Friday, February 08, 2008

Lent/Resurrection Day Celebrations

I would love to hear how some of you celebrate the church season of Lent. I've shared before that I was not raised with a liturgical calendar. Adding Advent to our traditions has greatly helped us to keep our focus on Christ at Christmas.

I've started to wonder.....if something similar would happen if we added some Lent traditions to our family. We've never done the Easter Bunny, eggs etc. We've not done Lent either. It seems that Easter sneaks up on us each year. I know the Lent season has begun when we have the "chapel cleaning" and when the Catholics have a pancake race. ::snort:: NO OFFENSE MEANT - it looked like a lot of fun.... I've never been one to fast according to the calendar - but then again, I do have a regular fast that God has called me to undertake. In other words - I know that many give up something for Lent - and I understand why. Others choose to enjoy the blessings of God with thanksgiving rather than fast - and I understand why. I'm not looking for debate. I'm wanting to learn from those of you who celebrate Lent what you do and how it enhances your appreciation of Christ's sacrifice and celebration of His resurrection.

We plan to have a Seder meal this year. It's so easy for the meaning of the seasons to get lost in a busy pastor/chaplain's family....and I'm wanting to stop that trend. We've done the Resurrection Eggs for years. Michelle mentioned she bought Benjamin's Box. Have others of you used that? How have you used it? What else do you do? Any traditions that have been either particularly meaningful or fun for your family?

Update - we've also made Resurrection Rolls when the older children were little. That presented a meaningful picture.

If you are interested in more discussion of this be sure to click "email responses to me" in the comment section or stop by here, and you can read all replies. I'm praying through this, and of course, will share as we go about our celebration of Christ's Sacrifice and Resurrection.

I still have up our "Jesus" stocking for catching others doing Christ-like deeds. It fits with this season. I saw this set at Oriental Trading and am considering it may serve as an easy way to keep the season in front of the kids - as a nativity does.

We are praying and thinking and moving ahead. We don't want to invest in "Jesus Junk" and we are very allergic to legalism, but Mike and I are both on the same page about focusing on Christ's GIFT and RESURRECTION for more than a week before Easter.

2nd Update - I stopped in at the Family Christian Bookstore armed with a list of books I hoped to see and buy. They had NONE of them. They DID have the Resurrection eggs. I asked about Lent/Easter resources, and they told me they don't have their Easter stuff out and won't put it out until after Valentine's Day. I'm starting to see why Protestant's don't celebrate Easter for more than one day. ::snort:: WELL, you know me, I can't leave well enough alone. I asked WHAT resources they would be putting out? EASTER CARDS and candy. "Um....any resources to build excitement in my children as we move towards Jesus' Resurrection?" - No, none. I plan to call and talk to the manager. I'm hoping that the clerks today simply aren't in the loop. OH WAIT - They did have a Veggie Tales dvd "An Easter Carol" with Rebecca St. James as one of the voices I figured it has to have a Christian message in it. That was it....a veggie tale DVD and the Resurrection Eggs.
I'm seriously talking to Mike and Jamin tonight about writing a story such as Jotham's Journey for THIS season. I know they could do it well. I'm not sure it will done by THIS year - but maybe next year. Mike could write devotionals we'd agree with ::snort::, and Jamin is an exciting story teller. I'd like to see an exciting adventure with children working up to Passover/Crucifixion/Resurrection/Great Commission/Ascension....hmmmm WHERE WOULD YOU STOP??????
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27 comments:

Debbie said...

I also will be interested in hearing what others do.

We have done the Resurrection Eggs and Benjamin's Box. We use it mainly as a witnessing tool for our unsaved family members. We bring it to our family Easter dinner and read the book and go through the eggs for the children present. It has been an unconfrontational way to get the gospel to them...at least once a year!

Michelle said...

