He is risen! He is risen indeed!

HOPPY EASTER!!!!

Oh my goodness!  It's here!  It's here!  It's here!  My second most favorite holiday of all time! EASTER!  Why yes, I do believe I'll have some chocolate bunny ears for breakfast, thank you.  Why yes, I am going to eat half the jelly beans while I fill all of the plastic eggs for my kids' baskets.  Welllllll... most of them, anyway.  I am going to giggle like a kid while I watch my little ones on an egg hunt and I am going to have a blast dying eggs.  Sigh.  I love Easter.

As much as I love chocolate, candy, and silly family traditions, that's not why I love this holiday so much.  I love Easter because... It is finished.

Just a few short months ago, we celebrated the birth of our Savior and King.  God made manifest in a tiny babe; humbled to live life as a human.  He did it and He did it perfectly.  He knew the horrific and painful death that awaited him yet, He went willingly to the cross.  He suffered the death I deserve.  He did it in my place.

On Good Friday, I dress in all black and I dress our children in all black, too.  It's an easy object lesson for them and a good reminder for me.  Wearing black, for me, is a sign of mourning and a sign of the love and respect I have for my Savior.  On Friday, we mourn and we reflect.  Thank God that's not where the story ends.

On Sunday morning, our Savior rose triumphantly in perfect fulfillment of scripture.  Everything that tiny baby came to do was finished.  Because of His gift, we have the promise of eternal life.  I do not fear my death; I know where I am going. What a thing to celebrate!

I've said over and over and over again in this blog... You can find Jesus anywhere if you CHOOSE to put Him there.  So, yes, we do celebrate Easter in the secular sense, too.  Chocolate bunnies, baskets, and tacky plastic grass, included.  Our children are taught what Easter is, why it's important, and THEN... IN SECOND PLACE... the bunny thing.  While we totally respect that many Christian families have chosen to do away with Santa, the Easter Bunny, and Tooth Fairy, we have not.  I believe that these things are a matter of christian freedom and there is no right or wrong answer. Each family should discuss what their motivation is in such matters, pray, and come to a decision that's right for them.  With that being said, if you are a family like ours, one that may be looking for ideas to teach kids to prioritize the season, here are some things we do:
 

•  We regularly attend church, study scripture, and discuss our Savior.  The Holy Spirit works in the tiniest of hearts and if I ask my 3 year old right now, "What's Easter?" I am confident the bunny won't be the first thing she brings up.
• The day revolves around going to worship.  We wear our best, most special clothing to honor Jesus; much like you would if any distinguished person were coming to visit.  I'm not insinuating that you need to spend all kinds of money.  We bought our kids' outfits used.  It isn't about it being new or fancy; it's about wearing our best because God gave His best.  For some people, that might mean you wear your very best play clothes :)  God looks at the heart. 
•  We do allow our kids to search the house for their Easter baskets and we include a note which reads, "Find the empty egg! It's there to remind you of the empty tomb and the gift God gave." Obviously, we have a mess of filled, plastic eggs in their baskets and there is 1 which remains empty.  As a side benefit... no jelly beans to pick out of the previously mentioned, wonderfully tacky, Easter grass. ;)   
•  My mom is our "cake lady".  She makes the most beautiful and tasty cakes EVER.  She puts so much effort and love into them and I think that's what's the most special.  Each year on Good Friday or Holy Saturday, she bakes a special "Lamb Cake" with my kids.  We talk about how Jesus is our perfect lamb and the symbolism behind it.  It's a special tradition that I know they will come to appreciate more and more each year.

I hope these few ideas bring some inspiration to your Easter celebrations!  I've included a photo of my "Empty Egg" note cards below.

Happy Easter.  He is risen.  He is risen indeed!

Alyssa

St. Patrick's Day Shenanigans

   By Now, I'm sure you all realize that my faith is important to me.  In fact, my Savior is THE most important thing to me with my husband, family, and friends right behind.  I don't believe in luck, destiny, or chance; I believe in God's divine plan.  I saw something once that really stuck with me: "I have a God not a genie.".  So, for that reason, I really struggle with what St. Patrick's Day.

   We simply don't believe in luck.  We've even gone so far as to remove that term from our vocabulary.  We don't say, "Oh my goodness!  You're so lucky you get to go on that vacation!".  Instead we say, "Oh my goodness!  What a blessing that you get to go on that vacation!"  It might be excessive to some people but for us, it is a matter of living our faith and maybe in a small way, letting our light shine.

   With all that being said, we ARE decendants of Irish immigrants. My mother-in-law's family is Irish and in my ancestry, an Irish boy was adopted into our family.  I think it's important that our children realize where they came from, how our family came to live here, that it is a privilege and not a right, that it was earned through sacrifice and we are only here in the U.S. by of the grace of God and the hard-work of people before us.  This is worth celebrating.

   I decided we will use the day as an opportunity for such a discussion with our oldest AND for an opportunity to have a little silly fun... without the word "luck".  Most of my ideas below are totally, 100% lifted from another mom; one whom I really admire. Our next-door neighbors growing up were AWESOME.  My parents still live next door to this wonderful family and I really miss them when we go without seeing one another for a spell.  They are the family that would, and have, dropped everything to help their friends.  Raising a child takes a village and they are absolutely part of mine! They are devoted to their faith, family, and friends and their children have grown in to wonderful, contributing members of society.  If Adam and I do half as well, we will be really... blessed... see what I did there???  haha

   Here's what we will be dong on the 17th:

• Green outfits
• I'll surprise the kids with green milk - food coloring kind, not the science project kind...
• Green pancakes for breakfast
• I'll use green food coloring in the potty
• I'll change some of the light bulbs to green ones for a surprise as the day goes on
• Mommy will have a green beer... or two...

I hope you enjoy celebrating the holiday!

Cheers,

Alyssa