Easter 2014

Silly bunny!

Egg Hunt!

Egg hunt at church!

Christ Centered Easter Basket

We've been doing Resurrection Eggs for years and I love that tradition (and we're doing it) but I wanted to add something else to it.

I saw some ideas on Pinterest popping up about Christ-centered Easter baskets.

I'll be honest...if I gave my kids an Easter basket on Sunday morning and they had to read a scripture before they opened each thing in the basket...they wouldn't be thrilled. Plus I usually give my kids clothes and summer stuff in their baskets. So I created a Christ-centered Easter Basket that you use as a devotional tool the week leading up to Easter.

Here's a peek at what a basket might look like. You purchase specific items that are related to Bible stories. For example; Bubble Bath= John the Baptist baptizes Jesus.

I bought 15 items and wrapped them individually, then I put scripture stickers on the outside of each item. This week the kids would choose an item, we would look up the scripture (this was great practice) then after reading the passage the kids would try to guess what was in the package. Christian wasn't aloud to guess after the first 3 because he kept getting them right :)

This was a fun way of getting my kids to think about who Jesus is and what he's done!!!

We handed cards out at church explaining how to do this. 

Here's what the card said:

 Below you’ll find a list of suggested items that you could buy to create a Christ-centered Easter basket. Give your child(ren) the basket on Palm Sunday (or the week before if you buy all 15 items) and have them open one present each day until Easter Sunday. By opening one present each day, your child will spend the week before Easter learning who Jesus is and what Jesus has done! Wrap each of the presents and put the matching scripture verse on the outside of each present. Have the kids read the scripture passage and then try to guess what’s inside the wrapping paper. What a fun way to learn about Jesus!

Who Jesus is and what He’s done:

Bubble Bath (Matthew 3:13-17) John the Baptist baptizes Jesus.

Goldfish Crackers (John 21:1-14) Jesus and the miraculous catch of fish.

Bandaids (Matthew 4:23-24) General scripture about how Jesus heals.

Swedish Fish (John 6:1-13) Jesus feeds the 5,000 using 5 loaves and 2 fish.

Toy Boat (Matthew 8:23-27) Jesus calmed the storm.

Water Bottle or Sippy Cup (John 4:4-15) Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that he is the living water.

Flip Flops or Pair of Socks (Luke 5:17-26) Jesus heals the paralyzed man.

Sunglasses (Mark 8:22-25) Jesus heals the blind man.

Chocolate Cross (Luke 23:32-43) Jesus dies on the cross.

Bubbles (Luke 24:50-53) The ascension of Jesus

Body Wash/Hand Soap (1 John 1:7) The blood of Jesus (on the cross) washes away our sins.

Who we are in Christ:

Something Salty – Like chips or pretzels (Matthew 5:13) You are the salt of the Earth.

Something that Grows – Like Flower seeds, Pot with Strawberry Plant or herbs ( 2 Peter 3:18) Grow in the grace & knowledge of Jesus

Glow Sticks (Matthew 5:14-16) You are the light of the world.

Playdough (Isaiah 64:8) We are the clay and Jesus is the potter.

This is a super fun way to help your kids learn about Jesus! This doesn't have to be an Easter activity! You could give your child this basket on the last day of school and open one present each day to celebrate your first two weeks of summer vacation and to start your summer vacation off right with your kids!

Our Family's Last Supper

My kids rarely take communion at church, mainly because we do it in the adult service and they are in their Sunday School class during this time. I think it's important for kids to understand what communion is and why we take communion. And they absolutely should participate in communion once they have decided to become a follower of Jesus Christ. The perfect time to be intentional about this is Easter!

You don't have to be in a church building to take communion. Jesus just wants us to make this a practice as a way of remembering him. So that's what our family did this week. Enter the grape juice and matzo.....

We are gathered as a family and read Luke 22:7-23.  My favorite version for reading aloud to the kids is NIRV...New International Readers Version.

I love this picture of McKenna reading her Bible. Look at her toe....so cute!

Just to keep it real and make sure that you know how IMPERFECT our family is...we had to switch rooms in the middle of the scripture passage because Will was playing with his Rescue Heroes so loudly. He got absolutely nothing out of this which is perfectly fine since he's three! He did eat a piece of Matzo because he was climbing all over me begging for a "cracker."

Okay... back to the important stuff....next we watched this video: CLICK HERE. And I talked to the kids about how they should prepare their hearts before they take communion. You should confess your sin and ask Jesus to forgive you of any sins you can think of. If you can't think of any...think harder :) And if you still can't think of any...ask your mom and she can probably remind you of a few.

McKenna was so cute...she ran off into the other room to be by herself when she was praying and confessing her sins.

Then we broke the pieces of Matzo and drank the grape juice and talked about what the bread and the juice symbolize. Then we talked about Jesus. When you take communion, Jesus said we are supposed to remember him.....so we talked about different things that we remembered Jesus doing for us.

It was a special time. Not perfect, but very meaningful. I'm hoping to make this a tradition.

Palm Sunday

Eleven

Eleven years with Ryan!

We had no idea back then what today would hold. A LOT has happened in eleven years but it's gone by fast! Just think...eleven years from now Christian will be in college!

The early years...this was 1998. 

Our very first picture together.

Dating when we were at Liberty University!

I would marry him all over again in a heartbeat.

Faces

Do you see this face? We see that particular look all the time. That's his "I don't know about this" face.

He used to hate the car wash...now he loves it. Actually this was the very first time that he loved it.

Yikes...the water is coming!