Just in case you forgot...

Today is Maundy Thursday.
Tomorrow is Good Friday.
Saturday is a day of silence as we reflect upon Christ being in the tomb.
Sunday is Easter or Resurrection Day.

Don't forget. Don't ignore. Prepare. Remember. Celebrate.

For many weeks our family has been reading through Amon's Adventure during our family worship time. This week (Holy Week) we added in the DVD our pastor made many years ago to help us prepare our hearts for Easter. (We watch it every year.) Holy Week is a precious week for our family and my favorite week of the year. What are you doing to prepare your heart and the hearts of your children for this most Holy of Days?

Here are a few ideas that we do at our home:

Go to church tonight (Maundy Thursday) and celebrate the Lord's Supper or have your own Passover meal.

Lenten Lights (Our candles are pictured above - we start with all the candles lit and then one candle is blown out each night of Holy Week. On Friday the final candle is extinguished and the candles remain unlit or dark - Christ in the tomb - until Sunday morning. On Easter morning all the candles are lit before the children awake and then the rejoicing begins. Easter baskets are reserved until after we have had our Bible reading, have read the final chapter of Amon's Adventure, and watched the last day of the DVD. I also usually have the children dress for church before they are allowed to dig into their baskets. All of this usually takes place before 8:30 am. This year the order might change a bit as we are considering - or rather I am considering, I haven't discussed this with Mark yet - attending the 8:00 am service. We usually have family over after church so all of these activities have to take place before we leave for church in the morning.)

Read Amon's Adventure by Arnold Ytreeide (Last night's reading was so exciting!)

Read the corresponding Scripture passages nightly to your children and/or yourself.

Make these Resurrection Rolls (we will make these on Saturday morning since Sunday is much too busy; this will be our first year to try this recipe).

Get Noel Piper's book Treasuring God in Our Traditions and use some of her wonderful ideas for how to prepare and celebrate Easter.

For the older folk in your home - watch The Passion of the Christ.

And this egg hunt is a neat idea that I just heard about this year and hope to somehow implement into our Easter day celebration (we already celebrate with a large family gathering and egg hunt).

Go to church Easter morning and celebrate the Risen LORD!

I pray these ideas will get you excited and spark some ideas of your own. Leave a comment and share what you do to celebrate and prepare for Easter.

I pray that you all have a blessed, peaceful, and restful Easter. Remember the point of these ideas is not to get stressed. Family worship is not about being stressed. It should be a joy and a delight.

Lullabies that will Hide His Word in Your Heart

This is amazing. I’ve listened to a lot of Scripture in song and I often feel like it just isn’t right somehow - but this! I’m listening to the promos and a I want to weep. Literally. It is so beautiful.

Ah, the power of God's Word. Love it.



Hidden In My Heart A Lullaby Journey Through Scripture

HT: Like A Warm Cup of Coffee

Do you dread the Mundane?

Invite in the Glorious.

HT: The Stay-at-Home Missionary

Advent

In a previous post I mentioned that that Sunday (November 29th) was the first Sunday of Advent. Since then a dear friend has asked me to explain to her how to celebrate Advent. So after much delay here is how to do it…

The Basics:

Literally Advent means “coming”.

The four Sundays that make up the Advent Season (which usually begins on the last Sunday in November – the Sunday closest to November 30th) are set aside as a time to prepare, reflect, and acknowledge the gift of salvation that we (Christians) have been given through the birth of God’s Son Jesus Christ. It is also a time to anticipate the second coming of Christ. In short it is a time of looking back to the birth and forward to the second coming. Traditionally Advent is celebrated with three main things – an Advent wreath, candles and Scripture readings.

The Advent wreath is usually a circular evergreen wreath (although Lutherans sometimes use a log shape) – either homemade or store bought (or if you are Catholic there is no greenery just a circle with holes for the candles). The circle of the wreath represents the hope of eternal life in Christ and the greenery symbolizes the abundant life Jesus has promised us in the here and now.

