R is for Risen

 

 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 

~Matthew 28:6

I love alphabet books. They often offer so much information on a subject, but usually the information is a mishmash of things so the author can get the information to match the alphabet. Not so with author Crystal Bowman's new book, R is for Risen. The book is written with rhythm and rhyme that will keep the little one's attention. 

Mrs. Bowman's new book is centered around the week's events leading up to the crucifixion and on through the resurrection with instructions for the future. It begins with A is for Arrived. Jesus arrived with his disciples to celebrate the Passover. B is for Branches. This page is about the palm branches laid in the street and the announcement of the King's arrival. Each page is sweetly illustrated to attract young children. Each letter represents the next event in the holy week. 

The ending of the book helps children understand that N is for Nails is not the end of the story. Mrs. Bowman takes us through T is for Tomb and U is for Understanding. The disciples needed to understand what had happened with the resurrection. Last of all Z is for A and Z because Jesus is the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Each page has scripture to support the story. Several versions are used to make the understanding as simple as possible. 

Ways we can use this book with our children:

• Help children understand the events of Holy Week
• Use of the alphabet to help remember those events.
• Sing "Jesus Loves Me"
• Memorize John 3:16
• Older children may research why Jesus chose a donkey instead of a horse.
• Take a trip to a farm that has donkeys. What do you notice about the donkey's coat? (the shape of the cross)
• What other "letters" are often used for beginning and ending? 

Heavenly Father, help us show our children your plan to bring us salvation. Help us know how to implant the events into their hearts and minds so your plan will never depart from them. In Jesus's name. Amen.

  

Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead,  

~Matthew 28:5-7

Easter 1960- Grandma and Mama sewed our Easter outfits. Mama purchased hats and gloves for herself and me. Everything is ironed and laid out for Sunday morning. Only the Easter baskets are left to prepare. 

Mama brought out the vinegar and dye tablets, a coffee cup for each tablet, a spoon, and an old towel. Leftover baskets with fresh plastic grass were placed on the table beside the towel. The Easter bunny didn't leave our baskets. We helped dye the eggs in stinky-colored vinegar. Excitedly, we balanced the hard-boiled eggs on our spoons and dipped them in the cups. The dye kit contained a wax pencil to draw designs before we dyed the eggs. Gently, we lifted the eggs from the cups and placed them on the towel to dry. Then we decorated our baskets with eggs and candy wrapped in colored foils. But never were we told anything about how eggs were related to Easter. 

Easter 1983-  My small children and I often visited my grandma, who was nearing 90. A discussion came up about dying eggs with my babies. Somehow, we worked around to the subject of what eggs have to do with Easter. I had no idea, and she was shocked. 

"Why, the shell represents the tomb!" surprised no one had taught me that. "There's unseen life inside an egg. When it's ready, the chick will burst forth like the resurrection." 

Well, that made perfect sense. Why hadn't I even thought of that? Of course, our hard-boiled eggs had no life left in them, but a fresh egg certainly could, especially the farm eggs Grandma was used to gathering. 

There are several ideas as to the origins of colored eggs and spring celebrations. We too can derive some meaning for today's children. So what can we say about Easter eggs? 

• Fresh eggs encapsulate life with the appearance of death, just as the tomb in death held the answer to eternal life in Jesus.
• Eggs need 3 weeks to hatch. Jesus lay 3 days in the grave before his resurrection.
• The hatchling uses its beak to crack the shell and come out. Jesus used his voice to call Lazarus from the tomb.  A great earthquake and angels announced Jesus's resurrection.  One day, His voice will call us from the grave as well.  
• Easter eggs are dyed or painted in a variety of colors. Jesus died for everyone of every color. 
• We hunt for eggs hidden all around. Jesus goes wherever people are found to bring salvation to those who will believe in Him.
• We gather the eggs in a basket. Jesus will gather us one day and take us to our heavenly home. Until then, we gather in our churches to worship the One who has overcome death and the grave.

that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ~Romans 10:9

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son Jesus to die for my sins. Thank you for sending reminders all around me that you are the giver of life eternal through Jesus.  Help me remember to tell the children that You are the Creator God and that everything and everyone is created with a purpose. May my heart and life be filled with worship this Easter season.  In Jesus's name, I pray. Amen.

