Our Passover and Easter

Last year a passionate desire began in me to really stop to remember our Passover Lamb- Christ. We had our first Passover seder and it was great, but it was a bit lengthy. I so wanted to savor ever little bit of meaning in each of the emblems in the dinner, but then I had a 3 and 4 year old sitting at the table, trying hard to listen but their glossed over eyes giving away that my "sermon" was just a tad too long. :)

So, this year I've been prayerfully seeking how I could really keep it simple, worshipful, and yet not loose any of the emblems. One of the things the Spirit keeps reminding me is that I don't have to explain everything. I can simply worship the Lord and meditate on Him as I serve this special meal and remember His body and blood broken and poured out for me. He also reminds me that He'll stir my kids to ask questions and He'll give me the answers. So instead of giving a sermon on every aspect of the meal this year, this is what we've been doing:

Thanks to the ideas I gleaned from the Family Guide to Biblical Holidays book, in February we started studying the different emblems of Passover a week at a time.

We did a week on sheep. And then a week on shepherds. Then we did a week on Jesus being our Lamb and Good Shepherd. (The kids crack me up. They said, "Yeah. Jesus can be a shepherd and a sheep. He can be two things cause He's God!")

Then we did a week on bread. I think that was the kids' favorite cause we made bread. Last we did a week on seeds and plants. We talked about how Jesus said unless a grain (seed) of wheat falls into the ground and dies it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit. We talked about how Jesus died, but just like a seed dies and then sprouts a new life, He came alive again and lives in us who put our trust in Him, promising to raise us to new life, with eternal bodies like He has. The kids LOVED that too. They wondered if in their "new" bodies they'd get to fly.

Then this past week we made a sheep centerpiece for our kitchen table.

We also placed lambs that represent each of us in this house on the windows of our front entrance, along with the prophecy of Christ's sacrificial death in Isaiah 53 and our declaration of celebrating the Passover and Easter. I kinda saw it as a modern placing the blood on our front doors. I know the application is spiritual, to the doors of our hearts, but I felt stirred to put a physical declaration of our dependence upon the blood of the Lamb at the entrance to our house.

On Palm Sunday we'll begin a daily reading through the book Benjamin's Box to prepare our hearts for Easter, which I discovered thanks to Jill at Praiseworthy Things.

At the actual Passover dinner we'll be having all the emblems, but instead of going through a lengthy haggadah, I'm reading this book to the kids at the table. Then we'll taste each of the parts of the dinner and prayerfully discuss each, especially the breaking of the bread and the drinking of the wine (grape juice).

I'm so prayerful about Passover this year. It's such a tremendous opportunity. My children asking questions and listening and savoring the specialness of the night. My husband taking it all in. My heart overflowing in worship... I'm sure I'll be fighting back tears. My sweet neighbor and her girls will be here with us, sharing in the richness of the night.

Father, I pray right now for Your anointing on that night. Please bring to Connor and Ryland's remembrance Your word. Stir them to ask questions. And I pray you'd give me utterance to make known the mystery of the gospel of Christ to them. I pray the night would fill my husband's ears with worship of You and prayers to You.

So glad He found me ,

Isaiah 51:3