Have you ever felt like the “Queen of the Afterthought”? I have a friend that regularly accuses herself of this, and most of the time, I am right there with her. My saving grace is that I happen to be married to the “King of the Forethought”. Problem is if he fails to read my mind, I can be left watching a day or special event unfold thinking “Shoot, if only I had thought of that a week ago and been more prepared.” This is honestly how I usually feel on Easter. I know it should be my favorite holiday for all the significance of it but I am usually left scrambling. Scrambling to find outfits that work for the many different temperatures that Easter can be…Scrambling to find meaningful Easter Basket stuffers that aren’t completely dosed with sugar…And most unfortunately, scrambling to make my kids understand that Easter is ALL about Jesus.
However on Palm Sunday, I felt a strong tugging on my heart to do things differently this year. I was feeling a lot of pressure to entertain the kiddos over their spring break with different activity ideas but kept coming up empty. When our pastor mentioned it being “Passion Week”, I quickly realized it was about time that I became passionate about Passion Week. What better way to spend the gift of a school-less week before Easter with my kids but to make it super fun and ALL about Jesus! So to Pinterest I went. I deny any and all traces of craftiness. Thank goodness for easy access to everyone else’s creativity!
On Sunday night, I unveiled our Passion Week banner which would guide us through our week with a Resurrection Egg to open, a scripture for us to read and an activity to enjoy together each day.
A few of the highlights…..{Click on photo for appropriate links}
Making Peep Wreaths with our Best Friends
Baking Resurrection Rolls
Enjoying and Sharing the Jelly Bean Prayer
Hunting for Eggs with our Neighbor Friends
And then our Church Friends
Taking in the Monuments of Washington, DC and the Cherry Blossoms in full bloom by Sea
Reading the Passion Story from our Bibles and this ol’ favorite
As we put the kids on the bus to return to school this Simply Tuesday, I was mixed with emotions. Part of me was still recovering from the Disappointment of Death with help from the Empty Tomb. Part was eager to get back to routine. Part was hopeful for what the last 56 days of school will bring (most notably–Summer!). I am always nervous about entrusting them to someone else’s care for 7.5 hours of the day. But mostly I was grateful, so grateful for the time we had together this past week and the memories we got to make as a family. And hopefully we are ALL a little a more passionate about Passion Week because of it!