Read with Me

It's easier to remember to prepare for Christmas...its the same day each year. You're purchasing gifts for loved ones and decorating your home. But Easter is equally (if not more) important to prepare my heart for. As I read Liz Curtis Higgs' The Women of Easter, I felt my heart begin to get ready to celebrate the resurrection!

The Women of Easter follows the story of Mary of Bethany (Lazarus' sister), Mary of Nazareth (Jesus' mother) and Mary Magdalene. The author does a beautiful job of telling the story, setting and details of these women based on Biblical accounts. I love that Scripture is mixed in the narrative. This was the perfect book to begin to think about the exciting holiday we will soon celebrate. And I feel like I know these women a little better! It's easy to read and easy to love.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

I love to store up tools to help my kids learn more about God's Word. The International Children's Bible with Devotions from Sarah Young's Jesus Calling is a welcome addition to our book shelves. It is a complete Bible, not just Bible stories. Mixed in the pages of Scripture are colorful, glossy devotionals that highlight key stories/individuals in the Bible. There are also key Scriptures highlighted in the text. You can find a topic guide at the front of the Bible for these highlighted verses. I love helping my kids understand the difference between a fairy tale and a Bible story. Seeing side by side the story and the verses that it comes from will be super helpful. The illustrations for the devotionals are colorful and eye-catching. I look forward to using this tool for years to come.

I received this Bible from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for an honest review.

I love when an author's name can be trusted. Tony Evans has written an amazing book, Kingdom Prayer, that has challenged and encouraged me in my prayer life. Prayer is so vital to the Christian life, yet so hard for me to do. Like the national anthem at a sporting event, we often view prayer as a way to jump start an event, not really thinking of the words we are saying. The language in this book is easy to understand yet challenging in concept. I better understand the value and need for prayer. This is a book I will re-read.

I received this book from Moody in exchange for an honest review.

The Domino Effect followed the familiar writing style of Davis Bunn. The subject matter dealt with the financial world. The story was too full of technical terms and not enough character development for me. For those who love a detailed fictional novel, this would be better suited for them. The story line was good, but there were too many technical terms for me to be able to jump quickly into the drama.

I received this book form Bethany House in exchange for an honest review.

It's sad to see so many high schoolers choosing to follow their peers in a direction that does not lead them to Christ. Bombarded with social media and selfish ideas, many adolescents choose a path that exalts self rather than Christ. It was encouraging to read this testimony book, The Jesus Club, where Brian Barcelona tells of the good things the Lord did with a surrendered heart and a group of teenagers. He shared his story (former atheist) with a group of teens. He shared what God had done for him. And this was a perfect example of how when God is described as the super hero, others can't help but take notice.

I received this book from Cross Focused Reviews in exchange for an honest review. 

Easter Egg Door Hanger

Easter is super early this year. I needed something for my front door that was spring-ish, Eastery, and quick to make. And that's where this idea came from.

I have really enjoyed my large painted Easter egg this year. It was super easy to make. And I have been able to use the egg in my home decor as well as at our last MOPS meeting.

I had originally thought about asking my husband to make me a wooden egg sign, but often when I get an idea in my head, I want to make it right away. He was at work, and so I started searching my house for supplies on hand. I borrowed a white piece of cardboard from my neighbor and cut the egg shape from that. White foam board from the Dollar Store would also work wonderfully.

Using my tracing method, I wrote the words that seem to me on my heart recently. (And it transferred so easily to the cardboard)

I love that the weather has been warmer and that my kids love to go outside. Nora wakes up many mornings asking for her shoes and to go "dice" (which I think is her word for outside).

And Hudson is super curious these days. Asking lots of questions and gathering all the information he can.

Although these days can seem long and daunting, and the questions can seem endless, I am trying to remember that each question is an opportunity to teach these kids about Jesus.

Sure, we hide eggs and eat Easter candy, but I want them to know that Jesus is what Easter is all about. (See my little Easter Story Box idea here).

I pray that Jesus is a very present part of our day.

And I pray that they will someday know Jesus as their Savior. Because, it is all because of Jesus that I can face tomorrow!

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow

Because He lives, every fear is gone

I know He holds my life, my future in His hands

Because He lives

PS. Since the cardboard is super lightweight, I secured this to the door with a couple command strips.

Easter Story Box

At MOPS this morning. we discussed the topic of "Raising Adults." ...in other words, thinking ahead to the type of people our children will be become. We talked about things we are doing to encourage them now, instill truth in them now, and highlight their personalities and abilities.