De'Etta, I look forward to hearing from others too. Prior to Ash Wednesday we encourage the children to think and pray about what improvements God would like to see in them. Then we sit down as a family to discuss what we'll fast from during Lent (whether it's sweets, eating out, computer, T.V., video games, etc.) Then we also talk about what things we'll add: more prayer time (as a family and/or personal prayer time), volunteering someplace as a family, visiting elderly members of our church or at a nursing home, attending mass more frequently (say 3 times a week instead of 1)etc.. Each Friday during Lent we abstain from meat, we attend Stations of the Cross at church on Friday evenings(these can also be done at home and if you'd like resources just let me know). Each evening we have Lenten devotions by lighting candles in accordance with what week of Lent we're in (Advent candles work well) in a cross shaped candle holder that looks like a log. Each evening a Lenten reflection is read aloud and then we sing the "Stabat Mater" (Sorrowful Mother). During each day of Lent we read a chapter from A Family Journey with Jesus through Lent by Angela M. Burrin. It's similar to Jotham's Journey in that it's read everyday and tells a story from a child's perspective. This year we're doing a Lenten tree--for each good deed and sacrifice the children make we put a heart piece of felt on the tree. This isn't meant to be prideful but as a source of encouragement for the littles. There are many other things we do but I fear my comment is too long already. :)

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Michelle, no your comment is not to long.

So the "Lent Candles" are like the Advent Candles/Wreath?

Is "Family Journey with Jesus Through Lent" specifcally Catholic or would Protestant families be comfortable with it too? I was hoping to find a book like Jotham's Journey set around this season - but I've not found it. Would this be similar?

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Thanks, Debbie. I'm hoping for lots of suggestions too. I suddenly realized that there are lots of Protestant resources to celebrate Christ's birth - but it seems there should be the same amount or emphasis on his sacrifice and resurrection.

If I am understanding correctly Benjamin's Box isn't really a "daily read" like Jotham but could be read in one or two sittings? It goes along with the eggs? We usually just do them one a night leading up to Easter....or one year we had a hunt with them and then discussed each symbol and aspect of the story as the kids found the eggs. We DO like a good scavenger hunt. ::snort::

Herd Momma said...

Ok. I e-mailed and now have read comments. Michelle! I am also Catholic and am totally impressed with all you do. Want an inspiration to me. Thanks. I think my kids need a tree or chain or bush..for good deeds too! Also, I love the candle idea. Did you come up with this or is this something a local Christian or Catholic bookstore would have. We have Trudos here and they carry alot of resource books, rosaries etc..... Anyway, Thanks again. Thanks D'Etta for asking and all the wonderful ideas. I so want to check into this Benjamin's Box. We have Easter Dinner and Egg hunt here at our house with my family and Tom's brother's family. I love it! THis year I wanted to be sure and bring in the whole Resurrection Real meaning of Easter thing and not so much focus on the Bunny. THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Herd Momma said...

This is another comment post so I could remember to check the e-mail follow up comments.
Amy

Anonymous said...

Sis:

love the way the shadow is cast across Jared's legs. Reminded me at first glance of how Mom use to roll her stockings. :):):):) Guess i need to look to the faces first before looking at the rest of a foto. :):)

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Amy - I updated the post a bit to include a few other things we've done in years' past. Great idea to set to receive comments - I added that as well. I'm hoping folks share lots of great tips.

Michelle said...

De'Etta, you are correct--we use the Lenten cross just like the Advent wreath only there are six candles--one for each week of Lent. Then for Easter the purple/pink candles are exchanged for one whites. For the fifty days of Easter we have light the white candles and read aloud meditations specifically for Easter.

I do think this book is similar to Jotham's Journey. A chapter is read each day from the perspective of a child. There is a prayer, a scripture verse to memorize and then a part where it is to be read as if Jesus is speaking to the child/children being read to.

"A Family Journey with Jesus Through Lent" is Catholic. In the Introduction of the book there is mention of Vatican II and how our families are called to be the "domestic church." That parents are "the first herald of the gospel for their children," The scripture references in the book are taken from the gospels. The only thing I saw that a Protestant may not be familiar with is for the readings during Holy Week is that each day covers one of the Stations of the Cross (Jesus falls carrying his cross, Jesus meets His mother, etc.) Oh, I just remembered there is one mention of the Sacrament of Baptism, one mention of how some people are called to be priests or religious and one mention of confession. I wish I lived closer, I'd loan you the book to look at. Amazon.com does have a return policy so if you decided the book wasn't a good fit for your family you could return it.

