St. Nicholas, part 3 -- and last one, we promise!

We hope we've made a good case by now for the benefits of adding in a St. Nicholas Day celebration to your yearly calendar.  We realize that you may be thinking another holiday is the very last thing you need in the short few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but as has been our premise all along, Christians of all people have the most reasons to celebrate!

And, really, the way many of us observe St. Nicholas Day, it really is not adding in more stuff, festivities, or activities as much as spreading it all out.  Instead of Christmas Day being a giant hodge-podge of Santa-given stockings and multiple gifts.... oh yeah, and Jesus' birthday... it is now a little more parsed out.  The Santa stuff on December 6th, and Jesus on December 25th.  I, for one, have greatly enjoyed having that clear distinction.

Both of the last posts have given plenty of good suggestions for how to celebrate this day, but if you need some more, here are a few:

• Use all your Santa decorations.

• Make all kinds of Santa and reindeer foods, for any meals during the day (See Pinterest for ideas).

• Use this day to bless others around you.  Our family has used the cover of night to "candy cane" a few people's homes each year, decorating their front yard with hundreds of candy canes and then anonymously leaving a note and gift.  We try to pick families who we think could use some encouragement or have a particular need.  (This is our kids' favorite activity of the day, maybe year -- getting to act like stealthy candy-caning ninjas!)

• Get together with friends to enjoy a meal with Middle-Eastern flavors (since St. Nicholas was from Turkey).

Here is a detailed post of how our St. Nicholas Day looked one year.

We hope you enjoy this special day, celebrating and imitating a man who lived a unique life centuries ago!

St. Nicholas, part 2

As mentioned in yesterday's post, we have asked a couple of guest authors to post their ideas and traditions about St. Nicholas Day -- which is coming up on December 6th.  This one is written by Kerry Williamson, who writes The Potter's Shed blog.  She and her husband and four children live in Monroe, North Carolina.

Recently, I’ve been trying to recall when we first started celebrating Saint Nicholas Day.  You see, I sent my eldest off to college this fall, and I’ve found myself reviewing a lot of our family traditions wondering what will “stick” and what won’t as our family begins to really grow up and out.  He’s our first out of the house, but the next two will be coming in close succession.  (Thankfully we have a caboose baby who will delay the final nest-emptying by several years).  Anyway, back to Saint Nicholas . . .

 I was trying to recall when we first started this tradition.  As best I can tell, we seemed to have begun celebrating Saint Nicholas’ feast day (Dec 6^th) somewhere around 2004, when our eldest would have been about 8 years old.  Will it really be our 10^th Saint Nicholas feast celebration this year? 

Neither my husband nor I grew up with Saint Nicholas….only SANTA.  We started it as a way to allow more emphasis to be placed on Christ’s birth on the 25^th, and as a way to honor a great and much-loved saint.  No year’s celebration has really been the same as the year before, though.

Some years we’ve had a great morning feast, goody-filled shoes, new decorations, and a day of movies and fun.

Some years we’ve only put out shoes and decorations

Some years we’ve had shoes only.

But, we’ve celebrated.  And I hope, even if my children don’t continue this tradition in their own homes, that they have developed a love and fondness for a man who loved Christ…and was a REAL person.  It’s what I hope they learn about all the saints we read about (some of whom we feast) – that they were real actual people from history, even if some of their tales are hazy with the mist of legend.

If you are interested in adding this feast day to your family tradition, it can be as elaborate or simple as you can like….in fact start simply!  Pick a tradition or two that works for you and give it a try.  Here are some ideas to get you started…but just check out Pinterest or Google “Saint Nicholas” and you’ll get many more!

• Put shoes out for St Nicholas to fill
• Maybe consider leaving him a nice beer as they do in Belgium to say, “Thank you!”
• Have a breakfast “feast” (this can be a simple as store-bought cinnamon rolls)
• We’ve had gingergread waffles, soft-boiled eggs, peppermint hot cocoa as part of our feast
• Make gingerbread cookies in shape of St Nicholas
• Have some fun with a few days of “Secret Santa” good deeds for each other or neighbors
• Make a St Nick display with all your Santa/Father Christmas/St Nick decorations in one spot
• Read a story about St Nicholas, some ones we like:
• Saint Nicholas by Ann Tompert
• Santa’s Favorite Toy by Hisako Aoki (a sweetly illustrated story that has “Santa” pointing to Christ.)
• Legend of Saint Nicholas by Demi
• Saint Nicholas: The True Story of the Christmas Legend by Julie Steigemeyer
• Wonderworker: The True Story of How Saint Nicholas Became Santa Claus by Vincent Yzermans

You’ll find lots more ideas and resources at the SaintNicholas Center!  You can also read more at my blog: The Potter’s Shed.

