Spiritual Spinach

Ah! Today was a busy day, but it was good because I got back from a surprisingly restful vacation. It was also the first week back to Confirmation after a two week break from my kids. I really missed them and they came back with some amazing questions. As part of their requirements, they were to attend Maundy Thursday services. Several of them had siblings who had their first Communion and will be Confirmed in just a couple of weeks. The sermon had been about the Passover meal and the connection to Holy Communion. My kids were asking all sorts of questions about Communion and what it does for us as Christians and about Real Presence.

One of my kids, who is a very abstract thinker but doesn't know it yet, said, "It's like Spinach for Popeye." It was cool because two of the kids who were there tonight had participated in the 30 Hour Famine and were able to talk about how it felt to be hungry. They also talked about how you are able to ignore the hunger by doing other things and what happens when you are able to finally eat. We then compared it to Holy Communion and how we can be Spiritually hungry and ignore the need for God's food and how when we are finally able to be part of the meal, how good the food tastes and how we no longer feel weak. Thus, Holy Communion= Spiritual Spinach. No matter what, God's food will always make us strong enough to overcome whatever obsticles we face.

I have to say, never underestimate the thought process of a 6th grader! I am so blessed to have them and so excited to watch them grow. It will be such an amazing thing to watch them as they continue through the process of Confirmation, taking their first Communion, and learning to walk in their lives with God leading the way.