Oh, I made a Lenten wreath to hang upon our door. Everything on it is symbolic--black ribbon for mourning, silver coins, wheat stalks, grapes, a crown of thorns. I'll take a photo of it and post it to my blog under Lenten decorations.

Michelle said...

Amy, I'm so glad you found our family traditions helpful. :)

I've seen the cross candle in Protestant stores as well as Catholic ones but we got ours from a local thrift store. :)

Have you done the Easter Story cookies and Resurrection Rolls with your children before? Also, check out this site for some easy to make and beautiful Icons for Holy Week and the Sundays of Lent. It's here: http://www.paideaclassics.org/index.php?sid=&cart_id=&show=book&ref=1555 AND here: http://www.paideaclassics.org/index.php?sid=&cart_id=&show=book&ref=1556 We made the ones for Advent and they were super easy and gave a great way to talk more about the season.

Renee said...

http://reneesuz.blogspot.com/2008/02/lent.html

You inspired me to start an entry about Lent. I hope to add more to it but it's a start. I also have the Resurrection Eggs that we will use during Holy Week.

Renee

Romany said...

DeEtta,

We've had a traditional Passover meal for several years now on the Thurs before Easter and have found it such an instructive, convicting and beautiful ceremony, nothing legalistic at all. We do it because we want to understand God more, not because we have to.

There's not much else Lenteny or Easterish that we do, though I've often wished Mr Ytreeide (sp?) woud write a great book for Lent!

During the lead up to last Easter, however, God provided us with a wonderful 'co-incidence'. We were reading through the book of John and 'The Victor' by Patricia St John'. What a wonderful combination, so timely for Easter.

The Victor! What a fabulous book, by a fantastic author! I can't praise it enough.

Linda said...

We are so like you guys in this regard. Easter just seems to sneak up on us! I think it's the weariness of getting over Thanksgiving/Christmas hoopla as well as the winter blahs school-wise. We've also done many of these things over the years (Resurrection eggs and rolls) but nothing year after year as we do for Christmas. I loved Michelle's wreath and candle-thingy. I went to her blog to see pics and copy instructions. Looking forward to any other ideas. Oh, and I loved this comment you made, "We don't want to invest in "Jesus Junk" and we are very allergic to legalism". I'm right there with you, sister! :-)

Debbie said...

De'Etta,
I was looking through my shelves today and came across a book that I had gotten on PBS right after Easter last year called Family Celebrations at Easter, by Ann Hibbard. I had forgotten that I had this.

It looks great and I may start doing it even though we would be a few days behind. There are devotionsals for each day of Lent.

Each day has a section of scripture, discussion questions, a brief "final thoughts", prayer and hymns to sing. There is also a secton for further study for adults.

There is a chapter for family Easter celebration, Passover info with set up and recipes and one called Passover for the Christian.

In the back there is a chapter on making an Easter Tree that is similar to the Jesse Tree idea with symbols appropriate for Easter and in the very back, hymns.

This books looks very good and I am so glad I happened to be looking through my shelves today.

berrypatch said...

I bought a book last year or the year before but never used it. I pulled it out in time to use it this year. :-)
I bought it from a seller at Amazon. It's called Family Devotions: Celebrate Jesus! at Easter by Kimberly Ingalls Reese. I heard about it somewhere out there. :-)
I am really enjoying it. The first reading is set to go on Lent & then one read daily. It's not a story though. They are devotions. Each day is set up with a a prayer, then a Bible reading, followed by a "Think About It" section which is about the Bible reading (very thought provoking IMHO but not over the boys heads), a hymn to sing (including the sheet music), an activity to do, and finally another prayer.
I think my boys just tolerate it but they do sit quietly & listen - even when I sing the hymn.
I'm enjoying it at least. :-)
They did decide to "fast" from TV on Thursdays from now until Easter. I'm also fasting from my much loved soda (yikes!) and sweets.
I would recommend the book though! :-)

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

**traditional Passover meal for several years now **

We plan to begin this THIS year and I'm excited about it. I think it will go a long way to slowing the season down for us.

