On June 30 my term as president and board member ends.  These past two years have been a whirlwind of activities and decisions.  There were focus group meetings; Society presentations; emergency planning when our Leader became seriously ill; hiring a DRE for a very small Sunday School; numerous Ya’ll Comes (about publicity, platform, budget, Sunday morning, and Ethical Action); and monthly board meetings. We also negotiated a Leader contract; held four membership meetings, conducted two pledge campaigns, and witnessed membership and Sunday School growth.  AND I wrote columns about everything that happened.

So much is happening at NoVES in our Sunday school classes. This past week I didn't have to teach, so I had lots of opportunities to take pictures which I haven't been able to do for several weeks. And wow! There are so many interesting creations that I took over 60 photos on Sunday! I love seeing the kids enjoying seeing me with the camera too. They love showing off their creations and I love sharing them with you all!

 First, in the yougest class, 3-5 year olds, were learning about growing. Here they are reading "The Tiny Seed" by Eric Carl. They are trying to find the little seed on each page:

     One of the joys of my week is seeing the Sunday school chldren sitting in front with the story reader during platform and then watching them smiling as they run off to Sunday school.  It takes me back 25 years to when my own daughter was a three-year-old Sunday school student.  She too would run off to class and return after an hour with stories of projects and adventures.  In watching these students, Andy and I reminisced about our history with the Northern Virginia Ethical Society.

     NoVES Leader Jone Johnson Lewis has often said, “Ethics begins with choice.”  The way we see ourselves, what we value, and how we live are reflected in our choices.  Our Ethical Society operates in exactly the same way.  As a Society, we make choices. 

This past week was a lot of fun in classes. We weren't sure how big of a turnout we would have as it was a holiday weekend, but for the most part, we had a good turnout. The children have started to stay in the room for the song right after the Children's Story and this past week the Music Director, Doris Justis tied the song of the day with the story - all about a tree. How cool is that?

Then we split up into classes. The younger class learned about honesty. As we all know - something very important! And one traits we are learning about this year. Afterward, as always they did some artwork. This week they made pictures of something that made them happy.

We have been so busy in our Sunday school classes. I hear from many parents that their children are talking about Sunday school all week and they are so excited to come each Sunday. I can believe it because my son is one of those kids who would be really upset if he had to miss going to Green Hedges. Look at those happy faces!

The preschool class has been working on the subject of Love. Seems fitting for February, doesn't it? We read a couple books about love and first made cards for the Caring Committee to use for when members need a pick-me-up and the next week we made Valentine's using fancy stickers!

by Mary Ellen Stanton

“Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.”

John F. Kennedy  

During the winter, the Ethical Society occasionally closes if the weather conditions are unsafe for driving. Conditions may be safe in some parts of our Northern Virginia area and unsafe in others, so use your judgment and also check email (the announcements email list and members email list) or this website before leaving on a day where icy conditions may be present.

The usual procedure: A decision is made about 7:00 a.m. on Sunday morning by the NoVES President, the NoVES Leader, and two others who live in different parts of the county, as to whether NoVES will have its platform as usual or not. We do our best to interpret the predictions and current conditions to assess likely safety for our members and friends driving to the platform meeting.

If conditions look like they won't be safe for the drive to or from the Society, and assuming that power is not out, we then try to (a) update the front page of the website and send an email to the email lists (see above). Check for the email and web update by about 8:00 a.m. on Sunday (power permitting).

Time has escaped me as we have been so busy at home and with Sunday school, but I vow to stay caught up!

 Classes resumed last week after a winter break and our winter festival. We were happy to see so many happy faces return and to see some new faces as well.

It's the end of the first week of January -- do you know where your New Year's Resolutions are?

About half of Americans make some sort of resolution with the turning of the year, and at least half of them have dropped them within a week.

Here's my musings on how to make, remake, tweak resolutions: New Year's Resolutions That Really Work