Star of Bethlehem

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. ~Matthew 24:14

My flower beds desparetly need weeding. The worst offender in the bed is a tiny white flower that grows from a bulb. Before the flower blooms the bulb grows about the size of a spring onion. Along the sides of the original bulb are tiny baby bulbs that will also enlarge and create more flowers. Sounds wonderful. I won't have to buy bulbs for these pretty white flowers ever again. Oh but wait! That means they will spread. The garden will be filled with Star of Bethlehem in a few short years. Any time I try to pull out a large bulb all the little ones fall off into the soil scattering the flower farther and farther where they will grow and reproduce even more flowers. They will spread into the grass if I accidentally drop a tiny bulb outside the bed. Even if I sift the soil I will miss some of the tiniest bulbs that again will grow and reproduce. I began to despise these pretty flowers with such a unique name. That's when it hit me. 

Since the world began Satan has tried to weed out the word of God, His Son and yes, even God himself. Satan thought one bite of the fruit would finish off God's intention but the blood of an innocent animal and the acceptance of the sacrifice was only the beginning. Cain killed Abel. Satan again thought he had won. But God provided Seth. On and on throughout scripture Satan attempts to make man thinks he can weed God out of his life. God always has a person who is willing to follow Him and His plan, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Esther, Daniel, and Cyrus. Then God sent His Son only to have Herod try to kill him by killing all the little boys under two years old. But the Star of Bethlehem won again. All through Jesus's life Satan tried one way and then another to destroy Him. The Jews tried throwing him off a cliff and stoning Him. They tried to discredit him so no one would follow. Then the Romans and the Jews crucified him. Ahh, Satan thought he had won until the third day. Then Jesus was resurrected. 

All through history Satan has tried to destroy God's people with persecutions and murder. But God is never left without a witness. Though searched out, sifted, and destroyed, there has always been and always will be a pocket of people scattered far and near that hold dear to God's word and His Son.

Heavenly Father, strengthen Your people to face whatever comes. Whether we are uprooted, sifted, or scattered help us be true to You and the faith You have planted in our hearts. In Jesus's name. Amen. 

Purposeful Wandering

 

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life:  John 11:25a

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6

Sometimes I wander. I wander around our little country neighborhood and try to clear my mind and settle my heart. The other day I just meant to notice the sights but then I began to notice the sounds. The blue jay, the guineas, the rooster all had their distinct sound, their voice. I marveled at how uniquely and purposefully God made each one. The blue jay sounded a warning. The guineas ran toward me "grackling" for attention. The rooster was just showing off for the hens, announcing the day.

Then there were the daffodils silently swaying in the breeze brightening a ditch. Even their sunny faces were purposeful don't you think? 

Dogs yipped, barked, and howled inside the farmhouse fence. Some wanted attention, others thought they were the purposeful guardians of their domain. 

As I walked past the farmyard and came to the hayfields and woods, I noticed a large maple tree, still winter dead, bare except for the mistletoe growing in the top. It wasn't just one mistletoe. There were lots of patches whose roots were going down through the bark into the sapwood, dependent on the tree for food, for life itself.

Once a tiny mistletoe berry dropped from a plant or a bird into a crevis in the bark. There it sprouted and dug deep to attach itself. Mistletoe is a parasitic plant, depending on a host for its life. 

As I looked at the tree I thought how the mistletoe will kill the tree but the tree seems to willingly allow the mistletoe to thrive from the tree's own lifeblood, the sap. 