The candles which go on the wreath vary in color but are typically a combination of three purple (or blue) candles, one pink candle and one white candle. One candle is lit each Sunday in Advent with the fifth candle – the white candle- lit on Christmas Eve and Day. The candles are lit in this order: purple, purple, pink, purple, and then white with each previous candle being lit along with the new candle so that on Christmas Eve/Day all the candles are lit. Each candle is symbolic and depending on what source you use their meanings can vary slightly but I think the most common meanings are: first purple candle - promise candle; second purple candle - prophet’s candle; third pink candle - John the Baptist’s candle; fourth purple candle -Mary’s candle and of course the fifth candle, the white candle, represents Christ Jesus, the Light of the World.

There are specific Scripture readings that accompany the lighting of each candle. These can vary slightly also so I am not going to list them but you can find a complete list of the Scriptures here.

Finally, there are many wonderful resources to use with Advent. Advent can be as simple as lighting a candle and reading a scripture on each of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas or it can be more involved – with daily scripture reading, hymn singing and a lighting of candles on each Sunday. It can be as involved or as simple as you have time to make it.

There are also many good Advent devotionals available. I will try to list some resources in another post.

Here is a glimpse of our nightly Advent celebration (we do something each night leading up to Christmas and then we have a special celebration on Christmas Eve with a birthday cake for Jesus and then a special reading on Christmas Day before we open our presents):

Each night I prepare some sort of treat for the children – hot cocoa, candy, cookies, or some kind of dessert which we enjoy during or right before we begin our Advent celebration. Before we begin we light the appropriate candle then we pray and sing a Christmas hymn, then Mark or I (if he is not home) read the nightly reading. This year we are reading through Jotham’s Journey. Which I highly recommend, but which is not a necessity. In years past we have read scripture only or scripture and devotions. As a special treat on each of the four Sundays I prepare a special goodie bag for each child inside of which I put candy or money or a special tiny gift. Inside one of the bags there is a scripture verse. I bring the bags out and the children each select a bag. The one that selects the bag with the scripture verse has to locate the verse in their Bible and read it aloud to all. I haven’t done the bags each year (because I’m a very forgetful person) and when I’ve missed a year (as I did last year) the children complain loudly and tell me in no uncertain terms just how much they miss this aspect of our Advent celebration. In fact, Caleb started reminding me of it early in November so this year I am doing it again. You may be wondering what happens if Ben or Bess gets the Bible verse (all of the older children can read) – the answer is that Ben doesn’t get a bag and someone else will read the verse for Bess if she gets it and she will repeat all or part of it aloud.

Well, now it is time for me to go and join my family so that we can light the second purple candle, sing our hymns (Away in a Manger and O Little Town of Bethlehem) and have our nightly reading (from Jotham's Journey and Scripture - Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:1-7, Micah 5:2, and Isaish 40:31. The secret verse that one of the children will get will be Micah 5:2). If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I’ll try to post a list of Advent resources soon.

Be...Steadfast, Immovable, Abounding

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the LORD, knowing that in the LORD your labor is not in vain. -1 Corinthians 15:58

To those who work for HIM know that your labor is NOT in vain.

Thank you!

An Amen

Another Morning Prayer from Psalm 104

May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
May the LORD rejoice in His works,
Who looks on the earth and it trembles,
Who touches the mountains and they smoke!

I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to Him, for I rejoice in the LORD.

Bless the Lord, O my soul! Praise the LORD!
-from Psalm 104:31-35 (ESV)

Morning Prayer

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
Give me understanding, and I will keep your law, and obey it with all my heart.
Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
That which I see not teach thou me; if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.
-Psalm 119:18, 34; 25:4-5 and Job 34:32 KJV

HFBC

So where do I go to church? You can see for yourself here every Sunday at 9:10 am, 10:45 am, or 6:30 pm. This week our pastor is finishing up a series on the Birds and the Bees.

May you be blessed.

P.S. If you happen to be in Houston, Texas either visiting or looking for a church home, please stop by and visit my Sunday School class. We meet at 9:10 am in room 321 and would be blessed to have you visit us. (My husband is the teacher so I am usually easy to find and I’d love to meet you.)

P.P.S. Yes, I love my church!

P.P.P.S. Right now I'm home with sick kids...and missing it terribly. But, I can tune in right now (at 10:45 am - my normal service) and not miss a thing. Yea! And so can you...Do it...just do it. You won't regret it. Achh! I love it so much I could cry.