Recently, I have been talking with a sweet friend about what they do to celebrate Easter in their family. Her reply sent me on a heartfelt soul search in which I have not stopped quite yet. She just mentioned that while she loves both sides of their families very much, Easter is too holy to sit around and discuss bunnies, eggs, baskets. Add to that the fact they have non-believing family, it takes the focus off Jesus. So they choose to stay home and have people in their home to minister to. Hmmm, that is very intriguing to me. Here is the part that I keep going over and over in my mind: how do we honor this holy day? What things are we instilling in our celebration of Resurrection Sunday that would show it is a holy day?
So with that running through my mind, I kind of changed up how we "do" things. We are blessed to have families that all are believers so I feel very strongly that we are to spend it with them. However, the prep up to that day was different. Tapping into my teaching genes, I pulled out books and looked up websites to help the girls understand more about crucifixtion during that time in Rome. We learned a lot. We watched the Nest Entertainment's version of the Passion of the Christ. Very good and not so gory for kids.
Next, on Good Friday at noon, we shut the curtains and turned out the lights as we read about Jesus being crucified. We had time alone in our rooms after reading that and the knowing more about what that meant, we wanted to have time to reflect. Then we went to Good Friday service. It was powerful this year. The drama team was quoting several verses from Isaiah, which is the study we all do in BSF so the girls recognized that right away. The songs were moving but what got me were the pictures they displayed from Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ. My girls will never be the same and I mean that in a good way. To look upon that bloody, beaten body of Christ, knowing he willingly did that for our own sins is just too much. We then all had the opportunity to walk forward and paint a stripe on the cross for our own sins. Powerful!
I left in tears. I pondered what to expect on Sunday and this year, it felt different. We had discussed so much of the process that when the miracle of Jesus' resurrection came around it was truly a day of rejoicing! I am thankful that my sweet friend made the comment she did to get me thinking about this holy day. I pray I never take it lightly again. Sure, we still did eggs and we did baskets for the girls but they were not the focus at all. We have never done the bunny thing so not having that was not a problem. But this year, I did not worry about what we all wore as I have in the past. I chose instead to focus on who we serve....what a mighty God!
3 comments:
Sounds like you had a very special Easter... We had thought about going to the service on Friday night but thought it may be too much for our young children? I have also wondered what else we could be doing to make the holiday more holy... Thanks for your insight - we may try to add more to this weekend next year! A big hug!
Sounds like a new tradition - love it! This year we attended a Seder, and I have to say - the experience brought our Easter to an entirely different level. As a Christian, Easter is a favorite, but like your friend, we have non-believing family. The Seder kept us focused on the Word and brought new understanding, new conversation, and new reflection. He makes all things new! :)
That sounds like the perfect way to celebrate Easter. We as believers get to celebrate the fact that He's risen but too often we forget to mourn the fact that He died. You're a great mom!
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