One of my favorite parts of my neighborhood is our Sharing Box, a small outdoor pantry where neighbors can put things to share and take what they need or want. It’s the perfect distance from our house for a walk with our dogs, and we go at least once a day.
In March, we’re working hard to add more items that women need or we think women might especially enjoy. Here are some things we’re sharing:
The last Sunday of February brings us one more children’s picture book featuring Black characters: Chris Raschke’s Yes? Yo! It’s a lively dialogue (simple enough for early readers) about a new friendship. Hope you like it!
During February, our church is sharing children’s books featuring Black characters. This Caldecott Honor book tells the story of CJ and his grandma as they leave church and go someplace special–but not someplace CJ wants to go at first.
One of my favorite parts of my neighborhood is our Sharing Box, a small outdoor pantry where neighbors can put things to share and take what they need or want. Since Advent coincided with our new puppy’s ability to go on longer walks, we have used the Sharing Box as a destination multiple times a day (It’s a few blocks away–just enough for a little walk) and used Advent as an opportunity to share more. We set our goal of sharing once per day, and we’ve mostly kept it up.
Here are some things we’re sharing during the cold month of February.
canned soup with pop-tops
boxed soup
crackers
in-season citrus fruit (dropped off in the morning before the temperature freezes)
tins of sardines
double-bagged Ziploc quarts of homemade curry
frozen pizzas (during our run of below-freezing days, marked on the outside with the moment of delivery so that folks know how long they’ve been in the box)
single-serving size bags of chips
individually wrapped tea bags
packets of hot cocoa mix
boxes of almond milk
bottle of hot hot sauce
a can opener
box of cake mix + a 9×13 pan to bake it in
small bag of apples
extra toothbrushes and sample-sized floss and toothpaste picked up from the dentist
bars of soap
winter pajamas we’ve outgrown
hats, gloves, scarves, and mittens we’ve outgrown
decks of cards, including Uno and Skip-Bo
candles
Valentine’s Day cards for kids to share at school
bag of individually-wrapped Valentine’s Day candy for kids to share at school
recent issues of magazines
this week’s local newspaper
repurposed shaker bottle (like from Parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast) filled with sidewalk salt
costume jewelry that a child might like to give to their mother or grandmother
The Snowy Day was the first children’s picture book to respectfully depict Black children. Teachers who read it to their students soon reported that it helped African American children see themselves for the first time in books. One teacher wrote to him, according to Deborah Pope, the executive director of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation:
There was a teacher [who] wrote in to Ezra, saying, ‘The kids in my class, for the first time, are using brown crayons to draw themselves.’ These are African-American children. Before this, they drew themselves with pink crayons. But now, they can see themselves.
You can hear this story read aloud as part of our church’s commitment to sharing picture books featuring Black characters during the month of February.
I’ve been a little jealous these last few weeks as friends in different parts of the country have gotten snow and we’ve gotten warnings about snow and then… nothing. But today, a little snow landed and stuck–nothing serious, but enough to make it feel like winter for a bit. Which also means it’s easier to say goodbye to Christmas, which we’ve started celebrating through the 40th day after December 25th, because it still feels like winter (which it is).
Here are some highlights from our house this Christmas season.
We used this Advent calendar from our church to connect us to others as we each performed the same acts of kindness each day. The little felt donkey, just 1″x1″, guided us to the nativity.
Above, scenes from our Advent wreath making project. Using recycled parts but new candles, we made an Advent wreath for everyone at church who asked, about 10 in all.
During one of our weekly Christmas crafts, we made garland from paint chip samples–trees and stars.
Do you have a Christmas pickle on your tree? We used paint chips to make 3 dozen of them to share with neighborhood friends.
More Christmas crafts! Trees from a paper forest, a pinecone elf, and snowpeople made from wooden blocks.
Last year, we made every family with children at church a small Holy Family painted on tiny rocks. This year, we made every family with children a peg people Holy Family.
Some presents appear every single year: board and card games, books, and either mugs, travel mugs, thermoses, or water bottles.
Christmas Eve dinner references my life back East, so, this year, crab mac and cheese. Christmas Dinner this year was themed “traditional Midwestern,” with roast beef replacing turkey. As usual, the sides are the star. (And, yes a 1:8 lb butter:potato recipe is entirely appropriate)
We love birds in our tree–and here are some additions for the year: a felt cardinal, a knitted cardinal, and a ceramic star with a dove cut from it.
New wreaths, three on the tree (a yarn one by a friend and two woven from wheat), plus one we made from a grapevine wreath on the banister.
Our Christmas tree, overseen by Marian Zsofia, our angel.
Each Sunday during February, we’re reading a book featuring Black characters during our church’s Children’s Time. We start the month with How to Read a Book by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Melissa Sweet. We hope you like it!
Yesterday marked the Presentation of the Lord at the Temple, a feast that celebrates Jesus’ first appearance as a child at the temple, 40 days after his birth. It’s the end of the Christmas season at our house, and it was the subject of this week’s children’s time at our church, which featured the artwork of icon artist Kelly Latimer.
The Sunday before Martin Luther King Day is one of my favorite of the year at church. We have honored it in different ways over the years, including using King’s words in our worship, singing songs of the Civil Rights movement, praying for our enemies, and preaching on the themes of racism, poverty, and militarism. This year, our worship included the reading of this picture book by Shane W. Evans. It includes illustrations based on photos from the March on Washington. See if you can spot Dr. King, Rabbi Joachim Prinz, and John Lewis.
