I was so taken with Marci Glass’s essay on Star Words that I suggested it to my new parish here in South Carolina, where the idea has been warmly received.

Our Vestryperson in charge of Youth Education graciously allowed me to co-opt the Family Sunday school scheduled for this morning and many hands making light work, we have 150 wordstars cut out and ready to go on Epiphany, with a few blanks for those who already know what they want to work on this year.

Even without sugary bribery the kids were willing to spend an hour cutting out stars and we gave them the first insight into the plan. They were totally on board and as ever, I find myself impressed by how self-aware kids are, given that we big people often seem to think they’re completely clueless. Why is that? Meesh asked them what words they would choose for themselves to work on and there was some silliness involving the words Ice Cream and Brownies. Tiny Amy settled us down with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and then they generally gave the same words they did when Meesh asked them, “If your parent were to assign you a word for the coming year, something you need to work on, what would it be?”

“Focus. I have trouble focusing on my homework.” (Me too, Sweetie.)

“Kindness. I’m sort of not kind to my brother…” (This one featured prominently among those with siblings, along with Irritate, as in Quit Irritating your sibling.)

“Determination.”

“Follow-through.”

Yeah, I could pull any of those and more on Wednesday night and they’d be completely appropriate, even if I don’t have any siblings and am supposed to be a Grown Up, whatever that is.

Wednesday night we’ll have a covered-dish supper of things from the East, be it Middle East or East South Carolina, our Epiphany service, and the Star Words. I’m eager to see how we all respond to and use our words, the feedback in a month, six months, a year, and I’m dead curious about the word Holy Spirit will guide into my hand. Patience? Tolerance? Kindness? Forgiveness? Good candidates all. Or will it be something like Animate, Esteem, or Music, that makes me shake my head and say, Whaaaa….?

Guess I’ll find out Wednesday night.