I have a 3 year old and a 7 month old, so I haven't had a lot of time to reflect on this holiday's meaning.
I know that Jesus died for us and he took away all of our sins with the Cross and I know that he came back to life and rose again.
I am completely unsure of how to explain any of this to Little Girl.
I start to talk about Easter and all that we are doing that is traditions and food and fun and all that jazz, and then, I want to talk to her about the REAL meaning of this special holiday and somehow - with Easter - I simply fall short.
I can't get much past that......Jesus Loves Us and therefore he.......well..............he.......what he did was........
Yeah.
So, maybe I am terrible, but I haven't really told her anything yet. I don't think she can comprehend such a BIG sacrifice and/or even what a sacrifice is - or what dyeing is - or what coming back to life means - and taking away our sins.
Hmmmmm.
Anybody else out there with me or could I get some great advice on sharing this Holiday with Little Girl?
Ok. So I'll be waiting on this "help" from you all, because I know there is advice out there to be given, so lay it on me.
Until then - I got some really cute photos of the kids this weekend. There are plenty more to come because we are starting all the traditions today - Easter Egg Hunt, coloring eggs, opening Easter baskets and all that good stuff.
I'm also totally looking forward to our service tomorrow. David was a huge part in our Easter Production and it's going to be awesome. All I can tell you is they are using "Cardboard Testimonies" in the service tomorrow and some powerful video of a particular women's testimony of her life changed through Christ.
There is nothing like seeing and hearing and experiencing miraculous transformation - all at the hand of our Saviour. The world doesn't offer it. It's only through HIM.
Look at this creation Aunt Jenn made for Little Girl. It's a garden with oreo "dirt" and cupcake "flowers" and fondant "bugs". She put little jelly beans all throughout the dirt for LG to do an Egg Hunt. So cute!!
6 comments:
I do have "help"! Or at least a suggestion... lol Did I not tell you what I thought of to teach the kids about Easter's real meaning and what Jesus did for us on Easter Sunday? Remind me this week and I will tell you. It was a big hit at our house this year! A new tradition!
I want to hear Carli's advice too! We tried to tell Reagan. She just asks question after question, most of them involving...but WHY did Jesus have to die? It is a hard thing to explain to a 4-year-old. I don't even KNOW all the answers to the questions she comes up with! You'll have to tell me your friend's idea! BTW, loved your pix!
Two suggestions: 1. Rusurection eggs and 2. Resurection cookies.
Both are good tools to start the conversations. That's what is important at 4. Just introduce them to the story and most importantly tell them God did it BECAUSE HE LOVES THEM. As years pass you will be able to build on these small conversations. This is our most important parenting job- to disciple our kids in God's word. Woo them to the Savior.
You need to post Carli's advice! I started to talk to them about it but they are so young and it would just go right over their heads. I did talk to them about sacrifice and what it means. I used it in terms of their most favorite toy.
Ok ok...Kara requested I post this... even though I am so going to put a patent on this idea... I will share!!!
My oldest son was complaining that little kids didn't get the real reason for Easter and that the Easter bunny stuff was pointless. He got my mind churning ,I mean, little kids can't really "get" Easter can they? But... do they really need to believe in some bunny rabbit that magically leaves eggs and candy? um.. NO! So,I prayed about it and an idea came to me in my sleep... literally! This is a tangible way for the kids to "see" the idea of sin and how it was taken by Jesus...and how he leaves us with a promise... and it still keeps Easter fun for the kids without the focus on some dumb Bunny! It also leads into deeper discussion for the kids as they get older! Take a box... (I would like to use a nice wood box or something but we used a shoe box this year because of lack of time/resources) and, depending on the ages of your children, take pieces of paper or rocks and each day name off some sin or sins you each have committed and put the "sins" (paper/rocks) in the box. For the older kids you may want to do this all thru lent... for little kids maybe just a week before Easter or even Good Friday and saturday! And it can be simple... like my 4 year old saying "I hit my brother" "I didn't listen to Mommy"... He knew what to do! Everyone in our family participated. By the end of your time frame the box will be pretty full of "sin". I explained to my kids that this is just a teensy weensy amount of the sin we commit over our lifetime... and Jesus loves us so much he took it ALL for the WHOLE world. (but seeing just that little bit in the box made them realize how much sin can accumulate quickly) Anywho... after the box is full we place in on the table on saturday night before bed and tell the kids we have to wait to see what happens to it. On Sunday morning, the box (representing the tomb) is empty of the sin (because Jesus took it all).... and full of the promises/treasures of heaven. Which in our case was movies and a little candy and some fun things. Then we explained about Jesus dying for our sins and how he took them away so that we could have the promise of heaven. My littlest kids are 6, 4, and 2 and 8 mos... and (besides the baby)... they got the idea. They ARE too little to understand death really and even resurrection... but at least for now they can understand that Jesus took all the naughty things we do and made them all better and good. For now, at these ages... I think that is enough. As they grow older and have a better grasp of the world and how it works... the whole death thing will come into play. In my opinion, it's waayyy better than waiting on some dumb bunny! They totally didn't even mention the bunny once... they were perfectly excited about their treasure box... and Mommy feels good about that!
One thing I tried this year was the resurrection eggs. I purchased them from Family Christian Bookstore. Andrew really enjoying learning about the items in the eggs. It came with a story book to help explain each egg. They are probably on clearance now that Easter is over.
Post a Comment