Eagerly Awaiting EASTER!

I recently read a portion of Noel Piper's book, Treasuring God in our Traditions and was inspired to do more with the girls in anticipation of Easter. We count down a full month before Christmas, but we often don't do anything for Easter until the day of (maybe an egg hunt the day before-ha!) I'm not at all opposed to having an Easter Egg hunt. It's all good fun.

But as my kids grow up, I want to spend more time talking about the gospel ~the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. These are some of the core components of our faith.

 

I decided to do a combination of things that I have heard and read. Noel shares the great idea of doing Lenten Lights with your children. It's basically a series of small devotionals using candles. If you have older children, she suggests doing a devotional each Sunday of lent, but if you have younger children and want to do daily devotionals during Holy Week, she suggests starting on the Saturday before Palm Sunday and doing a devotional each night.

This is her description of the candles. I love it!

The Symbolism of the Seven Candles

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). But for a while it seemed as if the darkness was overcoming—for a long while.

Your seven candles symbolize the Light of the World—the Light that was God’s glory and that illuminated God for us—the Light that, in the end, seemed to have been darkened. As we move through the season preceding Easter, the candles are snuffed out one by one, until all are dark on Good Friday, when Jesus died and the earth was covered with shadow. Darkness apparently had won. The Light of the World had been extinguished. It was finished.

But NO! Easter brings resurrection! Life! Return from death! The Light has won and all the candles burn as we praise him—the Light of the World, the Bright Morning Star, the Glory of God.

I just used birthday candles that I stuck into Styrofoam because it's all I had ;) 

We are basically going to do the candles along with resurrection eggs since the kids are so little. I'll probably step it up to the full devotional next year. But I like the visual of the eggs for a 2 and a 4 year old. 

On the blog Sugar Lander, I found this simple post on DYI Resurrection Eggs. Thank you Casey!

Here's Casey's picture of hers.

I have 10 eggs and 9 candles and only 9 days until Easter, so I did two eggs on the first night. It's as flexible as you want it to be. So honestly start whenever you are able - even if its just a few days before Easter. Something is better than nothing, right?!

The girls loved seeing what was inside!

Tim explaining the story of Easter.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead... 

1 Peter 1:3 

Scripture Memory~ Envy

Proverbs 14:30 ~A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

Scripture Memory ~ Love is...

I Corinthians 13:4

..."Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

Scripture Memory~ He is my Rock.

 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
(Psalm 62:5-7 ESV)

Scripture Memory~ June 15/2012

James 1:19,20 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

*Let's just say I have not been as patient with my sweet girls as i would like to be(especially when *ahem* I am trying to get out of the door on time). So I need this reminder right now!

Motherhood is Application

A friend of mine passed this article(Motherhood is Application) on to me from John Piper's "Desiring God" website.  I am so glad that I took the few minutes to read it. It was just the encouragement and conviction my soul needed today. Especially since both of my girls were hanging onto my legs yesterday crying to be held while I REALLY just wanted to finish the pile of dishes on the counter. 

Here's a little snippet to whet your appetite:

" Imagine yourself in your kitchen trying to make dinner for a group of little kids who are tired and should have eaten a half hour ago. Imagine that things are going wrong beyond that — maybe you are out of something you assumed you had, children are fussing with one another, and maybe your littlest is still at the age where they come stand on your feet and pull on your pant leg. Bonus points if you are wearing maternity pants and this little person is actually capable of pulling your pants down. You are hot, you are tired, and you are sick of it.
This is no time for a gospel presentation. There isn’t time. There isn’t anyone to lead the discussion around the felt board, because you are still scrambling to figure out dinner. This isn’t a time for a gospel presentation because it is a time for gospel application."

It's Just Stuff

This weekend we had our last yard sale in an effort to get rid of all the things we can't ship to Scotland with us or that we don't feel are worth storing. Most of the girls' toys fall into that category. There are a select few little ones (pinky pie pony, panda pillow, and her special tea pot set...) that are dear friends of Madison's and are small enough to take with us. But for the most part, all we are taking is clothes, a few toiletries, our computers and U.S. measuring cups :) So it doesn't really make sense for me to store all of the girls' toys for three years when they won't be interested in them when they come back to the states in three years and they are 4 and almost 6 (ok - that's just crazy when I actually write it. Surely my girls will never be THAT old?)

So I spent Friday packing up most of their toys and many other things that I realized I just don't NEED. I had worship music playing while I was working and there were several times that I started to tear up as I would place something in the yard sale pile. I packed up Maddy's princess castle and enjoyed reminiscing about how she learned how to play make believe with that castle.
I remembered a sweet little stuffed animal that a dear friend had given her at my baby shower. She has grown up with these toys and there are so many fond memories that go along with them. I hadn't anticipated that the emotional element of giving our things away.

Funny though - she wasn't the one attached - I was. She hasn't even noticed her things are gone. She's just having fun playing in the empty moving boxes. I was the one that found myself attached to these "things". But as each new item went into the "For Sale" pile, my heart found deeper refuge in my Savior. I cried out to him in my sadness and asked for strength and hope. He is faithful. I was soon comforted by the wonderful truth that this is just "stuff". The toys, the cars (we just sold last week), the extra dishes, and clothes. It's not WHY I'm here on this earth. I was reminded that Where my treasure is, there will my heart be also.  I was created to bring honor and glory to my Father Jesus. This move is helping me to see things a little more clearly-without all of the "stuff"of this world clouding my view.

Phil. 3:14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 

Summertime Gaze?

I don't know about you, but I often struggle to keep my gaze cast towards Christ during one of the most beautiful time of the year. Maybe it's just the late nights and business of activities, but this short article by John Piper was a much needed encouragement and challenge for me tonight. 

I love Piper's encouragement, "Don’t let summer make your soul shrivel. God made summer as a foretaste of heaven, not a substitute. If the mailman brings you a love letter from your fiancé, don’t fall in love with the mailman. That’s what summer is: God’s messenger with a sun-soaked, tree-green, flower-blooming, lake-glistening letter of love to show us what he is planning for us in the age to come—“things which eye has notseen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man, God has prepared for those who love him"- I Corinthians 2:9. "


The solution?   "If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth."  Colossians 3:1-2

It was just the reminder that I needed that no matter how busy I am this summer (and oh boy is this a busy one) to take every chance I get to turn my heart and mind to the things of Christ. For me 

personally that means a few things:

1. Getting up a tad earlier to get in The Word. I truly want my mind filled with scripture so that I am not tempted to doubt the goodness of my Heavenly Father.

2. Savoring each beautiful moment as a gift from God that points to His own majesty and should cause me to give glory to Him!