Easter Fun

In the midst of the craziness that has been our life lately, I have been praying about and searching for ideas to focus our Easter celebration on the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.  I haven't been able to invest near the amount of time that I did during Advent, so I am praying for meaningful, clear ways to share the Easter story.  Here are a few of the things I have planned for this week!


Easter Egg Hunts: We will be hunting ALOT of eggs this week!  I love looking back at the origin of traditions and the origin of the Easter egg had nothing to do with a bunny (that never made sense to me anyway)!  They were meant to be a symbol of new life.  So we will hunt lots of eggs and talk about the new life we have as believers in Jesus Christ.  For our egg hunt on Easter Sunday, I am going to print and stuff the eggs with these cards and candy from Desiring Virtue.


Resurrection Eggs: I have seen these for several years and I love the idea of them, but I am not in love with all the little pieces inside!  I found this great printable on Pinterest.  It gives you the story without the pieces and the expense. :)

Hot Cross Buns: I am going to attempt making Hot Cross Buns on Saturday morning.  I love the idea of this being a Saturday morning before Easter tradition for years to come!

Empty Tomb: I also saw this on Pinterest and loved that it was so similar to what we did with the Nativity at Christmas.

Resurrection Cookies: We will be spending most of Easter weekend at my in-laws house.  I am excited to make these resurrection cookies at their house on Saturday night/Sunday morning since my mother-in-law is the one who first told me about them!


Since celebrating Advent this year, I have been more excited than ever for this Easter season.  I love the renewed excitement I feel about my Savior.  I love focusing on the truth that we serve a Savior that is ALIVE!  I am praying that each of you grasp the importance of that this week as you serve your families!

Sweet Words

I love how scripture can wash over a believer and peace, strength, and encouragement is left where turmoil, weakness, and fear once where.  These words were sweet to me this morning.

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family^[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

 ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21 (emphasis mine)

The last few weeks have been a little different than I had planned.  I had a little visit from pneumonia and also discovered issues with my thyroid(I will share more about those things and the lessons learned).  I have missed long, consistent time in God's word. but this morning God pulled me out of bed early and this scripture reminded me that when you are "rooted" and  "established" in the love of Christ, something wonderful occurs.  Just like a tree draws up water when it doesn't rain, the power of God has strengthened me in a tiring, dry time.  THAT is how "wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ."

Easter Cookies

Easter is around the corner!  As we celebrated Advent this year, I began to get so excited about celebrating Easter.  I gathering some ideas and will be sharing them with you in the next couple of weeks.


My mother-in-law, Nan, gave me this recipe a few years ago and I am looking forward to making them this year with the boys!

Easter Story Cookies

To be made the evening before Easter

1 c. whole pecans
1 tsp. vinegar
3 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 c sugar
1 zip lock bag
Wooden spoon
Tape
Bible

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Place pecans in zip lock bag and let the children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 10:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into a mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27.

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 c sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Ps 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat the egg whites and other ingredients on high speed until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God’s eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isa 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoonsful onto a waxed paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid. Read Matt.27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven. Close the door and turn the oven off. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus’ tomb was sealed. Read Matt. 27:65-66.

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20-22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter, Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matt.28:1-9

3:30 PM

Just because they sounded good. :)

Fighting The Battle of Fear

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that I am not the only woman who battles fear.  I am guessing that I am not the only one who can take one simple thought and have it blown WAY out of proportion in less than two seconds.  I am pretty sure that I am not the only one who has suffered from panic attacks when I allow my mind to wander and dream up scenarios.  

Fear and worry have been a huge area of sin in my life and I am confident that it has hindered my spiritual growth along the way.  Fear and worry are hallmarks of a heart that refuses to trust who God is and what He has promised His children.  When I am in this battle, I often go to 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.  The second half of verse 6 is often quoted and used when talking about fear, but you shouldn’t miss what comes before.

³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

-Verse 3: As a believer in Christ, I don’t fight battles the same way that a non-Christian does. 

-Verse 4: As a believer in Christ, I have the DIVINE power to demolish strongholds.

-Verse 5: As a believer in Christ, I must DEMOLISH arguments and every PRETENSION that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.  The ESV version says “we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God.”  What does it mean to “destroy” and “demolish” arguments, pretensions, and lofty opinions?  It means that believers in Christ must use the weapon of God’s word and through the power of the Holy Spirit demolish and destroy any fears, worries, or doubts that we know are contrary to the character of who God is and what He has promised to his Children.  

It is impossible to take captive every thought to Christ, if we don’t replace the lie with the truth of Scripture.  What does it look like in practice? 

Lie: I can not continue to walk in this difficult situation without seeing some sort of answer.

Truth: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 

This week, I was tempted to be filled with worry and doubt about a situation, but I was reminded of this passage and quickly went to it and repeated it over and over in my mind.  I also listened to this great podcast by Martha Peace on “How to Think Biblically.”

As women, we are prone to have worrying and fearful hearts, but as women who are daughters of the King, we must learn to replace our fear and worry with trust.  We must train ourselves to replace the sinful thoughts with the truth of scripture and the truth of God’s character. 

How are you growing in your knowledge of who God is so that you can replace lies with the truth?

What are you currently worrying and fretting over? Will you take the thought "captive"?