St. Nicholas Day, part 1

Since St. Nicholas Day may be an unusual day to celebrate for many of our readers, we've asked a couple of guest authors to share some perspectives and ideas with us.

This first post is written by Anne Kennedy, who writes the blog Preventing Grace.  She and her husband, who is the rector of an Anglican church in Binghamton, New York, are raising six children, and they have celebrated St. Nicholas Day as a family and as a church each year.  Here is her perspective on the traditions and truths of this feast day:

My associations with St. Nicholas are nearly as old as I am. I grew up in a tiny African village, surrounded by people who neither celebrated Christmas nor St. Nicholas, nor any western holiday, including birthdays. But there was a Dutch Missionary Nurse and so besides growing up with a plentiful supply of Dutch pancakes, I also developed a great affection for St. Nicholas and his feast day on December 6th.

There is, for the westerner, an immediate and terrible choice when considering The Feast of St. Nicholas. Are you going to conflate him with Santa Claus and Christmas or keep him separate? Certainly their origins are similar. If you keep them separate, how can you possibly explain the similarity between Saint Nick, with his big white beard and his sack full of lovely toys and St. Nicholas with his thin white beard, weather beaten face and sack of gold coins? You must have your answer ready for an inquiring and clever child who is extremely interested in every single detail and contradiction in your face and words.

"Santa Clause is a fairy," I always say to my dubious and concerned children. "St. Nicholas is a Saint." Slowly they've learned to swallow their questions and just put their shoes out on the evening of December 5th and then three weeks later, hang their stockings on December 24th. When they come back to report that St. Nicholas did not visit their friends, I ask whether or not their friends put their shoes out. "No? Well, then there was nowhere to put the chocolate and orange and so he had to just leave."

Those are the basics of a St. Nicholas Visitation at my house. An orange, some chocolates consisting mainly of gold coins and, when I can find a nice one, a chocolate "Saint Nicholas" (so what if it looks exactly like a Santa), and a small special item that fits in the shoe--a pocket knife for a little boy, perhaps, or a silver spoon for a young girl, or a little tiny doll for a little little girl. When I am in my right mind, I think and plan and scour the Internet for little treasures. When I am knocked back by life, I run out between December 4th and 5th rushing through the aisles of crowded box stores, looking for something, anything, small and wonderful. 

And then there's the Visitation of St. Nicholas to the church. He comes whatever Sunday is closest to the 6th, unannounced, banging on the sacristy door with his Shepherd's Staff, glorious in cope and miter, bearing a basket of oranges (but really clementines, which are dainty and perfect for little reaching hands) and gold coins. He is always well timed, right during the end of the announcements. The Announcement Giver, hearing the loud knock at the door, stops and says, "I wonder who that is?" and goes to the door and opens it and there he is! The children gasp and wonder. St. Nicholas is usually someone they haven't seen very often--not any of their fathers or Sunday school teachers, but a man, as tall and thin as possible, hopefully with a small well trimmed beard.  He comes in and announces his greeting "In the Name of the Lord Jesus, whom I served so long as a bishop, fighting off the wicked heresies of Arius, even with my own fists. Are there any children here?" he asks, "who would like a piece of chocolate?" And the children come rushing forward.

Over the last many years, as I've embraced a life of a sort of average American, teetering between the quiet anticipatory joy of Advent and the craziness of the Christmas rush that demands and requires the management of so many expectations, desires, and sheer brutish work, the Feast of St. Nicholas continues to be a brief moment of private, quiet celebratory joy. It stands out and apart from the craziness. It is unexpected and satisfying in the delight it produces. For me, it unites that past and the present, in a schmaltzy liturgical glory, and some years I even make pancakes.

Advent: A season set apart for HOPE

The rhythm of the Christian year is building to a climactic point.... can you feel it?  After several months of "Ordinary Time," we now get ready, this Sunday, to enter a most meaningful season:  Advent.

