ADVENT SELFIE HUNT 2015

ADVENT 

SELFIE HUNT

2015!

(Do be done in the local mall of your choice with teams of 4-5 with one adult)

#adventselfie15 

Stay Together!

Be respectful! Be creative!

Include everyone!

No running! Have fun!

TAKE A SELFIE WITH or DOING the following:

 biggest item/signs you can find that says “JOY,” “PEACE,” “HOPE,” or “LOVE”

 A big star and pretend to be the wise men/people following it

 The most unusual animal you can think of to be in a nativity scene (panda, elephant…etc)

 Ugliest holiday sweater you can find

 Corniest Christmas card with you and your teammates reading it with very serious faces.

 Symbols of other December Holidays (menorah, kwanza candles…) Hanukkah begins Dec. 6!

 Your team meditating on the meaning of Advent in front of TEAVANNA

 Stand under a lamp or bright light - “A light shines in the darkness…” (John 1:1)

 Act perplexed like Mary was in front of Motherhood Maternity - “How can this be?”(Luke 1:29)

 All of you pretending to be the “angels we have heard on high” while riding the down escalator

 Non-Caucasian (non-white) Nativity scene/set

 Look for the coming of Jesus underneath the “WATCH” sign

 A sign that says “Believe” and your team making crosses with your hands/arms

 A Christmas tree the color of the Advent season (hint – you were asked to wear it today!)

 A Christmas tree the color of the Christmas season (hint – it’s not red or green. Extra hint – it’s the same color as the season of Easter)

 A toy road and car set or a train set - “Prepare the way of the Lord” (Luke 3:4)

 “Swaddle” one of your teammates in your hats/ scarves/gloves/coats like Jesus was (Luke 2:12)

 Under a large potted plant, one of you is a shepherd caring for the rest of your team as sheep

 Magnifying glass – Mary sang that begins “My soul magnifies the Lord!” (Luke 1:46)

 Pretend to “make haste” (run in place) like the shepherds to see Jesus, the savior and Lord by the LORD & TAYLOR sign

 Act sleepy by Starbucks ‘cuz Joseph was told about Jesus in a dream, and we are to stay awake for when Jesus shows up!

 A (fake) fur coat and your best “John the Baptist” preaching poses

 Next to a tent – Jesus “pitched his tent” (dwelled) among us (John 1:14)

 Holding a baby doll, hold your nose & remember that baby Jesus filled his diaper too!

 Treasure chest – Mary treasured all these events in her heart (Luke 2:19)

 Make some peace signs in front of Justice to remember that Jesus came to bring peace and justice to the world

 A crown – Jesus is our “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6) (BONUS if you are FROM Prince of Peace Lutheran!)

 Shoes the color of Advent because Jesus will “guide our feet into the way of peace” (Lk. 1:79)

 Bread, since Bethlehem means “house of bread”

 Sparkly ring, since Mary and Joseph were engaged (but not married) (Luke 2:5)

 With “wise man” Yoda

 Key chains with names from the Christmas stories – Mary, Joseph, John (the Baptist), John’s parents Elizabeth & Zach (Zechariah), Harry (King Herod), Maggie (for the Magi), David (city of), Angela (for the heavenly host), Luke and Matthew (Gospels that tell the Christmas story as we know it)

 a JESUS name tag or Key chain

Scavenger Hunts: What I do best!

I'm leading this activity at Miliken Park in downtown Detroit on Thursday.

Detroit Riverwalk Photo Selfie Contest 2015

Be creative! Be respectful!

Post to #RiseUpELCA

Let’s see your best selfie/video as you…

o  Be a vampire next to the Cullen Family Carousel

o  Optional bonus point: Selfie ON the Carousel (rides are $1)

o  Pose with downtown Detroit in the background

o  Do your best Canadian Impression with Canada in the background (optional video)

o  Pose with the Memorial Statue

o  Be a duck/bird/penguin in the wetlands

o  Be a frog impression on Lilly Pad lane

o  Do your best rendition of “this little light of mine” in front of or including the Milliken State Park Lighthouse

o  Do an impression of reeling in the biggest catch of your life from the river or pond

o  Do your best Yoga or Tai Chi Selfies (there are yoga and tai chi groups that often use the park)

o  Do a Tuesday night bus-reenactment selfie

o  Show your best bedhead recreation (or current bedhead)

o  Do your best performance of “Detroit is alive… with the sound of 30,000 Lutherans!” (The Sound of Music)

o  Do a performance of “Uptown Funk” dance moves

o  Pose with anything cool you see

o  Your best map-reading selfie on the giant map in the sidewalk (look lost, point in different directions…)

o  Make up a “Rise Up” Cheer

o  Sing/ reinact any song that has the word “river” in it

o  Sing/act out your favorite Motown song (Google it!)

o  Practice your “wave” for Ford Field

o  Make up your own!

Stretching

Beau is getting ordained at the end of this week!! We are so excited! My made Beau an ordination stole, and she really out-did herself this time. She is an awesome seamstress, but she did some amazing work. I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures at the ordination so you all can see it. He is getting ordained at a church in Trenton with three others, one of whom was called about a week ago. Beau and I would have liked to have been ordained together, but it is better this way. Rushing my process wouldn't help anyone. Beau's sister is coming for the weekend, and I'm excited to see her. She, her husband, and kids recently moved to the Richmond area in VA, so they are our nearest family - about 7 hours away!

We had breakfast with the pastors in our cluster today, which is a monthly occurrence. It's nice to know that are colleagues are all great people! AND more great food was had by all!

 I joined a yoga class at the gym finally this morning, and it was very good! I think I'll try to make this a weekly thing. I really enjoy stretching my muscles and getting in touch with my body. It helps me remember that, yes, I DO have a body and I'm not just a floating brain. I've also been reading Thich Nhat Hanh's Peace is Every Step, which is about finding peace in the awareness of the present moment. During yoga, either I am thinking about staying in the pose, or I try not to think at all. I think this will help my shoulders and neck, which is where I tend to carry my stress.

I once heard an Indian-American speak about the word Namaste, which means "the god in me sees/acknowledges the god within you." This woman used this word from a Hindu context and re-purposed it: she taught us that it could also mean "Christ within me sees/acknowledges Christ within you." I thought this was a very powerful reflection about what it means to truly encounter people. Now when I hear it, such as today at yoga, I think of her and of her "translation." I also think of Jame' Cameron's movie Avatar, where the greeting between the super-supple blue cat people is "I see you." How often to we truly take the time to see one another, to acknowledge the human-ness or the child of God-ness in others? Not often enough is probably the answer.

Is this why God invented Skype? :)

Namaste.