Joy at Christmas

These ideas were developed by me for my local group and are not a part of the official Little Flowers Girls Club ® created by Rachel Watkins. To purchase the excellent materials and begin your own local group, please visit www.beholdpublications.com

I had truly hoped this would be posted sooner, despite the busy-ness of the holidays. Oh well. In December, our Little Flowers Girls Club met to discuss the virtue of JOY! This was so appropriate as we approached Christmas and completed our Advents of prayer and preparation. So, here is my very detailed description of our meeting for those who missed it or those who just really want to know!

What a miserable rainy day it was! We had heavy thunderstorms all day long with some flooding, even a tornado warning in the morning. Because the forecast looked like things would settle down for the afternoon, though, I decided not to cancel the meeting. A few moms called me, doubtful they would be able to get their cars out of their driveways or down their streets, but all were safe, and our meeting went well.

After our usual opening prayers (offering, spontaneous prayer, Hail Mary, St. Therese Song), we began to talk about this virtue of joy. I chose to use the whiteboard this day to illustrate a few things, so I wrote JOY in large letters at the top. The girls shared with me their thoughts on joy and then I shared my thoughts on the differences between happiness (usually based on material things or experiences) and joy (a much deeper feeling). We also briefly touched on mirthfulness, since the manual uses that word. I kept that simple, explaining that mirth is like having a positive attitude and being of good humor.

Then, I went back to the large letters at the top and told them that I had learned a secret to how to live the virtue of joy your entire life. We discussed how joy, like any virtue, is a gift from God and that for the gift to grow, we have to practice using it. Writing "esus" under the J, "thers" under the O, and "ourselves" under the Y, I shared that the secret to practicing joy lies in remembering these three things in order. First, we live for Jesus. Second, we live for others. Last, we live for ourselves. I had the girls recite "Jesus, Others, Yourself" several times to remember this unique acronym.

To get the girls moving, I invited them to imitate "If You're Happy and You Know It" and clap their hands if the things I said made them happy. My ideas included ice cream, candy, vegetables, new toys, spiders, sharks, funny movies, playing games, etc... Then, I told them there is an old saying about jumping for joy and asked them to jump if the things I said gave them joy. My ideas included new babies, family times, funerals, the Eucharist, getting lost, Jesus, etc...

By the end everyone was laughing and smiling, so I used the opportunity to ask the girls if laughing and smiling always indicate joy. We talked about how these can be outward signs of joy, but sometimes people laugh or smile at material things (or bad jokes) even when deep down they are not full of the joy that comes from God. I mentioned briefly the Ecclesiastes verse regarding a time to weep and a time to laugh to illustrate that sometimes, even when we may be very joyful, it is not an appropriate time to laugh, especially loudly (such as at funerals or in the middle of Mass).

Finally, we talked about whether it was possible to be joyful even during hard times in our lives. We discussed that one does not have to be rich to have joy and that even a homeless person might have true joy. I reminded them that many of the saints have found joy in mundane tasks or difficult circumstances, like St. Therese and Bl. Teresa of Calcutta. I also told them the flower for joy is a tulip, because tulips are found in the spring when everything is fresh and new and inspires great joy!

Our craft was simply to color this adorable nativity scene below with markers. As you can see, most of the girls did not finish, but I was glad this would give them an opportunity to pull out their posters the last week of Advent to remind them of our meeting and the joy of Christmas.

Before snack, I wanted to let the girls work up a bit of an appetite and move around. I taught them the song "I've God the Joy" and motions to go with it. Here are the lyrics and my motions are below. This mommy was worn out from all the up and down and spinning!

