Resurrection Sunday Recap

It’s seems almost too late to be doing this, but I thought I’d share a little of our Easter with you on this Fresh Friday. 

Let me just say up front that I am not anti eggs, bunnies, and candy when it comes Easter.  I’ve had several people over the last month ask (very respectfully) if we “do” those sorts of things in our family.  The answer is yes… sort of.  Yes, I have window clings on our deck sliders that have bunnies, flowers, and eggs all over.  Yes, at Easter dinner each person had a little treat bag full of Easter candy.  Yes, Jadon did have an Easter basket (ever since his first Easter at 10 days old!).  We did all that. 

Some of you reading this may be from the perspective that there’s no harm in placing an emphasis on the Easter bunny.  (We don’t.)  Others of you may be from the perspective that if it’s not directly related to Christ and the cross then it shouldn’t be celebrated with Easter.  The bottom line for my husband and me is this: Above all else, the emphasis of Easter must be the cross and nothing should else should distract from that truth.  Our desire is to see our son anticipate celebrating the resurrection of our Savior more than what the Easter bunny brought him.

This is ideal for us, but it isn’t easy; and to be honest I had a very difficult time with this leading up to Easter.  How do I get my two year old to understand that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the price for his sins and then conquered death by rising again on the third day?  How do I get him to understand that this was significant because Christ made the way possible for us to have a relationship with God, to be called a child of God, to be declared righteous in God’s eyes?  Part of me wondered how worthwhile it would even be at this point.  Maybe I should just worry about this next year… Or the year after?  It was then that I realized a couple of things. 

The first thing that I realized was that God is in ultimately in control of my son’s heart and mind.  There’s no magic age at which my husband and I should make a more conscience effort to share the gospel with our son.  In Matthew 19, when Jesus called the children unto him, Scripture doesn’t give any indication as to how old these children were.  Their age was apparently insignificant.  Their knowing Christ was extremely significant.  So, I’ll do my best to share Christ with my son, even at his young age.

The second thing I realized was that God can (and did) use these family moments of celebrating all that Christ accomplished through his death and resurrection (and the hope of his return!) to edify Mom and Dad.  We all need be reminded of and relish in the work of the cross.  It’s so amazing that we should never be too grown up to think, talk, or thank God for it!

That said, I don’t have an incredible list of amazingly creative things that we did to celebrate Easter as a family.  In fact… I really only have one thing.  Yup.  That’s it.  On Saturday evening (the day before Easter), the three of us gathered up a recipe, baking ingredients, and a Bible and made Resurrection Cookies together.  If you’ve never made these before you’re not missing out on the best cookie you’ve ever had, but you are missing out on a cross-centered family moment.  With each ingredient we placed in the bowl, we read Scripture and discussed the significance of Christ's resurrection.  Once the cookies are placed in the oven, the door is closed and the oven is turned off.  The “tomb” is sealed with tape and we wait until morning to open the door to see the surprise that we have in store for us.  As fun as all this was, the best part was waking up on Resurrection Sunday to hear my son saying “tomb” (and of course “cookies”).  Upon going downstairs, he immediately ran to the oven.  I know he mostly wanted the cookies, but to me it was evidence of his beginning to understand something deeper.  We weren’t just talking about cookies.  We were talking about Christ. 

Eater morning... waiting for our Resurrection cookies

The finished product!

What a great way to start our Resurrection Sunday!

The rest of our Resurrection Sunday was spent with our church family in the morning, and friends and family throughout the rest of the day.  It was a wonderful day of rejoicing in Christ’s act of redemption on the cross.  I’m amazed by the love of my great Savior and all that he has given me.  

~ Carrie ~

“Come People of the Risen King”

Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”

At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”  They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’?  We don’t understand what he is saying.”

Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I mean when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’?  Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices.  You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.  A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that child is born into the world.  So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.  In that day you will no longer ask me anything.  Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.  Until now you have not asked for anything in my name.  Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

“Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father.  In that day you will ask in my name.  I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf.  No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.  I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech.  Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions.  This makes us believe that you came from God.”

“Do you now believe?” Jesus replied.  “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home.  You will leave me all alone.  Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”

John 16: 16-33

I hope your Resurrection Sunday was a day of remembrance, rejoicing, and relationship with our Risen Savior!  Whether your “joy is morning sun” or if you are “weeping through the night… His perfect love will never change, and His mercies never cease”.  Continue celebrating the hope and peace of our Risen King each and every day. 

~ Carrie ~

2 Thumbs Up

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  For it is written:

   “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
   the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law?  Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.  Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.  It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.  Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 1:18-31 
 

How Awesome is that Day to Me

It’s official… Holy Week is here - beginning with Palm Sunday yesterday, continuing with many events throughout the week, and concluding with Easter Sunday.  I am in love with all the colors that this season and week bring - all the greens, yellows, pinks, and purples are so cheery!  This week, however, I’m trying to focus less on flowers and food preparations and more on making Holy Week holy unto the Lord, as John Piper so aptly put it.  (Check out his Desiring God blog for recommended readings during Holy Week.)
 