As we've remarked on this blog before, observing special seasons give us the opportunity to interrupt our normal lives, which can have a tendency to blur days and years together in the midst of our busyness, and change our patterns to help us focus on a bigger Truth.  I love doing things for just a season.   Implementing long-term change is hard; implementing short-term change is much easier.  Monotony does not even have a chance to set in!

The mantra of Advent is "Come, Lord Jesus."  As Richard Rohr says in his little devotional book, Preparing for Christmas, this means that all of Christian history has chosen to live out of a deliberate emptiness -- for now.  We know that someday we will have perfect fulfillment, but the present will not be enough to fully satisfy. 

"'Come, Lord Jesus,' is a leap into the kind of freedom and surrender that is rightly called the virtue of hope.'"  -- Richard Rohr

This season is a perfect time to add a new tradition or ritual to the daily life of your family to help us focus on this HOPE.  Although it can be a busy season, with all the preparations for Christmas, it is a good time to find a way to say "no" to some things so that you can say "yes" to others.

Some of our family Advent traditions:

On the first Sunday of Advent we always make our family's Advent wreath, sometimes with friends, sometimes on our own.  The easiest way we've found to make a wreath is to go to the local Christmas tree lot, ask the guy for some free branches (which he always gives us), and then attach them to a foam wreath form with wire or pins.

Each evening during dinner we light the candle(s), adding one candle each week.

 We also make a paper chain countdown, and on each link we write some people to pray for, and a Bible passage to read.  During our dinnertime Advent wreath lighting, we take the link down for that day (everyone argues about who gets to do that job!), and then we read and pray together.

Then we try to remember to blow out the candles before the house burns down.  (One close call with that one year!)


Some years we've implemented an idea from my friend Heather:  Mary and Joseph "hide" each night as they travel throughout the house on their way to Bethlehem.  The kids run around and look for them each morning.

They're hiding!

 By Christmas Eve they have arrived at the stable, and they await baby Jesus, who arrives in the morning.

Arrived at the stable, after the long journey

 And, one of our favorite things to do as a family, is read an Advent story by Arnold Treeide.  We started with Jotham's Journey, and the following year read Bartholomew's Passage,   This year, we're reading Tabitha's Travels.

 There is a good amount of adventure (i.e., kidnapping, danger, even killing) in these books, so they would not be recommended for younger children.  But we are always amazed at how the author ties in the truths, and even people, from the Bible so well, so we have enjoyed the family reading time tradition.

There are plenty of other great resources out there to help you and your family focus on Jesus' coming.  A Jesse Tree is always a good way to remind children about the Old Testament, and how the promise of Jesus was there all throughout.  (See here for Ann Voskamp's free printable ornaments.)  

Whatever books, routines, or traditions you choose to implement, let them lead you closer to Christ as you turn eagerly to Him, saying "Come, Lord Jesus!"  May this season interrupt your normal lives in ways that have eternal significance.

Thanksgiving

I’ve been thinking lately about the different ways people pronounce the word “Thanksgiving.”  Largely, I’d put people into 2 groups:  those who say “Thanks-GIV-ing” and those who say “THANKS-giv-ing.”  (I’ve also heard a few Southerners draw “thanks” out into 2 syllables, but I’ll still put them in the second category.)

Today I was pondering this, and wondered which way was more appropriate.  Should we be emphasizing the “thanks” or the “giving?”

Turning to the original word for it in the Bible is no help at all.  Thanks to Ann VosKamp, many of us now know that the Greek word for thanksgiving in the Bible is “eucharisteo.”  Coincidentally, this word is also pronounced several different ways with the emphasis sometimes on the “eu” and sometimes on the “char” – and sometimes on the “is” or the “te.” ( Perhaps the Ohio State fans in my life would like to emphasize even the last syallable?)

But really, I guess my exercise in determining the most correct way to say the word is futile at best and stupid at worst.  Of course both aspects are important;  being grateful without offering up thanks is just being “happy” in today’s language, and giving without the thanks is probably legalism.  (because doesn’t every fault of Christian behavior eventually lead back to legalism on one side?)

Regardless of how you say it, we Americans will be glad that a special day is set apart each year to do the thing we should be doing every day:  overflowing with thanksgiving to the One from whom all blessings flow.  And we get to have special food besides.

