Keeping Christ in Christmas: Join Church Ministries

I’m participating in the KEEP CHRIST in CHRISTMAS Blog Link-Up 2013

sponsored by the Catholic Bloggers Network.

Be sure to visit as many links as possible,

listed at the bottom of this post

I am excited to again participate in the Keeping Christ in Christmas Blog Carnival.  Last year, I wrote about how our family strives to live without over consuming all year, which helps us avoid the commercialization of Christmas.  This year, I am writing about our new involvement in church ministries will keep us close to God during the Advent and Christmas seasons.

A few months ago, our church hosted a ministry fair, so my husband, myself, and our oldest daughter each signed up for different ministries.  My husband had been discerning about the Knights of Columbus, as a way to give back some of the good fortune we have experienced in our lives.  He participated in the induction ceremony a couple of weeks ago, so he is looking forward to learning more about how the Knights are involved in our parish, and to participating in service projects and church fundraising events throughout the year.

I have been waiting for my children to reach the age where they could sit quietly during the readings without me next them in the pew so I could serve as a lector.  Now that my youngest daughter is five, I decided to put my reading talents to use at mass.  My first experience as a lector was exhilarating; I felt the power and Truth of the Word touch my soul as I listened to my fellow lector and to my own voice during the readings.  I am grateful for the public speaking ability God granted me, and for the opportunity to use that talent in His service.  

Participating as a lector has also pushed me to study the weekly mass readings more closely every week, something I have been trying to do for most of this year, but not succeeding at very often.  Now that I am responsible for reading about once a month, I try to spend a little time each week thinking about how the readings are connected to the previous and next weeks’ themes.  This will help me prepare to read with understanding and purpose when it is my turn at the ambo.  My next lector assignment is during the Christmas season, so I will be paying close attention to the Advent readings in preparation.  Look for a future post that is more descriptive of the preparation leading up to and the actual reading experience itself.

My nine-year-old daughter has developed an interest in music and singing, so she joined one of the children’s choirs.  Over the summer, she participated in a few of the “anyone can join us” choir sessions to try out the experience.  Her first performance with the children’s choir was last week, during the mass for Christ the King.  Even though this choir will not sing at mass during Advent, the opportunity has renewed her interest in liturgical songs, especially those used during the Christmas season.  We will be singing these songs as a family in the weeks to come while we wait for Christmas to arrive.

Even if you don’t join church ministries this Advent season, there are usually plenty of opportunities to serve the church this time of year, especially as a family.  Churches with food pantries may need help sorting the extra donations, or organizing the food for a holiday meal giveaway.  Many churches collect gifts for needy families, and need help organizing and distributing those gifts; this is a way to assist in addition to bringing donations.  There may also be opportunities to help to decorate the church grounds before Christmas, and remove decorations after.  You could also get involved in the church’s efforts to present a live Nativity or a Nativity play.

How will you use your talents to serve the church this Advent?  I am also interested in your comments about ministry service throughout the year.

In addition to our new focus on church ministries, we are going to participate in many of the same traditions I have written about in previous years, including making an advent wreath that we can “light” with paper or yarn flames.  Here are last year’s wreaths (yes, each of my daughters wanted to make her own).

I have two older blog posts about our daily Advent activities that are focused on faith.  You can find the first post here.   The second post includes more activities and a list of books we have enjoyed.

I plan to return to regular blogging after the first of the year.  In the meantime, I hope you will read some of the carnival links posted below. 

Equipping Catholic Families: Keep Christ in Christmas

Simply Homeschool  Living Advent Series 12/1 - 12/25

Fifth of Five Keeping Christ in Christmas - Blog Link-up 2013

Coffee Moments with Sam The Light of Hope

Hand-Maid With Love: CHRISTmas Presence: Keep Christ in Christmas 2013 Edition

Open Window   Making hay while the Advent wreath shines

Faith Filled Freebies: Keep Christ in Christmas

Written by the Finger of God: Not Christmas as Usual

On the Way Home:  Keep Christ in Christmas

Sue Elvis Writes: Bring Christ to Others

Mommy Bares All Why Celebrate Christmas Even After #YolandaPH

Canadian Catholic Mom Keeping The Little Ones Focused: An Advent Link-Up

Mountain of Grace Homeschooling Keep Christ in Christmas

Em’s Estuary: Keeping Christ in Christmas

Happy Little Homemaker: December Devotion: Immaculate Conception 

Adoro Ergo Sum:  How We Keep Christ in Christmas

JoyAlive.net: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Home to 4 Kiddos Keep Christ in Christmas

Embedded Faith Boldly Be the Christ in Christmas

City Girl, Country Home Emmanuel Is With Us. Are we WITH HIM?

