It's Easter weekend! I always loved this time growing up, with Oklahoma spring in full bloom. Every year we took a family photo in our new Easter dresses in front of our house near the gorgeous tulips my dad was so proud of. My mom made us Easter baskets every year, even until we got out of high school (how great is that?!). After church services on Sunday, we usually ate a homemade meal with my grandparents and aunt and uncle and later, enjoyed numerous egg hunts (the latter of which carried on until way beyond our childhood days). We of course colored eggs and I especially loved the cling-on sleeves you could put around them. I love traditions!
But, most importantly this weekend focuses on the hope for which live--Christ died and through His shed blood, paid the price for our sin, thus bridging the gap to eternity with Him. I have talked some with Maggie about the importance of this time, though not sure how much she has retained. Our pastor was good to remind us last weekend, "How many days a year do we celebrate Easter?" to which, the correct Sunday-school answer is "365." Several years ago, our church in California set up a "Stations of the Cross" that was quite moving. In vivid detail, utilizing all the senses, we took our time and moved around the room, feeling a crown of thorns, watching Jesus get beaten, tasting vinegar, feeling the rough cross, listening to the crowds jeer and taunt Him, etc. This was a powerful experience, one I haven't forgotten. I look forward to taking my kids to such a venue in the future and incorporating the truths of Easter more fully.
What do you do to teach your children about Easter?
How wonderful it is for our children to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Really, it almost enough in life for me. To know that our children love God with all their hearts, minds, and souls, and that they want to teach their children the same. Our lives are empty inside with an insatiable need that only Christ can fill...he made us in His image and to have a relationship with Him.
ReplyDeleteJesus was fully God and fully man. And, our Heavenly Father allowed him to pay for my sins, so that I could have a relationship with Him. He truly is the one who satisfies God's requirement of payment for our sins. I am totally undone without Christ. There is an eternity, and Christ promises that we will live with Him forever, if we place our trust in Him and invite him to come into our lives. He completes us, filling the hole inside.
What wonderful news! He is risen. He is risen, indeed. And, He lives in us. Awsome!!!