The internet runneth over with recipes for that special food, as well as turkey crafts for the kids, creative nature-based centerpieces for the tables, and then recipes for the leftovers.  So we will not use our little internet space to add to the bounty.

Even though Thanksgiving is not a traditional “church calendar” holiday, it is one through which many people develop strong family traditions, and through which God is praised, so we say go forth and celebrate!

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” – Psalm 100:4

Ready to Think About Santa Yet?

Ok, so there are 2 weird things about this post right off the bat:

1.  I’m referring to a Christmas character and it’s only October for crying out loud

2.   I’m talking about Santa – and this blog is supposed to be about the CHURCH calendar

Now here are the 2 reasons for why I’m being so weird:

1. In order to alter our thinking, and possibly traditions, about this key figure, we might need to start planning early

2. Santa, like it or not, is part of our culture and we need to figure out what we’re going to do with him in our families!

There are probably at least 3 options for how families can deal with Santa Claus:

(I’ll switch to letters now since the numbers are getting a little old)

A.      They can try to completely ignore him, focusing only on Jesus and the true Christmas story

B.      They can go along with the normal culture, embracing the jolly ol’ fellow, encouraging all the mall visits and naughty-and-nice lists

-or-

C.   They can proactively find a way to incorporate the legend of Santa into their family life, while clearly delineating his fictional aspects from the factual truths of Jesus.

Perhaps you can see where I am going with this.  :)

Years ago, when we first read Martha Zimmerman’s book about celebrating the Christian year (see sidebar for details), we were introduced to the concept of celebrating St. Nicholas Day.  I would venture to say that this has become one of our most favorite family traditions of all.  Not only does it cleanly and happily take care of the Santa/Jesus delineation, but it also has given us a whole new party day!

Our kids love St. Nicholas Day because it involves 4 things:  all things Santa, a party with friends, secretive giving missions, and STOCKINGS.  And truthfully, one of the things we love about giving stockings on St. Nicholas Day is that it spreads out the gift-giving a little bit.  The kids can really enjoy the things in their stockings, as opposed to them just being the “warm-up” to the real deal on Christmas morning.

(In our house we give stockings on St. Nicholas Day, a couple gifts on Christmas morning, and one more on Epiphany…. so it’s a full month of gifts all spread out.)

But the real best part for us is that on December 7, after St. Nick has been fully celebrated and honored, we put away all things to do with Santa, and the rest of the season is now freed up to focus on the true star, Jesus.  There seems to be a lot less confusion that way.

So, I write this now, to put a little niggle in your brain in case you, too, would like to celebrate Santa in this way.  As it turns out the man behind the legend, St. Nicholas, was quite a fascinating man and definitely worthy of emulation in some ways.  Perhaps this is the year you’d like to celebrate the true story as a family.

I know switching the giving-of-the-stockings date can throw people off, so put it on your calendars now- December 6 is St. Nicholas Day.  In the next couple of weeks I’ll post a little more detail about who St. Nicholas was, as well as some suggestions for how to specifically celebrate the day.

In the meantime, start gathering those stocking stuffers!

Pentecost: A good day for cake!

After all of the intensity and solemnity of the long Lenten season, the whirlwind of Holy Week, and the celebratory festivities of Easter, I was happy to have these last several weeks of regular living.  There are 50 days between Easter and Pentecost, a mixture of the ordinary and the extraordinary.

I’ve wondered what Jesus did with His disciples and followers for those weeks after His resurrection – we don’t get a lot of detail from that time.  We know a few extraordinary things that happened – including His Ascension! – but perhaps many of the days were filled with the regular things of life.   

For the Israelites in the Old Testament, these weeks were sandwiched between two major holy days, one that commemorated the beginning of the grain harvest, which took place during Passover, and one that celebrated the end of it, which was Pentecost. (See this article for more detail) 

When Jesus came, he brought a whole new dimension – THE dimension – to those holy days.  He offered up Himself as the Firstfruits, the Passover Lamb, and the final sacrifice during the first set of Holy Days, and then sent His Spirit to start the first true church during the second.

Traditionally, it is believed that the Ten Commandments were given on Mt. Sinai on the day of Pentecost.  What amazing symmetry that presents:  On the same day of the year that the Law was given, which could not save, the Spirit of the Risen Christ was given, who totally does!