Journey to Wisdom: Trusting in your Awkward Fiats

Joy of Nine9 Waiting in Joyful Expectation Like a Child

Splendor in the Home Ideas For Keeping Advent and Christmas Holy

Training Happy Hearts 10 Ways to Celebrate the New Liturgical Year

A Catholic Life Advent: The Beginning of the Liturgical Year & Source of Rich Meditations

Designs by Birgit: Elf on a Shelf and Santa Claus

Catholic Inspired: Faith-Centered Family Christmas

A Slice of Smith Life: How we keep Christ in Christmas

Catholic All Year: Three Reasons I love Advent

Mary the Defender: Christmas The Battle Begins

Truly Rich Mom: Keep Christ in Christmas

Day By Day in Our World: 40 Days Seeking Him and Keeping Christ in Christmas

Diapers and Drivel: Keeping Christ in Christmas

Raising Soldiers 4 Christ: Keeping Christ in Christmas

Rosary Mom Keep Christ In Christmas With A Teenager

Tercets: Keeping Christ in Christmas: Join Church Ministries

Campfires and Cleats How We Keep Christ in Christmas

Life Unabridged: Celebrating the Fullness of the Advent and Christmas Season

Homeschooling With Joy Keeping Christ in Christmas

Mrs Domestic Bliss Gingerbread Nativity

The Chic Traveller Keeping Christ in Christmas

California to Korea Keeping Christ in Christmas

Dominique's Desk Keeping Christ in Christmas

Our ABC Life:  An Advent Update 

Journey Living: Anno Domini 
The Road to Rome: Advent Prayer and Reflection Resources 
Life of Fortunate Chances: Keeping Christ in Christmas 
Quidquid Est, Est!: Reblog: Advent Posts

Five Ways to Support a New Mother

This post is inspired by World Breastfeeding Week, hosted annually by The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) from August 1 - 7.  The WBW theme for this year focuses on peer support for breastfeeding women, especially in the community, among family, and from health care providers.  According to WABA, peer support is the best way to ensure that women who are having difficulties, or who have returned to work, continue to nurse their babies. 

I want to share five ways anyone can support a new mother, and although these tips are especially helpful for breastfeeding mothers, they are also helpful to women who are bottle feeding (pumping or formula).  

  

Because breastfeeding can be difficult to maintain after a woman returns to the workplace, I also include specific information on how coworkers can assist their lactating colleagues on the job.  Several women have told me how lack of time to pump at work led them to end breastfeeding sooner than they otherwise would have.  This situation creates a spiral of less nursing because missed pumping sessions reduce supply, which leads to more use of formula, which leads to less nursing, etc.  

Our efforts to support lactating women are important in all areas of our lives: in the family, at home, in our neighborhoods, at the workplace, in public, and at worship.  I hope you are able to put these simple suggestions to good use supporting a new mother and her baby.

Five Simple Ways to Help a New Mother

1. Bring her a meal.  This is especially helpful during those early days at home when baby is very hungry and mother needs to heal from the birth.  A lactating mother needs a hearty healthy meal and plenty of snacks to keep her milk flowing, her energy up, and to promote healing.  If she has other children, she will benefit from the rest instead of preparing a meal for them.  While many women are fortunate that a family member can help out during this time, some mothers do not have any help, and most family members return to their own homes after a week or two.  

If you are supporting a lactating coworker, You can offer to bring her some takeout for lunch, or to pick up a dinner for her to take home to her family.  This is especially helpful when she first returns to work and her whole family is adjusting to their new schedule.

You can even organize a crew of volunteers to bring meals to a family with a new baby by contacting the new mother’s friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers.  Care Calendars makes this easy; all you have to do is set up a schedule and then send an e-mail to those who might want to help.  They sign up and the information is sent to the new mother and the calendar coordinator.  You could even arrange this before the baby is born!

2.  Offer to watch the baby or her older children.  New mothers need their rest, and even though everyone will tell her to sleep when the baby is sleeping, she may not be able to, especially if she has other children.  Keeping the baby or other children occupied for just an hour can let the new mom take a much needed rest without interruption.

You can help a coworker by watching her desk or phone and assuring anyone who tries to find her while she is pumping that she will return soon.  Also, before she returns from maternity leave, you can ask others to help you clean the refrigerator in the break room so the pumped milk can be stored in a sanitary place (you know how yucky a workplace fridge can get sometimes).

