Whole Kids Project

Be Kind

Be Kind!

Hat tip to Father Roderick.

My Light: Free Online Magazine for Kids

Jennifer Gladen has launched a free online magazine for kids:

Welcome to MY LIGHT, a Catholic centered magazine for children. The goal is to help Catholic and other Christian children nurture a deeper relationship with God. Many of our children know about God, but don't have that connection with Him. We aim to be a lightened path from our children to God Himself.

It looks great!

Hat tip to the Catholic Mom Moments blog.

Friday Nite Video: Grace Before Meals

We had the great pleasure of meeting Fr. Leo at last weekend's Catholic New Media Celebration. 

Fr. Leo presented the keynote speech and we found him to be both hilarious and humble- traits which are in abundance in this video:

For more videos, visit Fr. Leo's site.  For recipes and a good read- buy Fr. Leo's book: Grace Before Meals. 

For a healthier family- have dinner together tonight!

Family Value Statement: Sprititual Beliefs

Last night after dinner the five of us talked about our religious and spiritual beliefs. 

In the last year we have made a much stronger effort to pray and spend more time with God.  For example, each day one of the girls serves as the prayer leader- she has the honor of leading the mealtime prayers for the entire family.  When we finish the prayer, each person expresses one thing that they are thankful for and mentions any special prayer intentions. We've already made the commitment to having sit-down family dinners together and this has been an excellent way to start our meals.

This is what we came up with for our Spiritual Value Statement:

We believe:

• In the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
• In the seven sacraments of Roman Catholic Church
• That we pray to the Saints who act as helpers and intercessors and take our prayers to God
• That it is important that we pray together daily as a family
• That it is important that we look for Jesus in every person we meet

What are your family's spiritual beliefs? I invite all of our readers to share them with us via the comments link (anonymously if you wish).

What Are Your Family Values?

People love to talk about family values, or even more specifically "traditional" family values. Have you ever given much time to really think about what values drive your family's beliefs and actions?  Can you list the things that you so strongly believe in- that guide how you live your life and raise your children. 

It is important that both parents and children know and understand the values that form the basis of their family. These values create a blueprint that directs how the family interacts with each other, how they set priorities, and how they make the decisions about what are appropriate and inappropriate ways to behave.

Beginning Monday, We'll start crafting a Family Values Statement of simple "We Believe..." statements built around each of the four Whole Kids components: Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, and Intellectual.

Please join our family and craft your own Family Values Statement.