We now celebrate Pentecost as the day of the giving of the Holy Spirit to believers, and therefore the birthday of the Church.   So it’s a big deal - -and worthy of a big celebration!  As Peter J. Leithart reminds us, we should be a noisy and joyous group when we have the Spirit living in us!

As we’ve mentioned before, we love the fact that Christians have more reasons to celebrate, and we love to do this as much as we can! So here is another day to make a cake, put up some balloons, open the Scriptures and remind yourselves and your children about the crazy and wonderful things that happened years ago.

Here are some suggestions:

• Read the account of giving of the Spirit in Acts 2.  Other passages to read/think about are Galatians 5:22-26, and 1 Corinthians 12.  Praise the Advocate, the Spirit!

• Talk about how the events in Acts 2 contrast with what happened at the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11.

• Decorate the table with red petals. 

• Cook something spicy to represent the tongues of fire.

• Serve fruit salad and talk about the fruit of the Spirit. (Gal 5:22-23)

• Bake a birthday cake and sing “Happy Birthday” to the Church!  Light candles and talk about the flames of fire that were above the disciples’ heads.

or

• Make cupcakes with strawberries as tongues of fire.

One last note:  The Western church and the Eastern church (Orthodox) often do not have coinciding holidays.  I never knew this until we spent some time in Eastern Europe and realized we got to celebrate each of the holidays for 2 weeks in a row (which was pretty cool!).  But this year, 2014, the holidays DO line up, so all Christians everywhere will be observing Pentecost tomorrow.  Happy birthday to the WHOLE church!

Resurrection Day traditions

Some ideas for celebrating that HE IS RISEN!!

Music-to-Wake-the-Family-By

"Christ The Lord Is Risen Today" -- modern version and traditional version

"The Easter Song" by Glad A Capella group

"Beautiful Rescuer" -- by David Walker (thanks, Donna H.!)


Symbolic "Sweets"

1. Easter Story Cookies:  I have loved going through the process of making these cookies with my kids (and nieces and nephews), as each step has something meaningful attached.  The actual cookies themselves were less than impressive, though.  :)  (Maybe we did it wrong?  Meringue is a tricky thing!)

2. Resurrection Rolls:  These are easy, tasty, and have a nice "wow" factor for kids!

3. Empty Tomb Cake:  This could be made in a variety of ways, of course.  It's nice to see an Easter dessert that's not all about bunnies and chicks once in awhile!


Afternoon Activities

If you want to give the kids something to do while you're preparing dinner (or resting after preparing dinner!), here are a few ideas:

1. Egg hunt:  If you haven't already done a neighborhood egg hunt, now might be a good time for whoever is around.  Using "Resurrection Eggs" makes it especially meaningful and useful for teaching.

2. Lego activity:  Tell the kids to make something like this!

3. Coloring pages:  There are some good ones on this site.

Remembering

My dear friend Lisa, celebrated a Seder last night. She and her beautiful family walked very tangibly into the act of remembering. These are her words...

Tonight, we remembered.

We remembered the first Passover.

We heard it, saw it, smelled it, felt and tasted it.

I have learned that is what the seder is all about.

We leaned on pillows to remember we are not slaves but are eating at our leisure . . . free.

We said the traditional blessings, (in English of course) and retold the story of the deliverance from Egypt.

We dipped the bitter herbs in salt water to remember the bitterness and tears of slavery.

We ate a horseradish and chopped apple matzah sandwich  while thinking about the cruelty of 

slavery and the hope of freedom.

We spilled drops of wine/grape juice from our glasses for each plague-emptying some of the joy from our 

glasses.  (Sad for even our enemies who suffered)

We searched for the broken matzah.

We experienced it with all our senses.  

So we can remember it again . . . and again.

Because we have been set free. . . and I need help remembering..

Good Friday Traditions

Observing this Holy Day, both "Good" and somber can draw us ever closer to Christ, reminding us of the great price He paid for us.  Here we have compiled a few suggestions of things we can do as we contemplate and worship:

• In Celebrating the Christian Year, Martha Zimmerman suggests helping the whole family be mindful of the significance of the day by keeping the home completely dark. (The "Light of the World" left this earth for the 3 days.) Keeping the curtains closed and even draping cloth over lights will serve as a good reminder.

• She also suggests placing a 3x5 card at each family member's place at the dinner table, with a person written on it, such as "Mary" or "Pilate" or "a religious person."  Spend time sharing what you think each person's reactions would have been that first Good Friday.

