Ideas for acknowledging our grief and saying goodbye to our loved ones.
A resource created by the Diocese of Gloucester to use during the pandemic.
Grief How children grieve and how they can be supported.
A resource created by the Diocese of Gloucester for use during the pandemic.
Fear – how do we talk to our children about Coronavirus?
A resource created by the Diocese of Gloucester to use during the pandemic.
Smiling keeps us healthy – when we smile we feel less worried and that makes our bodies work better by increasing our white blood cells and helping us fight infections and diseases. Smiling makes other people happy – smiley people provide a boost of good energy, smiles and laughter for everyone around them.
Since ancient times, people have built cairns at the tops of hills. These are piles of pebbles that become surprisingly big as each person reaching the top adds another pebble. Sometimes our prayers can seem small, but so many people are praying that our prayers are part of something much bigger.
Clapping for key workers on a Thursday night is a small thing we all do with great love and thanks.
Paint or draw rainbows on stones and leave them as a trail for other children to spot as you go for a walk. Look for them when you go for walks on other days and see if anyone has added any more.
Gather a calm kit, find a bag you like or can decorate and choose four or five things to put in it. You can choose things like a cushion to hold or lie on, a smooth stone to hold, something special that was given to you by someone who is important to you, the words of a favourite prayer, happy song or a poem that makes you feel positive . When you feel under pressure, worried or upset choose one thing from your bag to hold while you breath slowly and remember a time when you felt safe and calm. When you are ready replace it and if you want to choose another. You can do this as many times as you like.
Living close together, without the freedom to go out to school and visit different friends has been a challenge for our families too recently. Be encouraged that, as the Bible demonstrates, this has been true for families for thousands of years.
The word ‘peace’ or ‘shalom’ is used in many cultures as ‘hello’. It doesn’t just mean ‘quiet’ but is offering a sense of wholeness, completeness, soundness, health and safety too.
There Is a Time for Everything
Sometimes we wonder if we are doing the right thing at the right time, especially when life is different from usual.