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What is spiritual direction?

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the goods

and services

Little Bouquets is...

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  • A 45 minute conversation for kids ages 4+ with an unhurried listener, or “soul friend,” who helps them recognize and respond to the presence of truth, beauty and goodness in their lives


  • A place where children receive undivided attention as they express themselves, explore their experiences, engage their five senses, and interact with creative resources 


  • Spiritual in nature, not psychological. In other words, this ministry is not counseling, psychotherapy, or a “fix-it” methodology. It’s about listening, wondering, waiting, and savoring.  


  • Confidential: I will never reveal what your child says to anyone unless it is for their own protection (i.e. if abuse is suspected or if the child is in danger to themselves or others, I will notify the authorities as mandated by law)

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  • Safe: I observe Safe Church practices that ensure the child’s safety whenever they talk with me.

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Why Bouquets?

Inspiration

  • Jesus said to pay attention to the flowers of the field - how they are beautiful, and neither strive, nor worry. 

  • St. Therese of Lisieux saw herself as the “little flower of Jesus,” glorifying God just by being herself. 

  • The poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote, “When you give someone flowers, you arrange them beforehand, don’t you?” 

  • Mother Teresa wanted to “make something beautiful for God” out of her life.

  • Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s “advice to young people” in a 1972 interview:  “... above all remember the meaning of life is to build life as if it were a work of art. When you’re young, start working on this great work of art called your own existence.” 


The idea behind Little Bouquets is to offer kids a space to notice, gather, name, arrange, and pray through the experiences of their lives. 

The goal

My hope is that through these sessions, kids would:

  • get to know and love themselves better

  • be inspired to work on and play with the “great work of art” that is their own existence

  • come to recognize and savor the moments of truth, beauty, mystery, goodness, & love in their experiences

  • become more aware of God’s near and felt presence in their lives (or whatever language suits th

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Tool Kit

some of the stuff we might use

Sensory Stuff

Candle

Tea and a treat

Markers, watercolors, paper

Stuff To Cut Out Collage tools 

Silly Putty or Clay

Symbol & Emoji stones 

Legos

Laminated "Modern Jesus with Kids" images 

Make-your-own-prayer-beads supplies

Outdoor labyrinth

Finger labyrinth

Jenga

"Modern Saints" and "Dancing Monk" Cards

Blessing “balm” (made of essential oil)

Image by Sean Sinclair

Another cultural aspect is the massive presence of the image culture.

...the unstoppable stream of images is at once stimulating and dulling the senses. It is significant that TV and multimedia devices only transmit info for the 2 highest senses - even a touch-screen - is based on visual perception. This selective use of senses implies that we can see people dying from hunger or hear the computer game-like sounds of war, but it all happens at a distance. It remains abstract. In front of our screens, we do not feel the trembling after the bomb explosion. Nor are we confronted with the fact that poverty stinks like hell.

Yves De Maeseneer in “Retrieving the Spiritual Senses in the Wake of Hans Urs Von Balthasar,” Communio Viatorum

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