I've got the --- point to self
joy, joy, joy, joy --- clap four times
down --- squat to ground
in my heart --- stand up, hold heart
(where?) --- shrug shoulders with arms extended in questioning
down --- squat to ground
in my heart --- stand up, hold heart
(where?) --- shrug shoulders with arms extended in questioning
down --- squat to ground
in my heart --- stand up, hold heart
I've got the --- point to self
joy, joy, joy, joy --- clap four times
down --- squat to ground
in my heart --- stand up, hold heart
(where?) --- shrug shoulders with arms extended in questioning
down --- squat to ground
in my heart to stay --- stand up, hold heart

And I'm so happy, so very happy. --- twirl with a partner, linking arms
I've got the love of Jesus in my heart. --- switch partners, twirl
And I'm so happy, so very happy. --- switch partners, twirl
I've got the love of Jesus in my heart. --- switch partners, twirl

We all needed snack after that and were blessed by a special treat of cupcakes for our holiday meeting. Then, we sat down and talked about St. Clare. I read the first part of the story of St. Clare from my beloved worn copy of Sixty Saints for Girls by Joan Windham inserting the word joy wherever it was appropriate. We discussed how Clare had such a deep joy that giving up all her riches and struggling to lead her sisters did not discourage her. I also read this amazing story about St. Francis, reminding the girls that it was St. Francis who taught St. Clare, and so his explanation of perfect joy was her understanding of the virtue. This sparked some wonderful discussions on having joy in miserable situations, both those the girls encounter in daily life and more devastating trials.

I asked the girls to tell me how we can make sure we stay joyful even when life gets difficult, and they remembered Jesus-Others-Yourself. Then, I told them I had one more secret to share with them that day, the key to staying joyful. This is modeled after this game I found online. The girls lined up in two lines facing each other and stood about five large steps apart. I gave each of the girls in one line a Hershey kiss (for the holidays). They threw the kiss to the girl across from them. Not very many were able to catch the kisses, chasing them to pick them up, and I asked them how easy it was to catch that sweet treat being so far apart. Of course, they said it was not easy, so I told them to take one giant step towards each other. Then, the girls threw the kiss again. This time I had them raise their hands if they caught the kiss and only about half of the girls did. So, I told them to take another giant step towards each other. At this time, they were only about a step apart. They threw the kiss one last time, and pretty much everyone caught it.

I reminded them how much easier it is to receive something sweet the closer you are to the one giving it. I told them the kiss was to represent the sweet virtue of joy and asked them from whom we get joy. Since God was the answer, my next question was to ask them how they can stay close to God, so it would be easier for them to be joyful at all times. The girls had many wonderful answers from going to Mass to helping the poor to saying prayers. I was impressed how the Holy Spirit took this simple, quick game and made it a very meaningful object lesson. And, yes, at the end I gave all the girls kisses to eat and put a few more handfuls on the tables to eat during our next activity.

While enjoying those sweets, the girls completed their virtue pages on joy. You can see the quotes and images I chose to include below. Now that the girls have done several of these, they are getting quite creative and beautiful.

As the girls were finishing their pages, the electricity went out in the church where we were meeting. This caused a bit of excitement and worry among the girls, but fortunately, the room we were in has excellent emergency lighting. The light was dim, but we were not in the dark. Our biggest difficulty was having to sing the Scripture song without the accompanying CD. I had to call on other moms to help, as I am not confident in my ability to teach a tune.

All ended well, after we sang the Scripture song, we said our closing prayers (St. Therese Prayer, intentions from the girls, asking the saints of this wreath to pray for us), and I distributed patches for Mercy and Courage to those girls who completed their patch projects. Most girls did not get to finish Courage due to the busy Advent season. They took home their Patch Project Sheets and Practice Pages, which you can see below. Some families are really enjoying the Practice Pages and some are not using them, which is great! I wanted to add them as an optional component this year and am glad it seems no one feels pressured to add them where it would be too much for their family and/or daughter(s).

Also, as they were leaving one of the moms had brought goody bags for the girls to take home for Christmas, and I gave each girl this ornament pictured below wrapped for them to open whenever they wanted and hang on their Christmas tree, as the perfect reminder from where true joy comes!

Per the request of the official Little Flowers Girls Club ® I have removed the downloadable patch project sheets and practice pages. If you are interested in learning about how I used these documents in my group, please contact me directly.