I had asked my mom for a bit of advice (since my oldest child is not yet an adult....he's only 3). She said remember that when I am teaching my children to respect and obey me that I am ultimately teaching them to respect an obey God.

I decided to claim Galatians 6:9 as my verse for this topic...I don't want to give up!

So, let's not get tired of doing what is good. 

At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up.

Gal. 6:9, NLT

Instead of a craft today, we decided to give the moms a tool to use to teach their children the Easter story. 

Using some little items and a small box, the story of Jesus' death and resurrection can easily be explained. 

Purchasing in bulk, we were able to make these little boxes for around 55 cents each. You can buy the boxes here and the little wooden people here.  The booklet printable can be found here. The rest of the items were made from paper and some scrap white fabric. It would even be a great tool to use on a mission's trip to explain the gospel.

The palm branch and the little wooden Jesus depict his triumphal entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. 

The lid to the box becomes the table for the Last Supper. I printed the wine/bread picture onto white card stock, using clip art on my computer. 

After gluing the cross to the underside of the box, you can stand Jesus in front of it, as if He were on the cross. 

Then, wrapping Jesus in the white strip of fabric, He can be placed into the tomb. 

And leaving the empty grave clothes in the empty tomb, Easter Sunday can be celebrated. "He is not here....He is risen, just as He said."

I had most of the items prepped so that the moms could just pick up the pieces they needed. 

And I sent each mom home with this printable, to remind them to be the mom they want their children to remember! 

I left feeling encouraged and challenged to continue to pour truth into my children. And I pray that the other moms felt the same. We always have a great time encouraging each other to keep going. 

And it's a bonus when a mom decides to dress like my craft table decor.

Checkered tablecloths source

Painting Easter Eggs and Making a Flower Pot Wreath

I love to decorate with reds and mustards....but that makes my house seem a little dark. I would categorize my living room as a winter living room. The decor easily matches Fall, Christmas and Valentine seasons. But once spring has sprung, I start wishing for a lighter living room. Slowly, I am adding in more white and more greenery into my space, in hopes that it will look more spring-ish.

Last year, I had purchased a large plastic egg on Easter clearance for pennies. It was black and intended to be used as a chalkboard. Using some chalk paint (leftover from Nora's plastic kitchen remodel- which you can see here), I painted the egg white. I love that the chalk paint left the egg looking like  real eggshell. Some natural crackling even took place! Don't ask me how...ha. 

Using my tracing technique, I painted the words "He is Risen" onto the egg. We don't tell our children that the Easter bunny comes. But the eggs easily symbolize new life as the chick breaks out. We use the resurrection eggs to talk about the real meaning of Easter (make your own here). And this big white egg also helped to brighten up the area above my red hutch. 

The bunny garland is from my shop (@CoveyCreations on Instagram). 

And the wreath was a fun challenge. I had been given a wire wreath form by a friend. The Dollar Tree had these mini terracotta pots 3/$1. Using floral wire, I was able to tie the pots to the wreath form (thanks to those little holes in the bottom of the pots). 

I am obsessed with these Dollar Tree succulents, as well. I snatch up the natural looking ones each time I am in the store. They stayed in the pots without my having to glue or wire them into place, which means I can use them in another project later. The ribbon came from a Target clearance bin. 

All those little pots made the wreath quite heavy - and fragile. I really wanted to hang the wreath on my back door in the kitchen, but I was afraid of the mess it would make if it fell onto my tile floor. Crash...

But I like the nod to spring that it adds to the top of my hutch.

And PS...Nora is growing up too fast...

"Happy Easter, Mom"

Reading books, singing songs, Resurrection eggs...We really tried to teach Hudson about the true meaning of Easter this year. Sure, we ate our share of Peeps and chocolate eggs, but I wanted him to really associate this holiday with Jesus.

I love how his little mind absorbs things so quickly. I can tell him the new Bible verse for the month, show him the motions, and get him to repeat after me...and he has it memorized!

This Easter, I had the awesome privilege to lead over 500 preschoolers (ages 2-5) at church in their worship time. One Saturday night service and two Sunday morning services.

At first, I have to admit that I was a little bummed that I would miss all of the Easter services in "big church." I didn't even wear an "Easter dress" because Jeremiah and I were sporting our church t-shirts like the other workers.

But, in the midst of jumping around with over 100 kids, loudly singing "He is Alive!" I realized something. I would have never celebrated Christ's resurrection in the main adult service with the same enthusiasm as we did in that preschool chapel. And I got to do it three times! It was so fun to share the real meaning of Easter with those kids and watch them get excited about celebrating in song. We even did a cheer with pom-poms!

