent that will be helpful in talking with your children about Advent and its meaning.  You can create your own advent wreath (we actually used an advent "box").  We got a block of Oasis (floral foam), stuck 4 candles in it (3 purple and 1 pink) and then decorated with greenery.  There are all kinds of advent wreaths/boxes that you can create.  Google it (when did you ever think google would become a verb).

Making Advent Rocks, a neat way to tell Jesus' story, especially for prechoolers.  I had planned on doing this at the lunch.  Unfortunately, the rocks arrived one day too late.  I have created the pictures for each of the days listed.  You can find those pictures in the folder. Feel free to use all the descriptions or just some of them, or create some of our own.

Ideas for an advent chain (you would need to print out the sheet if you'd like to create an advent chain).  The idea being that there are 25 scriptures and your family would read one scripture each night, cut out the strip of paper with that scripture and create a loop. Each night, you'd add to the chain.  It's not necessary that you create a chain - you can still read the associated scriptures.

Using an Advent calendar.  At River Road Church this year, we are all using the same Advent calendar.  On the back, you’ll find some words you can say at dinner each evening, especially if you’re lighting a candle on your advent wreath. 

Here is a link to the advent information on the church’s website.  There, you can find some more information, including the daily advent devotionals written by our members and illustrated by our 3^rd-5^th graders.  The writers used the scriptures from the advent calendar above.  What a great way for our entire church to use the same resource.        

I came across a resource from 2012 (named Advent - Home Services in the folder) that our church put together that gives some ideas for some short worship services (a reading, a prayer, and lighting of the candle).  Similar to what is on the back of the advent calendar - just some different ways to share time together with your family.


I love to hear about what families are doing to prepare themselves for the coming of the Christ Child.  Share your stories and your pictures with me - what was meaningful, what ideas really stuck with your kids, what info helped you in talking about Advent with your family.  Always great to share what works well for your family with others.  We are a community and a support for one another.  

Let us take a deep breath in this season that many people spend their time and energy wearing themselves out instead of preparing our hearts and minds for the coming of the Prince of Peace.  May we be intentional in our preparation - in our words, but, more importantly, in our actions.



Some pictures (thanks to Lindsey Stevens for her great skills in taking pictures)