Grieving with children

Last week a tragedy happened in a town near us when two young boys were killed in a hit-and-run. One mother whose daughter knew the boys contacted me asking if I knew of any resources to help them. As it happens, we’ve had a family bereavement this week, as my Grandad died at the age … Read more

Inside Out – A film for transition

Last Friday we had a Movie Morning. We stayed in our pjs, set up chairs and cosy blankets in the lounge and ate waffles while we watched Inside Out. It was 10 days until we moved house, and I wanted to watch this film with my children so that we could chat about some of … Read more

Imagining our ‘place’ in God’s house

When I put together the Held in Hope series, we included activities in the books to help families dealing with issues of illness and death. I’m putting together some activities for a funeral next week, so I’m doing an activity from Sam’s Special Book.  In the book the children remember being told that Jesus said … Read more

Grieving with children

Last week a tragedy happened in a town near us when two young boys were killed in a hit-and-run. One mother whose daughter knew the boys contacted me asking if I knew of any resources to help them, and as we’ve also had a family bereavement this week, I thought a post about things which … Read more

Teaching my Children About Sickness and Death

Every family should have these books! That’s what I used to tell people, anyway. It’s 4 years now since I published the Held in Hope series with Christian Education and the Chaplains at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Our remit was to produce some Christian stories for young children (under 7) about sickness and death. At the time, … Read more

Sharing love, hope and faith with hurting families

A few years ago, I worked on possibly the best set of books I’ve ever been involved with. The series is called Held in Hope, and they are Christian stories about sickness and death for young children (under 7). I worked with the experienced, wonderful and wise chaplains at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and a talented artist, Rhiannon Molart, … Read more

Helping bereaved children

Today I feel compelled to write about helping bereaved children fueled by the huge sadness I feel after hearing the news of a friend’s death. She leaves behind two little children as well as a husband, family and friends, and will be sorely missed. Since I worked on the Held in Hope series, I’ve realised … Read more

Prayer stars

This activity comes from Josh stays in hospital, about how Josh has to spend quite a while in hospital but discovers that God is with him and will help him. It’s part of the Held in Hope series produced with the Paediatric Chaplaincy Network. Draw faces on prayer stars to represent one sad prayer and … Read more

God’s house pictures

This activity comes from Sam’s Special Book, about how Sam is very poorly and no one can make him better, so he explores ideas of what heaven might be like through the Bible verse about God preparing a place for us. It’s part of the Held in Hope series produced with the Paediatric Chaplaincy Network. … Read more