easter weekend

Friday night we went to church and had a wonderful service. Our pastor shared the story of Jesus' death from the viewpoint of Peter. It was very engaging. I'm not sure how much the kids got, but they sat still and seemed to be paying attention the whole time.

Then we were invited to tack a red rose petal on the cross. This was to represent our sins. Zachary thought that they needed to put one up for each sin. We decided that we would each fill a whole cross, so we would only put up one for all of our own sins. This was a very powerful lesson for my boys. Quinlan wondered why there were so many sinners at our church- it took so long for everyone to take their turn.

Saturday my mom and I hid eggs in the living room while the kids were out fishing with Greg. It was so funny when Veronica found one and wondered what it was. Pretty soon everyone was running around trying to find them all! We also spent some time coloring eggs and putting stickers on them. While they were drying, I sent everyone outside to draw their favorite part of easter on the sidewalk. Zachary had two favorite parts- When Jesus died on the cross for his sins and when he rose from the tomb. Quinlan's favorite part was when Jesus came back to life. Veronica mumbled too much for me to figure out what she had drawn.

Sunday we went to church and had the easter message. The red petals we had put on the cross were now white! Jesus had made our sins clean! Everyone read the story one more time in Sunday school, too. We had a brunch after the service, and it was amazing how quickly the auditorium turned into a dining hall with everyone working together.

My favorite part of easter was before dinner on Saturday night. Greg was gone when we were ready to start, and all of the kids wanted to pray. So, I let them pray one by one. Each of them thanked God for the things they had done that day and the yummy food. But my boys were also thankful for Jesus dying on the cross for their sins. They were thankful that he did not stay dead, but had come back to life. They were thankful that they will get to go to heaven to be with Him. I was thankful that they are understanding the message of the gospel- that we are sinners and God is perfect, but Christ has come to build a bridge back to God, and we only have to believe and confess it to return home.

My Savior, My God by Aaron Shust is a song we sang on Sunday. I've been listening to it over and over today, reflecting on all that Christ has done.