• Another idea would be to keep the home (or wherever you are) completely quiet from 12 pm - 3 pm, turning off all electronics and using the time for focused prayer and reflections.

• Many churches offer services during the day or in the evening, and there is also an online broadcast opportunity this year from 6 pm until midnight through The Secret Church.  (This does cost money and requires registration.)

• If you're looking for a certain, unique food to make, one traditional ones is Hot Cross Buns.  See here for a recipe that I have used and like.  Or, you could try "crown of thorn pancakes," such as these.

• For the younger kids in the home, here is a list of cross-focused crafts they might enjoy.

• On Good Friday, we will come to breakfast to find a black stone in front of each place. The size good for sticking in a pocket and holding on and off through out the next two days. Its a simple reminder of the waiting in darkness. Then, on Easter Sunday, each person will awake to find a white stone and we will read the beautiful verse from Revelation 2:17 "I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it". These stone ideas also came from Ann Voskamp and they've been very meaningful. 

• This Good Friday, we will plant another round of goodness into the large garden we share with dear friends/neighbors. What beautiful symbolism. We will also gather around together to pray blessing over all that we've planted. 

6 Holy Week Traditions (other than coloring eggs)

Coloring eggs is nice and all, but there is so much more that you can do on this most Holy of weeks!  Such as...


1. Light candles.  My friend Jamie shared this with us recently:

Thought I would share our Easter tradition. I read it in a book by Noel Piper years ago and I love it. The boys even like it.  Tonight (Palm Sunday) we will light all six candles and read about Jesus's triumphal entry. Each night this week, we will light one less candle and read more if the passion week story until Friday night when we will light only one candle and read of Christ's death and blow out the last candle. Saturday, we don't light any candles or read. BUT Sunday, we light them all and read of Christ's resurrection!


2. Read a short reflection each night from a devotional book.  Our favorite this year is this one by John Piper -- and it's a FREE download.  



3. Have a foot-washing ceremony with your family or friends



4. Celebrate a Christian Passover/Seder: So much symbolism can be found in the Jewish tradition of the Passover meal.  

Here are a few links to inspire you:

A simple description of the meal
Longer description and more background
A 45-minute video by Jews for Jesus
From Ann Voskamp:  "Why A Christian Family May Celebrate Passover"  



5. Consider fasting from something consumeristic -- like electricity, as this family has done. 



6. Make a crown of thorns out of salt dough, play-dough, or even palm branches.




Stay tuned for ideas on how to observe Good Friday soon...

However you choose to mark this week, may it be a time of pondering, remembering, and worship as we draw closer and closer to the Main Event:  Resurrection Day!

BB King and the Crown of Thorns

Welcome to Holy Week!

Maybe like me, the start of Holy Week snuck up. I confess, this 46 day period of Lent felt like it was moving slower than molasses some days. I felt it especially, when I wanted something I had given up and then I'd count to find I had 44 more days to go without. Then I'd ask myself why I decided to do this whole thing anyway. I'd like to say I took every one of those moments of longing, to stop and pray, but that would be less than honest. Sometimes it felt more like a cat fight.

But, here we are. Less than a week away from the biggest celebration in the Christian calendar! We will move through this week with a mix of somber awareness and anticipation. And like Amy mentioned in her last post, hope. That's the best part.

Several years ago, I saw an idea from Ann Voskamp's blog www.aholyexperience.com and we started the practice at our house. We have a wreath and tea stained tooth picks in a bowl beside. During Holy Week, we pay particular attention to our need to confess and each time we do, we stick a toothpick into the wreath. The first year we did this, I was overwhelmed at how quickly this simple wreath turn into a crown of thorns. (I realized that is why the suggestion is to pull this out just for Holy Week and not the whole season of Lent.) This is a tangible reminder that our sin, my sin, nailed Jesus to the cross. As BB King so beautifully sings in the song "When Love Comes to Town" with U2 "I was there when they crucified my Lord, I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword, I threw the dice when they pierced his side, but I've seen love conquer the great divide, when love comes to town..."

This tradition may seem a little morose, but there is a place for that. This week, as we anticipate the celebration to come, it's worth remembering the cost.

Our pastor used this verse in his benediction this morning and it's now on the giant chalkboard in our kitchen for all of us to remember. What a perfect verse for this week. 

