Welcome to Heart & Home
April 7, 2020

This resource has been designed for families of all sizes including grandparents, aunts and uncles who can share this with extended family via Facebook or by forwarding this email.  
A Note From Cathy - Children spell Love "TIME"
Each of you remain in my prayers daily as you are dealing with the ever changing circumstances of our current challenge with COVID 19. I know it is especially challenging for those who are working from home and trying to organize schooling with your children and teens. It is critical to be very compassionate and generous with yourselves when you find irritation and frustration mounting.

God's love and compassion for our struggles are greater than we can imagine. Rest in that assurance. Sharing short breaks of time during the day where you completely unplug and give your child your undivided attention will be a blessing to all.

Jill Wiggins and Kylie Kosko have put together great resources for your children and teens. Check out the Parent Resources to help you "put your oxygen mask on first" as flight attendants say during preflight instructions. Nancy McGovern's breathing exercises are awesome to relieve stress...short and super effective! 

This week Dave and I have designed a special Holy Week for Families service you will get for Good Friday to share with your children. It will include some live tadpoles and our Easter bunny, Esther!

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or concerns. I hold you continually in my prayers.  

Cathy Norman, Interim Family Coordinator
Greetings from Jill
Happy Holy Week, to all of our Crossroads families as we prepare for Good Friday and Easter celebrations. I hope you are able to continue or start new traditions in your household, even though we may need to be creative based on our circumstances of staying in the house and social distancing.

Maybe you can set up a zoom meeting with family out of town while you enjoy virtual dinner together, or you can login to our Sunday church service online and post hopeful messages to other families in attendance.

We invite everyone to make a homemade sign saying "Happy Easter" and email it to Susan Yantis at syantis@crossroadsnova.org to be included in our Easter blessing video.
One precious church family, the Belzer's, have a tradition to create a resurrection garden using items collected from their neighborhood walks.

There is a wonderful video they made with instructions of how they made it together. Please watch here.

Thank you to Jesse, Stefan, Konrad, and Emmett.


This Week's Highlighted Resources
Watch last week's Palm Sunday puppet show with Pastor Dave as Freddy the firefighter and Ms. Cathy as Becky! Joey and June Bug make an appearance, too!

Thanks to Ms. Jill and Julia for guiding us through our story and prayer.
A Song of Hope from a Crossroads Kid
Josiah "JoJo" Smothers and his mother Tina are well known as members of our Crossroads worship team and also are active in our community.

JoJo has a new song called "We Can Make It Through Anything" that gives us hope for our future and to focus on the good. You can listen to it here .

Please watch this video of a personal message from JoJo. Thank you Tina and JoJo for your contributions to uplift our spirits.
Crossroads' Church at Home - watch here
If you missed Sunday's online gathering, you can watch it anytime!

You can also watch it anytime on the GOTGo app .
Starfish Breathing with Nancy McGovern - watch here
This is a great exercise to help calm down.

Catch Ms. Nancy every Monday at 10am on her
Corner of the Sky Facebook Live show as she brings you Movement, Music and Mindfulness.
Student Ministry Resources
Meet Kylie Kosko, our Student Ministry coordinator. Read more about her and student ministries in the latest newsletter. It also contains a special Intersect at Home guide and some great resources for teens and their families.

This week's Student Ministry newsletter can be found  here .
Cards and Notes of Encouragement
We are asking our community members for handwritten cards and notes to be sent to Heritage Hall staff. We can show our support and appreciation for healthcare staff to let them know we care. Click here for a sample note and instructions .

For other ways to serve our community, see our Hope & Action website here .
Check out the following links (click on heading to go to a website link) for family activities and resources. Also, this beautiful painting was created by Courtenay Kaplan, a wonderful prayer and reminder for us all.



Support for Parents
Growing Leaders at Home 
Here is a great activity designed for parents to do with your kids during these challenging days. It is designed by Tim Elmore from
Growing Leaders for this extended time of being alone.

We will feature a Growing Leaders at Home activity every week.
Imagine Well Being Resources
Imagine Well Being gatherings are available via Zoom so that you can be sure to take care of yourself during this stressful time. Each gathering is stand alone and designed to bring you more inner peace and healing in mind, body and soul.

A full list of gatherings can be found  here.
Zoom Circles of Care Resources
Zoom Circles of Care are small groups where you can find support, care and community.

A full list of these groups can be found  here .