Happy Easter, albeit a few hours early! I love Easter, in it simple profundity and profound simplicity. The Son of God will take all the punishment for our sins, which we fully deserve
, simply because He loves us? Forgiveness and the gift of eternal life are ours just by believing in and trusting Jesus' substitution for us? The most profound truth of the universe, yet so simple you need just a childlike faith. It is our prayer that if you've never been able to get around the facts to get to the simple faith salvation requires, that this is the Easter you get it, that you trust in Jesus, that you accept the gift He offers...eternal life through His Son, who died for us all.
Our Redeemer lives! Any other religion on the face of the earth can't offer a Savior who has conquered death so that we may life! In an attempt to make our Easter day a little less hectic, I decided to take the pressure of "keeping them looking neat and tidy in their Easter best till we have a chance to take pictures" off both me and the kids. We instead gave them their baths right after an early dinner, dressed them up, had a photo shoot, then got them to bed! I'm pretty pleased with the results...seven keepers out of the bunch!
Actually, we didn't put them right to bed. I bribed them (I promise I only bribe them for a cooperative photo session) with helping me make "Resurrection Cookies" afterwards. Unlike the slightly creepy "Resurrection Rolls" I've recently learned of, the cookies are a fantastic picture of the whole Easter story.
Resurrection Cookies
Preheat the oven to 350. Crush 1 c. pecans to remind us of the way Jesus was treated after He was arrested, 1 t. vinegar like Jesus was offered to slake His thirst on the cross, dash of salt to remind us of the salty tears the disciples must have cried to see Jesus crucified, 3 eggs whites, eggs reminding us of new life we can have through Jesus, 1 c. sugar, which reminds us of the sweetest part of the story-that Jesus went through all of this out of love for us. It brings together all of the other ingredients that wouldn't taste very good otherwise, just like the Easter story wouldn't seem very good if it weren't for the very ending. Whip together on high for 12 minutes. They become very white, to remind us of the purity we can have through Jesus forgiving us of our sins. Fold in the pecans, and then drop by teaspoonfuls on greased cookie sheet. The mounds of whites look like a rocky tomb. Place the cookie sheets in the oven, and have the kids tape the oven shut, just as the soldiers sealed the tomb. Turn off the oven and go to bed! Disappointment just like the disciples must have felt when their friend was buried. In the morning (which we'll see if they worked or not!), unseal the tomb, take a bite of a cookie, and it's hollow, just as the tomb was empty! I'll let you know the results!
We're pretty impressed with our evening. Dinner, baths, dressing up, photo op, pj's on, making cookies while telling the whole story, reading The Three Trees, prayers and in bed by 7:30 p.m.! (We have a sunrise service tomorrow, so we need to leave our house by 6:15. Ugh!
Off to finish my last-minute preparations, and then to bed! Happy Easter!
3 comments:
I can't wait to hear how the cookies turned out... keep us posted!
Thanks for stopping by our site. LIke you, I'm fascinated by the people who visit our site who I don't even know...yet after reading a few entries on your blog, I feel like I do have a new "friend" out there simply because of mutual friends (Eric and April) and because you have such a strong desire to serve the Lord and raise your children to serve the Lord. I have also read your blog earlier in the summer when Eric and crew were out your way visiting. Looks like Alaska is as beautiful as all say it is. Maybe some day my husband and I will make the cruise we've talked about for years. May God bless your family and I look forward to making getting to know you better via internet. :-)
Thanks, Angie!
Likewise to you!
Post a Comment