Romans 15:13 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit".

Observing Palm Sunday When You’re Sad

For a few different reasons I woke up sad today.  Then, the thought of joining the throngs singing “Hosanna,” rejoicing over the King made me even sadder.   All those people yelling, “Save now!  Save now” (that’s what Hosanna means)…. but Jesus was not about to save them in the way they were hoping and expecting.  He was about to die.  The road to salvation had a big valley of suffering to go through first.  Using hindsight, that first Palm Sunday has an extra layer of upside-down-ness.

We made our way to church this morning, and I found myself thankful that Palm Sunday is on a Sunday.  If it was any other day of the week (it wouldn’t be called Palm Sunday, first of all), there would be opportunity for me to wallow in my sadness, to remain isolated from others, to bypass the whole day.  But because it was Sunday we were at church, and even if I didn’t feel like singing, everyone around me did. 

 I wonder if there was anyone on that day long ago that got swept up in the crowds lauding Jesus, even without originally intending to do so?  There is something about hearing others praise, seeing others lift their hands;  it’s a call back to Reality.  It’s not all about me.  It’s not even all about “me and Jesus.”

And then there were the kids.

Every year watching the children parade in with palm branches, I end up in tears.  This year, even with the cheesy paper “branches” and my kids in rumpled clothes and probably mismatched socks, was no exception.  I have wondered before whether this children-waving-palm-branches thing is a modern-church contrivance designed to just make it all so “cute,” but then I read the writings by Egeria, a spunky woman who traveled over 1200 miles back in the 4th century, visiting Biblical sites.  She was the predecessor of the travel blogger, I suppose, because she wrote extensively about the events and spiritual traditions she witnessed.   And, it turns out, children waved palm branches in a procession way back in the 300’s!

I watched my sons waving their branches today, loving their innocent faith and enthusiasm, hailing their King.  And then I thought about a conversation I had with one of them last night about pain.  He is very concerned about pain, worried about the possibilities of future surgeries or injuries.  As I reminded him last night, and myself this morning, pain is always temporary.

Yes, there is a side of sadness to Palm Sunday, because we know suffering comes next.  But the overarching message is hope.  After the suffering came the most glorious day in history.  And after our suffering will come the most glorious existence, beyond what we can imagine.

I am grateful today for those who sang and spoke around me at church—especially the children--  and for those who write truths to remind us all about the power of Palm Sunday.  Like a bystander in the crowd in long ago Jerusalem, I find myself carried along in the joy of the message.

I am also grateful for the plan to celebrate the Christian year.  Once again I am reminded that these days set apart are not about my feelings or my desires, but are intended to show us more about who God is, and who we are in Him.  Today has been a good day for that, for me.

In John Piper’s little book, Love to the Uttermost, he tells us that Palm Sunday is a good day to reflect on Luke 12:32: “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”  As someone wrestling with fear and distrust, I needed to hear this today.  God’s joy is to give us the kingdom.  The kingdom may be “now and not yet” but eventually it will be all the way now and perfect!  

Seeing just the shadow of that today is enough -- and cause for rejoicing.


“Great is our rejoicing, for you have come to us, righteous and victorious, loving and sovereign.  By the riches of your grace, continue to free us from waterless pits, broken cisterns and worthless idols.  By the power of the gospel, enable us to live as prisoners of hope and agents of redemption until the Day you return to finish making all things new.”  -- Scotty Smith

How to Make An Easter Basket Spiritual

This post comes to us from Jessica Smartt, author of smarttereachday.com.  I always enjoy her perspectives on motherhood and life in general, so am thrilled that she is sharing some of her creativity and wisdom with us on this site today!

Easter baskets...spiritual? Is that a stretch?? Like trying to squeeze Santa in a nativity scene?

Nope, I don't think so!

I'm here to say that you can celebrate the real-ness of Easter with your kiddos, and still let them experience the joy of hunting for, and enjoying their Easter baskets.

How?

Here are a few suggestions:

• It's all in the delivery. If you "hype up" the Easter baskets for weeks, then your kids, too, learn that that's what's important. If you read your Jesus Storybook, and discuss Jesus' death and resurrection, then they understand something different.