3.  Run an errand or help with a house chore.  We all know how difficult it can be to get to the store with a newborn, especially if that baby does not like the car seat.  Offer to pick up items while you are running your own errands, or ask if she needs something to help with breastfeeding, her post-partum bleeding, or her personal hygiene.  Same for a coworker; running errands after work might mean the baby will have to wait to nurse, which is not helpful to either the mother or child if they have been separated all day.

Laundry can pile up with a newborn around, so if you are visiting the new family, offer to help place something in the wash or fold things that are already dry.  Maybe the floor could use a sweep or the sink a wipe down. 

4.  Listen.  Sometimes, mothers need to share what is happening to them, or ask questions about how they are feeling.  She may want to gush about the baby, talk about how her life has changed, or simply have a conversation with an adult (instead of a baby or children) about something entirely different.  Indulge her; she will remember your kindness later.

Your coworker may have questions about readjusting to work life with a baby, how to handle a situation with her baby’s caregiver, or a work project that was completed during her maternity leave.  Returning to work while caring for a young baby can be distracting, to say the least; your offer to listen or chat can help tremendously.

5.  Pray.  This is an easy one, especially if you are already in the habit of praying for those who are healing or going through a major change in their lives.  There is much to pray for: healing, health, rest, learning to breastfeed, smooth nights, energy to complete daily tasks, patience, and so much more.

What are your ideas for supporting a new mother?  I am fortunate to have benefitted from the kindness of others in all of these ways, especially after the birth of my second child.  In fact, the help of friends was crucial to my breastfeeding success the second time.  You can read my stories about how I handled breastfeeding difficulties here and here.

Linking with: Breastfeeding Support & Tips, Catholic Bloggers Link up Blitz, The Better Mom, Motivational Monday

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Listen to Poetry

As a poet, another form of my activism is to encourage people to write, read, and listen to poetry, and to remind those who fear they don’t understand or “get” poetry that a poem can speak to you the same way that other written words do, can touch you the same way an emotional experience does, and can please your ears the way music does.  In fact, it often does all of these at once.

I’m going to promote two ways to listen to poetry, both of which are the activism and volunteer work of fellow poetry lover Fran Sanders.  After I posted about Everyday Activism, Fran wrote inviting me to record my work for her program “Poet’s Corner,” which is broadcast as part of Sight Into Sound Radio, Houston Taping for the Blind.  This is her activism, and she’s been doing it for 16 years.  Fran is also on the board of Houston’s newest reading series, Public Poetry, which has featured me as a reader (and will again in November).  We met after I was chosen to read for Public Poetry.

A few weeks ago, at the Houston Taping for the Blind studio, Fran and I recorded a thirty minute program on state of the art digital recording equipment.  I read my poems while Fran monitored my mistakes and “umms” and instantly corrected them.  They have 15 recording booths, where volunteers read and record everything from magazines to textbooks for their weekly programming and special requests.  They also have a broadcast studio where they read the Houston Chronicle live every morning, every page.  You can listen to them streaming on the internet 24/7 here (look for Listen on the right).  Those who are visually impaired can listen on free digital radios, so if you know someone who can benefit from this service, be sure to get in touch.  Also, they always welcome volunteers, so if you have some time and a desire to help others, go and talk to them.  Everyone I met over there is very friendly.

You can browse the Poet’s Corner archive here, and click on my name or another poet’s name to listen.

If you live in Houston, come check out the next installment of Public Poetry, Saturday, July 2 at 2 p.m. at Kendall Neighborhood Library, 609 N. Eldridge, 77079.  The featured poets are listed on the left, and you can read about them here.  I have attended two events and read at one; they are well organized and entertaining, starting with guest readers who show how poetry intersects with their own work, proceeding to a diverse mix of poets reading published and new work, and ending with talented young writers who will impress you.  I hope to see you there.  That way, when someone asks you, “What did you do yesterday?” you can give an unusual answer along the lines of “I went to a really awesome poetry reading and hung out with the poets afterwards.”  This will sound quite impressive to anyone who believes the myth that all poets are dead, that poetry is dead, or that no one writes poetry anymore.  Prove them wrong.

Also, Public Poetry is looking for a summer intern, and volunteers who can help out an hour a week or even once a month.  More information here.  If you’d like to help, Fran will be glad to hear from you: publicpoetry1@aol.com.