Are we not all sinners responsible for the death of God's Son? But the good news is that when Satan thought he had Jesus killed, buried, and sealed in a tomb, Jesus rose again. We can have eternal life through Jesus Christ if we allow Him to give us the life we cannot attain by ourselves.

In a few weeks, the maple tree will remind me again that Jesus arose. The maple tree will be covered in the green leaves of a resurrected spring. We likely won't be able to see the mistletoe parasite without looking close.  The tree won't just host one plant but many.  And like Jesus, it will cover all those parasites because the tree is the life that gives life to all the mistletoes who attach themselves to it. 

Tall silent winter dead trees; parasitic mistletoes; in the middle of a field -- an often overlooked reminder of God's purpose in sending His Son -- to give us eternal life.

What have you noticed this week?

Wandering in Wonder,

Gail

Alive Again!

 

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life:he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: John 11:25

Last fall, we found this enormous caterpillar. We put him in a terrarium to watch for a few days. The next day there was a fuzzy cocoon in the back corner of the terrarium. We were so excited! We thought in a few weeks, it would hatch out and we would see what kind of moth we had. Our best guess from caterpillar pictures was a luna moth. We waited and watched and waited some more. Nothing happened. It appeared the caterpillar in the cocoon had not survived. We were disappointed but we didn't clean out the cocoon. Other matters were taking our attention.

April was beginning to bring warmer weather and better light. Last Thursday afternoon, one of the children noticed a big brown blob on the covering of the terrarium. No, we still had not bothered to clean the terrarium. Everything in it was as dead as the winter outside, or so we thought. We all gathered to take a look. There was a huge brown moth just clinging to the screen. It wasn't moving. It must be dead, but we left it alone. Wrong again. The next morning, it had dropped to the bottom and spread its wings. Two big beautiful brown eye dots glared from each wing, enough to scare any predator. All day we watched, but it didn't move until the afternoon. As one of the children took another look, the moth began to flop and knock against the sides of the terrarium. It was obviously alive and kicking. I trapped him with a net against the screen top. We took it outside to let it free. For a few moments it dropped to the top of my sneaker, then... with the clumsy fluttering of giant wings, it flew up and off across the yard to a distant oak. The children waved and yelled their good-byes and see you agains. 

God always has ways to give us pictures to help us understand His word, his plan. In John 11 we read the story of Lazarus. Lazarus was sick and eventually died. By the time Jesus came, Lazarus had been dead four days. They were all sure he was dead. He really was dead, but when Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave, Lazarus was as alive as you and I. Jesus is the only One who has the power to give life to the dead. Jesus created moths and butterflies to help us with a spiritual explanation. When the caterpillar spins the cocoon or chrysalis, it looks very dead, but when it comes forth, it is a new creature. It is no longer a caterpillar but a beautiful moth or butterfly. It can never go back to its old life. When we ask Jesus to forgive our sins, He changes us. We are dead to our old live and we have a new life in Christ. One day, when Jesus calls, all that are in the grave will come forth, just as Lazarus did. Some will come alive to live with Jesus eternally. Some to die the second death in the lake of fire. 

Make this day the day you allow Jesus to make you a new creature in Him.

Blessings,

Gail 

Hey Kids:

Have you ever read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle?

The caterpillar was doing just fine until he chose to eat food that is not good for caterpillars. He tried to go back to eating caterpillar food but his course was set. He had to spin the cocoon and allow God to change him into a beautiful butterfly. 

The butterfly is a perfect picture of how we must recognize we are sinners. We must die to our old way of life and let Jesus change us to live a new life in Him. 

What other things in Jesus' creation demonstrates death to an old life and resurrection to a new life?

Here are some hints to help you investigate.

Frogs: Discover the frog life cycle. Write out a spiritual application of the frog.

Seeds: Grow a few seeds in a plastic bag to discover a plant life cycle. Then write out the spiritual application. 

Are there friends or websites for you to share your discoveries? 

We would be glad for you to share with us here.