• Draw the correlation between hunting for baskets (or eggs!), finding them, being elated, and the women's joy when they discovered Jesus. Now look. I know that can seem like a stretch. I don't think it has to be. We are helping them to pretend, in a small way, what it would be like to search and search, and find something wonderful. When we discuss the Easter baskets, I'll talk about this. When they find them on Easter, I'll say, wow! Can you imagine how excited those women were, when they thought Jesus had died, and they found him and He was ALIVE!!? Isn't that amazing! I'm so glad Jesus was alive.

• Fill it with good stuff. Duh, right? I recently shared 25 Meaningful Easter Basket Ideas. You can browse the list for yourself, but the basic idea is to think like this: How can I fill this basket with things that will LOVE my child, and draw him closer to Jesus? Check out the list, and let me know if you have others!

How to host an Easter Egg Hunt

Here we are having crossed the half-way point of Lent, perhaps feeling the heaviness -- and length -- of the season.  But the good news is Easter is on its way!  And with it comes all kinds of ways to celebrate.

One tradition we have enjoyed several times through the years has been hosting an Easter Egg Hunt in our yard.  Since this takes a little bit of planning, the time to start thinking about it is right about now.

Who doesn't love finding Easter eggs?  This tradition provides a great opportunity to both reach out to neighbors and to remind children about the True Story behind why we celebrate Easter.  

Plus, it's mostly outside, is a relatively short event, has a clear-cut theme, and therefore is one of the simplest parties you can throw!

Here are the basic things to think about:

1. Passing out invitations.  The two best Saturdays for having the event are obviously the two right before Easter. After choosing your date and time, make up some simple invitations to hand out.  We usually just made quarter-page cards like this one:

(If you want me to send you the template I used, I'd be happy to!)

2. Making the eggs.  We plan for about 12 eggs per person, and fill them with something simple like a small piece of candy, a few stickers, or even a penny.  (The younger ones still think that's pretty cool!)  You may want to color-code the eggs -- certain colors for younger ones to find and other colors for older ones.  Or you can later just divide the yard into sections by age instead.

3. Incorporating the resurrection story.  The Resurrection Eggs, of course, are very helpful for telling the story about Jesus, and you can add these to the mix in a few different ways.  One idea is to put a special star or sticker on the outside of those 12 eggs, and after all the eggs have been found, the children who have the special eggs bring them forward to trade them in for a little prize, or just to be part of the story-telling (which they think is pretty fun).  We've found that it's best to let all the kids discover the contents of their eggs and play a little bit before launching into the more serious story-telling time.

If you do not have a set of Resurrection Eggs, they are easy to make on your own.  (Here's one example.)  One year we even had the kids make a smaller version themselves.  We gave them little slips of paper with verses on them, as well as the objects to include in the eggs.  They took their little sets home with them.  (Again, if anyone wants the verses I used or the print-out, just let me know)

4. Decorations and food.  For some people I know this is the best part of event-planning, and for others, it can just be overwhelming!  The beauty of an Easter Egg Hunt is that it can be as low-key or as elaborate as you want... kids have fun either way.  I tend to be more on the "keep it simple" end of the spectrum, so we usually just serve things like muffins, fruit, pretzels, etc. (Here's an easy but festive idea)  Our decorations are usually kept to a minimum as well -- often balloons (the cheap ones look a lot like eggs when blown up!) and/or garlands or streamers.  Depending on the weather that day, things may get blown away anyway!

If you do want some more creative ideas, though, there are some cute ones here, and here.

5. Other activities.  The actual egg hunt is usually over quite quickly;  when there are prizes and candy involved, kids sure can move fast!  So you may want to plan an additional activity or two, as long as you have everyone gathered.  Depending on the ages of the kids, this could be as simple as giving them coloring sheets, or doing a craft, or it could be organizing some games -- such as Egg Olympics!  There are, of course, a myriad of craft and activity options nicely pictured for you on Pinterest, so I'll let you choose.  :)

Two of Deb's kids and one of mine are in this picture --
 from almost a decade ago!

 5. Bonus ideas:  If your kids are getting a little tired of the whole egg hunt thing, here are some suggestions for other types of events and games to play with eggs.  Some of these could still be done as an outreach activity, including neighbors and friends. 

No matter how you organize it, the main thing is to remember that the event can serve as a powerful tool, teaching kids who may not know the real resurrection story.  What a great opportunity to reach out to our neighbors with the truth!