**often wished Mr Ytreeide (sp?) woud write a great book for Lent!

THIS is just what I'm looking for and sadly not finding.....so...I'm talking to Mike and Jamin tonight about working together to write a book that would have a story from the perspective of children that see the passover/crucifixition/resurrection/ascension.....Mike could easily do devotionals and Jamin is an exciting story teller. UNLESS someone can tell me where there is another book like this. LOL

**'The Victor' by Patricia St John'.

I'm not sure I have this book but I know we have several of her books and have loved them all. I'll check. Thanks for the tip.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Thanks for the link Renee - I'll go check it out.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

LOL Linda - I've not seen Michelle's posts on Lent yet - but I shall go check it out.

I think it is possible for us to develop our own traditions that will fit with our convictions and not be legalistic but build excitement and thankfulness for Chris't gift on the cross. That's my goal.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Debbie - I just hopped over to PBS and requested a copy of this book. LOL I think I have one by the same author for Christmas - but I pack those away at the end of the season. LOL I really should remember to inventory some year. LOL Thanks for the tip.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Thanks for the tip, Lisa.

Michelle said...

De'Etta,
I checked Arnold Ytreeide's website earlier today and there was mention of an out of print Easter story book similar in style to Jotham's Journey. On a brighter note, the Advent trilogy will be in print again in time for this Advent season.

I think it's a terrific idea for your family to write your own story. One request--I'd love to have a copy please! Just let me know when it goes to press. :)

Suggestion: timeframe for the books: one book from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday. The second book from Easter Sunday until Pentecost to celebrate the fifty days of Easter.

Maybe the local Christian store didn't have much Lenten/Easter mechandise but they aren't big planners like some homeschool moms. ;) Seriously, retailers have no problem with putting out Halloween and Christmas items MONTHS prior but not Easter.

Feel free to link to my blog for the Lenten decorations. Here's the url: http://pamomofseven.blogspot.com/2008/02/lenten-decorations.html

Jen said...

I have also used Family Celebrations at Easter. We have used several different Haggadahs (including the Family Celebrations version) to celebrate the Seder. CBD also has several books for lent activities that I have picked up over the years. Though protestant, we have fasted over the last few years. In fact, the year I fasted from sweets and all beverages accept water, I lost 20 lbs during Lent (a nice side benefit to the fast! It is true that you can break a habit in 40 days. By the end of Lent, I no longer craved the Starbucks, and Dr.P, etc. Anyway, sorry for the rabbit trail!)

Jen said...

Oh, I forgot. A couple years ago, I had a big Easter/passover party for my kids and my nephews and niece. I set up a bunch of activities pertaining to the two celebrations. We read Benjamin's Box with the resurrection eggs. We made unleavened bread, I bought easter sticker scenes from Oriental Trading. I bought a set of 10 Plagues "props" from a Jewish source and read the story from Exodus. I found frog potato sacks from Oriental Trading and let them act out the frog plague. I also purchased an Exodus board game. Can't remember what else we did. This was prompted from not feeling like we spent enough time on the story of Exodus for our Seder. Jewish Seders are more drawn out as they do skits, etc about the story. I wanted the kids to really get the idea of what we were remember with celebrating Passover and Resurrection Sunday. So, the day we did the Seder, I had them do all these activities and then we ended with the Seder meal.

Cynthia said...

A lent story would be GREAT! GO FOR IT!

Gilda said...

So, what did you finally come up with? We are still looking.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Gilda - I got the Family Celebrations at Easter by Hibbard from PBS. I also got the Family Journey with Jesus To Lent....the devotionals in the Family Journey follow JESUS through the gospels up to the cross/resurrection...I like that better than the devotionals in the Hibbard book. They are also written from a child's perspective. It is Catholic and there may be a few things that we edit on the fly?

I'm thinking we may use the script for the Passover dinner in Hibbard's book. I like that it is simple and messianic. We're going to celebrate Passover this year - in April.

We're going to use Benjamin's Box and the Resurrection Eggs as we get closer to Easter.

We are continuing our emphasis on catching each other doing "Christ like" deeds - those go in our Jesus Christmas stocking.

I've got other ideas rattling around in my mind...but not sure how they'll pan out. I'll share more as I pull it together.