A spark of God's love

When my bones were being formed,
Carefully put together in my mother's womb,
When I was growing there in secret,
You knew that I was there -
You saw me before I was born.

Psalm 139:15-16 (GNB)

Before I formed you in the womb
you were contained in my being.
I have known and cherished you forever.

Long before the world began,
I was a spark of God's love.
I was already chosen in the heart of God
to be holy, to be dear.

Macrina Wiederkehr OSB, Behold Your Life

My church gave me an asbo

Here's another poem I've just discovered on the Net.

My church gave me an asbo*

By Nick Lear

My church gave me an asbo for shouting during prayers
They said I was disruptive: I said I didn't care
My church gave me an asbo for crawling under pews
They said it was distracting - untying people's shoes
My church gave me an asbo for singing the wrong words
They said it was disgusting: I thought they were absurd
My church gave me an asbo for laughing far too loud
They said it was despicable: I felt rather proud
My church gave me an asbo for sticking out my tongue
They said I'm disrespectful: I was having fun
My church gave me an asbo for running in the aisle
They said it's dangerous for a seven year-old child

*asbo = Anti Social Behaviour Order

Today's people

"Children are not the people of tomorrow, but people today. They are entitled to be taken seriously. They have a right to be treated by adults with tenderness and respect, as equals. They should be allowed to grow into whoever they were meant to be - The unknown person inside each of them is the hope for the future."

Janusz Korczak

Latest activities

So, what's been happening these last couple of months in terms of activities related to my children's work? Plenty of travelling - with meetings in Bilbao, Tarragona, England, Barcelona, Valencia and Madrid!

In September, I was in Barakaldo, near Bilbao, leading an introductory seminar on Godly Play (9th), and later in the month in Salou, Tarragona, running the second Godly Play workshop this year in that place (23rd).







The visit to Salou also included a Godly Play Sunday school class with the children.



At the end of September, I flew to England in order to take part in the Godly Play International Conference. The conference took place from 30th September to 3rd October, at Holland House, a beautiful Tudor-style retreat centre near Evesham, Worcestershire. There were delegates from Canada, Finland, Germany, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, UK and USA.

One of things that was decided at this first European Godly Play Conference was that the second one would be held in Madrid in 2008... and that I would find the venue and host the event!!!

Taking advantage of my time in England, I was able to visit the beautiful Godly Play classroom in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Such a model classrrom is my dream for Madrid - a place open for groups of children from churches and schools, and also a venue for training events.



Back in Spain, on 21st October I led another Godly Play workshop at a church in the centre of Barcelona, and the following day, during the Sunday morning service, I presented the story of Jonah to a group of children from the church.



However, the day had not yet finished! Taking advantage of my visit to Barcelona, a church in the seaside town of Premià de Mar invited me to present a Godly Play story on the Sunday evening to a group of parents and children from the congregation. This time it was the story of Noah and the Great Flood.



The month of October ended with a trip to Valencia (28th), where I led another Godly Play introduction day.



Finally, on 4th November I took part in a conference on the Family in the 21st Century. This was in Madrid - so this time there was no long-distance travelling involved! At the conference, I led a workshop on Family Breakdown and the its Repercussions in Children.

Now for a short break before I travel again to Barcelona at the beginning of December!

Catching up

I am well aware that this blog has been lying idle for far too long. Meanwhile, I have been keeping my three Spanish-language blogs up to date:

• Obra entre niños (Scripture Union in Spain's blog on children's work)
• Godly Play Spain (an account of Godly Play activities and development in Spain)
• Unión Bíblica (a new blog for Scripture Union in Spain)

You can have a look at these blogs by clicking on the links. Although they are all in Spanish, they do have plenty of photos to make a visit worthwhile, even if you don't speak the language.

However, I am well aware that I need to catch up with news for my English-speaking readers. So here we go...