The Jr. High kids in Hudson grappled with the concept that ’sex’ is not only an action word. We had a wonderful day sharing faith and fun. The day would have been very incomplete without the help of FABULOUS peer leaders: Missy, John, Maria, George, Casey, Bri and Julie. They really made the whole expereince amazing.
Unfortunately for me, Chris video recorded the beginning of the retreat which he is trying to upload to the sexuality page on the main site. Just revenge for his location on our home page I suppose.
Peace and prayers to all
Beth
We are feeling blessed that our friends at Holy Names have asked us to come back and present their class retreats this year. With a new school President and many other changes, we have been keeping our friends there in our prayers continually.
As we looked at October and November, we realized we are presenting a lot of Sexuality programs. Apparently sex is a hot topic! Certainly, it is a topic not everyone likes to talk about, but the families come and talk and really find some avenues for future discussion.
We received our background clearance from NCYC yesterday. I had to chuckle, it is good news that neither Chris nor myself is on a terrorist watch list! All chuckling aside, it is so very important that these checks are done for the safety of our youth. So now we are all cleared up and praying about the discernment session we will facilitate. Some prayers our way would be greatly appreciated as we prepare for that.
-Beth
This past Monday we were at OLM/SFD parish in Latham/Colonie to meet with parents and teens to discuss topics around sexuality. Although the turnout was DOUBLE the response to the parish (hence why we set up in an ‘intimate’ space that suddenly became overcrowded), and we were scurrying for enough supplies, the message that we are wonderfully and beautifully made was given to DOUBLE the number of people originally supposed!!
Parents seemed to appreciate both the discussion of issues and the internet safety pieces that were done. The teens seemed to really enjoy the time to discuss issues by gender without parents. Meditation was appreciated by many of the teens.
A reminder that there are free internet filters and contracts on our main website.
When we asked participants what one word would they use to describe the experience and why, these are some of their answers:
Parents:
Eye-opening- sometimes as parents we forget how important it is to communicate with teens. I forget how much more teens are exposed to.
Surprising- it was not what I expected. It was a pleasant surprise.
Fun- I think you did a great job of keeping it fun for kids and parents for open communication
Teens:
Honest because you were honest with us and we need to be honest with our heart
Relaxing and helpful because you had good information and life lessons
The issue that concerned us the most was the idea that 15 year olds can be in a ’serious’ relationship. What defines that? How do they know? What implications does that have for how they live?
Certainly things to think on and families to pray for!
-Beth
Meet this morning with a group of amazing young people at St. Mary’s in Hudson. We talked about right to life. And even though we talked at length about abortion and the rights of the unborn, we also started to explore human trafficking, addiction, death penalty and many other issues that effect LIFE. God created us for so much, in His image and likeness. What are we doing as a society settling for surviving??? Life is meant to be lived for us to thrive.
So this morning, I thank those young people for sharing their journey a bit with me. And I pray for all those in survivor mode, that they learn to value the LIFE God has given them so they can thrive in His dream for them.
-beth
Yesterday we had the extreme pleasure of ministering with the students at Seton Catholic Central in Plattsburgh. We started with our first key-note together, and then spent the day talking about discernment and transitions with the Seniors. RPI was kind enough to lend us their Labyrinth for the day and the students were open to trying many different prayer types and discernment strategies.
Overall, it was a day filled with prayer, fun and laughter.
