November Craft day

We had our November SoCe craft day today. Our topic was origami. We have a neighbor who invited her aunt to come all the way from Emporia because she has always wanted to learn origami! We did our best to live up to her expectations - with the assistance of Pinterest and YouTube!

Unfortunately, our intern and origami expert, Elisabeth, was helping lead a retreat today, so we improvised in her absence. We began by simply making a heart and then progressed to a paper crane. I have always loved making paper cranes since I read the story Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr. Paper cranes are symbols of peace, hope and healing. In college, I made many tiny cranes to use as Christmas tree decorations. Today as we folded cranes, we talked about how different people in our lives have modeled peace for us. My neighbor, Elise, thanked her aunt for teaching her how to be an agent of peace and reconciliation among her siblings. I reflected to Elise how I admire her patience and insight when she recognizes that people in her life often act out of their woundedness and she, therefore, responds with grace and compassion.

Only 996 to go!

After we finished our cranes, our neighbor, Jackie, offered to teach us how to make butterflies. We made quite the kaleidoscope! I think there will be strings of butterflies hanging in several homes in SoCe.

Craft day ended with Elise’s aunt hugging Jackie and thanking her for being a wonderful teacher. It is beautiful to see Jackie sharing her giftedness.

Teaching us how to make a butterfly