Easter... Since I can remember, that word didn't have zing or excitement associated with it. Granted, I have always understood what Easter is truly about, and have truly believed and rested my hope on all that it stands for, but as a holiday, it just wasn't anything that got me jumping. I can't even remember anything we did for Easter as a child or in the last four years for that matter. I know we always went to church, and usually ate a meal, but that is all I can remember.
Thanksgiving... Now that is a holiday that I get excited about. Turkey, family and the avoidance of the commercialism that most other holidays have been tainted by. I've learned to embrace Thanksgiving and it's purity and simplicity. The result is a fabulous time spent with my dear family surrounded by good food and even greater conversation, and a sense of guilt. As I began claiming Thanksgiving as my mantra or "my holiday" I found that for some reason I also began feeling guilty around Easter. What is it that Thanksgiving and Christmas have that Easter doesn't? Why wasn't I excited to celebrate to celebrate Easter?
This year, I was determined to make Easter important. I began by looking up ways and ideas for celebrating Easter that would be significant. Scoured the internet for ideas about how to get the kids involved, and how to make each thing we did relate back to what Easter is really about. I came up with a few ideas and found that I was suddenly excited about Easter. What was different? During my search for ideas, I read on someone's blog and they commented on how we should put as much energy and time into Easter as we do Christmas. There was my answer. It wasn't about time, it was about investment. I loved Thanksgiving because I had an investment in it. I start thinking about Thanksgiving in December. Yes, a month hasn't even passed before I am longing to be sitting around the table, stuffed with cranberries turkey and my absolute favorite, mashed potatoes and gravy. I am weird, long before school starts, I start thinking about the menu, what recipes I haven't tried and when is it to early to call my aunt (we go to my aunt's for Thanksgiving every year). I am excited about Thanksgiving because I put effort and forethought into Thanksgiving. And so with Easter, I found that the more forethought and effort I put into Easter, the more excited I got. This is the first year that I felt like I truly celebrated Easter.
It is due to my excitement that I must share the ways we celebrated Easter. This year was a tester year. We tried multiple ideas out to see what worked for us. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised, and to my delight, I have already started thinking about next year.
Here is the list of what we did, and how we felt they worked for us ( two adults, a 4yr old, 2 yr old and infant).
1. Gift Baskets for the neighbors.
Since Easter is about celebrating the gift of life, I thought that sharing that gift with other people would be an important part of celebrating. So, we collected different items and made gift baskets to give to some of our neighbors. This years baskets included: a candle to represent the Christ's light shining in us, a journal that said hope, to remind us of the hope we have in Christ, a potted flower to represent new life, dyed eggs that had phrases of hope and joy on them, a verse about our joy in Christ and chocolates.
I loved the gift baskets, and we will do them every year. It was a wonderful way to talk about Easter and teach my kids not only about the hope we have, but that we are called to share our hope with those around us. I will never forget sitting with my family praying over each basket as we made them, explaining how each item represented something significant. Each step in the process was significant from having my 4 year old son chose the verse cards and gluing them them together to walking to each neighbor after we prayed for them. We will make a few changes next year. First, we will pass them out sooner so that we have enough time to invite them to the Easter Hunt that our church puts on. Second, we will make our own chocolates. I want to make chocolate crosses so I can talk about how we are molded into the image of Christ.
3. Passover Meal
I was the most excited about the passover style meal. Oddly enough, this was the biggest flop. I planned a meal with lamb, charoset, matzos, bitter herbs, salt water and grape juice so that I could talk about the sacrifice that Christ made for us. What I found was that hungry kids want to eat and that the time spent explaining the significants was lost in the hustle and bustle of the meal. Though I will do lamb every year (I will use any excuse to eat lamb), I will not incorporate a passover meal into our Easter. Next year I plan to do a simple communion with the family.
4. Foot washing
I am still amazed at how meaningful this experience was. My children are still asking to do it again. In our house, the most common words I hear are : me, mine, and I'm first. I have truly struggled with how to teach my children what it means to serve one another.
When I saw the idea for foot washing it seemed natural for me. It was probably because foot washing was the gift I gave to my husband the night we were married (I had towels made and my first act as his wife was washing his feet as a symbol of my love and desire to serve him in love.) But for some reason, I put it on the back of my list, thinking, yeah if we get to it. As our evening closed, my husband reminded me of the foot washing and so began a memory to last forever. We brought out a bowl, pitcher and lots of towels one of which was the towel I had made for my husband. We gathered around, and my husband and I explained how Christ came not to be served but to serve, how He died for as as an act of love and service and how He calls us to serve one another. I also explained that the bible says that the "first shall be last", that part of serving is letting others go first. My "I'm first" son's eye's lit up. He proceeded to list the order that we should wash each other's feet in, with him being last. Without knowing it, I had finally gotten through to my son that being first isn't always important. I will never forget those moments of washing each other's feet. I can still see my son and daughter's small hands carefully washing my feet, pouring water and taking turns drying. This will be our family's tradition for years to come. Serving in love.