Besides church yesterday, our family also had the opportunity to participate in a “Journey to the Cross” event at our church.  This was a very meaningful time of reflection on the events leading up to and including the death and resurrection of Christ.  We had a simple stew meal together and then individuals or families made their way through 13 stations throughout the church in which there was some sort of visual or tangible display and a Scripture reading.  At each station we were encouraged to focus on and pray about different areas of application for each of these events.  It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced and I am truly grateful for the opportunity to have participated in it. 

As I have continued this morning to ponder the final events in the life of Christ leading up to his death and resurrection, and as I have been planning out a few things that I personally will be concentrating on, I came across this poem that I thought was so fitting for this week.  I hope this is on the forefront of your mind and is the prayer of your heart this week. 

How awesome is that day to me-
O day of hallowed history!
Set time in God’s determined plan
To sacrifice the Son of Man.
What famous work that day was done
By Jesus Christ, His Perfect Son!
The Second Adam, sent to save,
Humbly obeying to the grave!

How savage is that day to me-
O day of pure brutality!
When Christ, the Son of God Most High,
Was fiercely whipped and hung to die.
And O the horror of my sin,
Seen there in His appalling skin!
For God struck down- as meant for me-
The sinless One, at Calvary.

How precious is that day to me-
O day of purchased liberty!
In Him, a freeman now I live;
My sins, through death, did God forgive.
No wrath at length looms o’er my head,
But lovingkindness there instead.
His righteousness, my guilt replaced,
And Love, this ransomed soul embraced!

O awesome, savage, precious day-
‘Tis God the Savior on display!
What peerless, holy, gracious Mind
Would fashion such a Grand Design?

Kevin Hartnett works for NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, overseeing the science operations activities of the mission. He was selected in 2003 from a thousand candidates as the “Poet of the Year” by the Fellowship of Christian Poets.

Have a blessed Holy Week!

~ Carrie ~

My Primitive Pick

It's a miserably rainy day here and I've recently gotten all of my spring decorations up (which isn't much), so my primitive pick for today is...

Spring Decor!!

Sounds a little generic, I know, but decorating for has always been difficult for me (I'll explain why), so I wanted to lay out a few things that I've learned on how to decorate for spring.  

So what's so hard about decorating for spring?  Pull out some bunnies, eggs, and flowers and that's it.  Or is it?  If you have a very specific decor in your home, especially a very specific color palette, then you (like me) may have a hard time figuring out how to include some spring colors and decorations without it totally contrasting the rest of your home.  My living room, dining room, and kitchen are all mostly made up of neutrals (thankfully), but I do have some things that get in my way: a wine-colored recliner, a deep red color under the chair rail in the dining room, and a big sage green jelly cabinet (to name a few).  The things I decorate with cannot clash with these pieces because they are all so BIG!  So... here are a few suggestions (along with a link to where you can find a few of these things, since I don't have pictures for everything).  

1.  Glass - Bring in the light, whether it's a mirror, an old window pane, or some pitchers or other glass serving-type pieces.  Put it on display in a prominent place in your home - on a shelf, an entry-way wall, a mantel, or the table.  

Country Sampler

2.  Garden Items - You may not be able to get out and do much yard work yet, so why not bring the great outdoors in.  Decorate with some watering cans that match your existing decor, clay flower pots (with/without flowers in them, maybe even nested somehow), faux birds (can be found in a huge variety of colors, textures, and sizes), and birdhouses.  

Country Sampler

3.  Baskets - Since I've recently discussed baskets, I'll simply say this... Wicker or woven baskets in particular are nice this time of year because of their resemblance to nests and tree branches.  So if you haven't included more baskets in your decor yet, now is the time!

Pottery Barn

4.  Flowers - A few flowers in some strategic places go a long way.  For me, these places are my entryway (where people enter my home) and the dining room table.  Wherever the focal points of your home are, flowers easily brighten (and warm) up a stuffy, cold house once spring is on the way.  My particular choice is daffodils for two reasons: 1) I can get a small bunch of them from my grocery store for $1.99 and they are more than worth the money; and 2) They come in yellow or white, so if you want the ambiance of the flowers but can't handle the yellow in your decor, go for white.  There are, however, numerous other springtime flowers to choose from.  

Country Sampler

So, this is all I've learned so far.  Any other suggestions would be marvelous.  Stay tuned for some pictures of some pictures of my house with a few spring decorations.  For now, I think I'll wait to until the sun comes out before taking any.  

Check out the Flower and Craft Warehouse Outdoor and Easter sections for some of these very things that I've suggested... at really great prices, too!

~ Carrie ~