Easter 2009--Isabelle, at 3 months old
Before having kids, I think I was clueless on all the roles moms have to play in their families. Among these roles, few are as important or as overlooked as the family tradition maker and tradition keeper, especially during holiday time. At Christmas and now Easter, I can't help but spend some time thinking about what exactly these holidays should look like at our home. Every day, but certainly on Christian holidays, we should make it our goal to show the supremacy of Christ in all that we do. If my kids have a blast dyeing Easter eggs but aren't joyous to know that He really rose again, then they're missing the point, and so am I.
So this week, I need some imput from you! I'm just at the beginning of this role in my life, and I know many of you have lots of great ideas on Easter traditions. Specifically, I'm looking for traditions that emphasize Christ. I think it's a sweet tradition to get a new Easter dress, but that doesn't particularly help the family focus on Christ at Easter, although certainly going to church on Easter Sunday does. Here's what I need from you: Please comment below with Christ-centered Easter traditions. Maybe these are ideas that you have now in your family, from your own childhood, or even ideas that you've read about. I'd love to hear them. I can't promise to do all of them because I may not have time for each one, or they may not work in our family, but another reader may take your suggestions, or we may give it a try next year, when Isabelle is old enough to understand more. I'm really hoping to get some great ideas. And if anyone wants to explain the resurrection eggs, that would be great, because I've seen them in Lifeway sale papers and online, but I don't know exactly what they are or how to use them. Thanks in advance for your suggestions. I can't wait to see what you guys share!
Lindsay, my favorite blogger, posted Resources for a Purposeful Easter Celebration last week. I can't wait to try the Easter cookies, which have kid-friendly symbolism in the ingredients (such as breaking the nuts, as the soldiers broke Christ's body). You preheat the oven and put the cookies in the oven to bake, but then immediately turn the oven off and "seal" it shut with tape overnight. The kids should feel bummed that they're not getting any cookies tonight. In the morning, with much anticipation, get the cookies out of the oven, and they should be hollow inside, just was absent from the tomb. How cool is that? The only problem is that most of these traditions make no sense to my 15 month old, who hardly knows what cookies are and would only try to eat the playdough mountain. At the very least, we'll make our family devotions for Holy Week center upon the events leading up to Easter. Noel Piper's Lenten Lights article on Desiring God explains a great reading schedule that can be done weekly throughout Lent or daily, beginning the Saturday before Palm Sunday.
One thing I'm really excited about this year is our church-wide fast on Good Friday. I know that sounds like a strange statement to make, but it's a great way to remind us of the despair on that first not-so-good Friday (it didn't become good until He rose again!). Ideally, we'll also be praying throughout the day too. Typically in a fast, you pray during the times you'd normally be eating, as a way of focusing your heart on the Lord, specific to the purpose of the particular fast. And I don't know about you, but prayer is about the only way I can make it through the day without eating! We're all going to break the fast together on Friday evening with a light dinner of soup, bread, and dessert (because I don't think the people at Fellowship can get together without having yummy desserts). I think that's an amazing tradition to start. I think the fast will keep the focus where it should be, on Christ.
I wish I had some good Easter traditions, but I am still looking for some too. I would also be interested in what others traditions are :)
ReplyDeleteThere is a really good childrens book I remember from when I was little called The Tale of Three Trees. One tree is cut down to make the manger baby Jesus was laid in, the second tree was cut down to make the boat Jesus was on when he calmed the storm (I think, I need to go get the book too!) and the last one was cut down to make the cross. Awesome story and really good for little kids. Another is The Week that Led to Easter. It's from Arch Books (great Bible story books, I had several arch books as a kid) I'm not sure if you can find the arch books in stores anymore but I know you can get them from Amazon.
ReplyDeleteAs far as something to actually DO for Easter, I have no idea. We never really did anything other than go to church in fancy new dresses and have all the family over for lunch.
The Resurrection Eggs are great - I found them on clearance after Easter two years ago for only $6. There are 12 eggs in the container (each one a different color) and it comes with a little book. Each egg contains an item pertaining to the Easter story. The child opens the egg and then you read the small chapter in the book that tells the significance of that item. By the time you reach the 12th egg, your child has heard the entire Easter story, along with a Gospel presentation. We are currently opening 2 eggs per day so that we'll be done by this weekend. I think it helps keep up the suspense :o) Next year, I'll get an earlier start and we'll only do 1 egg per day. We are taking a break from our usual daily devotional and doing the Resurrection eggs as our Bible time each day. I highly recommend them. Since Isabelle is so young, you might look for them on sale after Easter to have for years to come.
ReplyDeleteThanks ladies! I know, Liz, I'd love some ideas too. Sam, we basically just did the same thing! There were a few years where we had a tradition of taking a family photo in a field of bluebonnets, but that's not a Christ-centered tradition, even if it is a good one.
ReplyDeleteLeslie, thank you thank you for the Resurrection Eggs info! Sounds like a great tradition to start next year. I'll check Lifeway on Monday.
We started a tradition a couple years ago that I forgot to mention. Damian mentioned to my mom (on the day before Easter) that he'd heard of having a lamb cake for Easter. Over the course of the year, she managed to find a great cake form of a lamb so that the next year, we had our lamb cake. He's really nice looking--he's 3-D and sits upright looking very serene. We've decorated him nicely (using different icing tips and colors) and we've also just put cool whip on him with coconut, depending on time. Nothing fancy, just a reminder that Christ is our perfect lamb, the sacrificial lamb for us.
Autumn's class did a great project today. You get those giant marshmallows, some cresent rolls, melted butter and cinnamon and sugar. The marshmallow symbolizes Jesus. You coat it in the butter, which symbolizes the oils that they put on Jesus' body. Then you put in in the cinnamon and sugar, which symbolizes the spices that they put on him. After that, you wrap the cresent around the marshmallow and that symbolizes the cloth that they draped over his body. Bake like a normal cresent. When you open the cresent, the marshmallow is gone! Jesus has risen! And it tastes REALLY yummy too. Going to do that every year. It was fun.
ReplyDeleteLiz, that's so great! Definitely one to file away to do next year. Thanks for telling us about it. It's great for a kid's concrete way of thinking--they need lots of illustrations. I think it would be really cool to do as many of these ideas as possible, spread out over the course of a few weeks, so that by the time Easter is here, our kid(s) will understand what it's all about at worship on Easter Sunday.
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