Next Easter I am looking forward to another list of things to try, some old, some new but each one a chance to experience an old holiday in new ways.
If you are looking for more creative ways to celebrate Easter, I found the following blog wonderful and the inspiration of many if not all of the ways we celebrated this year: http://www.aholyexperience.com/
This year, I was determined to make Easter important. I began by looking up ways and ideas for celebrating Easter that would be significant. Scoured the internet for ideas about how to get the kids involved, and how to make each thing we did relate back to what Easter is really about. I came up with a few ideas and found that I was suddenly excited about Easter. What was different? During my search for ideas, I read on someone's blog and they commented on how we should put as much energy and time into Easter as we do Christmas. There was my answer. It wasn't about time, it was about investment. I loved Thanksgiving because I had an investment in it. I start thinking about Thanksgiving in December. Yes, a month hasn't even passed before I am longing to be sitting around the table, stuffed with cranberries turkey and my absolute favorite, mashed potatoes and gravy. I am weird, long before school starts, I start thinking about the menu, what recipes I haven't tried and when is it to early to call my aunt (we go to my aunt's for Thanksgiving every year). I am excited about Thanksgiving because I put effort and forethought into Thanksgiving. And so with Easter, I found that the more forethought and effort I put into Easter, the more excited I got. This is the first year that I felt like I truly celebrated Easter.
It is due to my excitement that I must share the ways we celebrated Easter. This year was a tester year. We tried multiple ideas out to see what worked for us. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised, and to my delight, I have already started thinking about next year.
Here is the list of what we did, and how we felt they worked for us ( two adults, a 4yr old, 2 yr old and infant).
1. Gift Baskets for the neighbors.
Since Easter is about celebrating the gift of life, I thought that sharing that gift with other people would be an important part of celebrating. So, we collected different items and made gift baskets to give to some of our neighbors. This years baskets included: a candle to represent the Christ's light shining in us, a journal that said hope, to remind us of the hope we have in Christ, a potted flower to represent new life, dyed eggs that had phrases of hope and joy on them, a verse about our joy in Christ and chocolates.
I loved the gift baskets, and we will do them every year. It was a wonderful way to talk about Easter and teach my kids not only about the hope we have, but that we are called to share our hope with those around us. I will never forget sitting with my family praying over each basket as we made them, explaining how each item represented something significant. Each step in the process was significant from having my 4 year old son chose the verse cards and gluing them them together to walking to each neighbor after we prayed for them. We will make a few changes next year. First, we will pass them out sooner so that we have enough time to invite them to the Easter Hunt that our church puts on. Second, we will make our own chocolates. I want to make chocolate crosses so I can talk about how we are molded into the image of Christ.2. Resurrection rolls
For breakfast Easter morning, we made resurrection rolls. Although sticky and delicious, I did not feel that the kids found it to be meaningful. I am hoping to try the resurrection cookies next year instead. (For recipe, see: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/resurrection-rolls/Detail.aspx and http://www.kintera.org/atf/cf/%7B8E975F2E-4C1C-4315-AAFF-34A97EB367B5%7D/Resurrection_Cookies.pdf)
3. Passover Meal
I was the most excited about the passover style meal. Oddly enough, this was the biggest flop. I planned a meal with lamb, charoset, matzos, bitter herbs, salt water and grape juice so that I could talk about the sacrifice that Christ made for us. What I found was that hungry kids want to eat and that the time spent explaining the significants was lost in the hustle and bustle of the meal. Though I will do lamb every year (I will use any excuse to eat lamb), I will not incorporate a passover meal into our Easter. Next year I plan to do a simple communion with the family.
4. Foot washing
I am still amazed at how meaningful this experience was. My children are still asking to do it again. In our house, the most common words I hear are : me, mine, and I'm first. I have truly struggled with how to teach my children what it means to serve one another.
When I saw the idea for foot washing it seemed natural for me. It was probably because foot washing was the gift I gave to my husband the night we were married (I had towels made and my first act as his wife was washing his feet as a symbol of my love and desire to serve him in love.) But for some reason, I put it on the back of my list, thinking, yeah if we get to it. As our evening closed, my husband reminded me of the foot washing and so began a memory to last forever. We brought out a bowl, pitcher and lots of towels one of which was the towel I had made for my husband. We gathered around, and my husband and I explained how Christ came not to be served but to serve, how He died for as as an act of love and service and how He calls us to serve one another. I also explained that the bible says that the "first shall be last", that part of serving is letting others go first. My "I'm first" son's eye's lit up. He proceeded to list the order that we should wash each other's feet in, with him being last. Without knowing it, I had finally gotten through to my son that being first isn't always important. I will never forget those moments of washing each other's feet. I can still see my son and daughter's small hands carefully washing my feet, pouring water and taking turns drying. This will be our family's tradition for years to come. Serving in love.Next Easter I am looking forward to another list of things to try, some old, some new but each one a chance to experience an old holiday in new ways.
If you are looking for more creative ways to celebrate Easter, I found the following blog wonderful and the inspiration of many if not all of the ways we celebrated this year: http://www.aholyexperience.com/
