October 2008 Newsletter

Happy Halloween!

It has been fun preparing our house for the holidays, and feeling the fall weather upon us. I hope you are enjoying the same.

Thank you to all who were in attendance at GospelFest08 in Southern California. Blaine and I had a great time facilitating a workshop there. Many wonderful stories ... one woman had a beautiful ah-ha moment with her "I Am Joyful" card. What she thought was missing was there the whole time. Love that!

I have a surprise for those of you have not yet received an email about "Old Maid." I was contacted by a Sunday School Teacher recently, who said her students loved the cards, and wanted to know if I could create a game of "Old Maid" and "Go Fish" with them. So, I did!

Here are the instructions for the "'Who I Am' version of Old Maid":

1. Fan the cards out upside down either on the floor or in your hands.
2. Have one child or adult pick a card—this is the Old Maid.
3. Show everyone that card, so they know which one it is, and put it back in the deck.
4. Shuffle the deck.
5. Pass cards out to each player, until there are no more cards.
6. Each player chooses a card from another player, going around the circle.
7. When they find matches of COLOR (green with green, blue with blue, yellow with yellow - doesn't have to be exact shades), they are considered a "match" and can be put together and placed in that person's pile.
8. Continue doing this until all of the cards that can be matched have been matched.
9. Whoever has the Old Maid when the game is over ... they get to act out what is written on the card. (What would it look like to be powerful or confident or inspired? Interesting concept, and awesome for children [and adults] to experience.)

Have fun with your kids!

This would be a great Christmas gift for families you know, and even teachers!

There are many ways to utilize the cards. They support children in retaining their connection with self, and adults in re-establishing theirs.

Everything we do to connect with our core makes a huge difference.

Be looking for the "Go Fish" instructions in the near future!

This month's article is entitled, "Parenting in Times of Turmoil." I hope you find it helpful.

Have a safe and fun Halloween!

Blessings,
Traci