Jesus understood it and tried to tell His disciples about it in Matthew 18:3 when He said, "Unless you turn from your sins, and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Kids get it...they believe! Their faith is amazing. We adults make it too complicated.

Part of that scares me, that Hudson can be so trusting. But another part of it challenges me to have a faith like his. It also challenges me to keep pouring the truths of God's Word into his little mind, whether it's through songs, books or memory verses.

My dad has always said that children's ministry is one of the most important areas for a church to focus on. George Barna says that nine out of ten Christians come to know Christ as their Savior before the age of 18 . That should pump up any children's ministry worker to know that their service is directly impacting the Kingdom of God.

As a child, I remember hearing the gospel presented at church. I knew I had sinned and that because of that sin I would never be good enough to get into Heaven on my own. I was excited to learn that Jesus had taken the punishment for my sins on the cross and came back to life. Because I believed all of this, I can spend eternity with Him in Heaven.  My parents taught me these truths, but I also learned them at church.

Hudson loves church. Several mornings a week, he will ask if we are going to church and if he can put a sticker on his back. (That's where our church places their name tags) But he also keeps looking at me randomly throughout the day saying, "Happy Easter, Mom." In fact, those words came right after his wishing me a happy birthday yesterday.

At first, it made me chuckle. "No, buddy, it's not Easter anymore." But then Jeremiah said, "He's got it right...we should be celebrating Easter more than just once a year!" After all, Easter celebrates the most important part of our Christian faith.

Hudson may not understand everything about this holiday where we remember Christ's death and resurrection, but I do think He understands that it is about Jesus. And he knows there is something to celebrate! I am so thankful that his continuous celebration and those kid's enthusiasm at church made me rejoice about the resurrection a little differently this year.

Kids get it...they believe...and I want to have faith like them!

So, Happy Easter! 

Our own little Home Church

Yesterday was one of those Sundays. Thanks to a couple head colds, we were not able to take the kids to their classes at church. But whenever I am not at church on a Sunday morning, I get a weird empty feeling. No, it's not guilt or feeling like I am doing something wrong. I think I just miss the Christian fellowship and the emphasis on our Lord.

So, yesterday morning, I decided that Hudson and I would have our own little Sunday School at home. As he ate his oatmeal, we watched the Easter Story via the Right Now Media App (thanks to our church). I remember watching these animated Bible stories as a kid. They are still great teaching tools today. You can buy the Easter DVD here.

We then talked through our Resurrection Eggs. You can buy a version of the eggs, or you can make your own, like we did. Hudson is a little young to grasp every aspect of the story. But I talked through all the items and their place in the Easter story. He loved looking for the next numbered egg and anticipating what would be inside.

Since it was Palm Sunday, we even waved a big leaf around saying "Hosanna, Hosanna!" Except Hudson kept saying "Go, Nana." (You can find thousands of free coloring pages to print with a simple google search).

Thanks to YouTube, we sang a few songs that are often used in his class.
I'm Gonna Sing, Sing, Sing (Video Here)
Roll that Stone Away (Video Here)
God is so Good (Video Here)
When Jeremiah came home from church, Hudson was excited to sing these songs for him. And he has requested "Sing, Sing, Sing" close to 50 times today. So, we just keep singing it.

We practiced our March Bible Verse.   John 13:34 "Love One Another"

And we watched a few Ollie Bible Stories, thanks to the Parent Cue App. It mirrors what the kids at our church are taught each week. We use this app on a weekly basis to reinforce the lesson. Even if your church doesn't use the "First Look" curriculum, its a great parent app. It has a video Bible story each week and little activities to go along with it. It's where we get Hudson's monthly memory verse too.

We dug through our book tub, pulling out our Easter books. Here are some of our favorites.

What is Easter? (buy here)

My Easter Basket (buy here)

The Tale of Three Trees (buy here) - There's a cute video of this story here.

And then we waited on Daddy to bring us lunch by hiding and finding Easter Eggs.

Hudson loves going to church. In fact, he was so confused why he wasn't getting to go yesterday. He kept saying, "Maybe church tomorrow?"

But I think that he had a good time with our Easter activities at home. This was the first time I've tried to have "Sunday School" at home, but it won't be the last time. By the end of our activities, I was encouraged, feeling like I had still spent the morning focusing on Jesus. Hudson had fun and also learned a few things too. He has asked all day to sing our songs again.

I've been sick all week too, and it would have been a lot easier to just let him watch cartoons all morning or play by himself. But with a little effort, we both started preparing for Easter. And that's exactly what this momma's heart needed.

DIY Resurrection Eggs

I am always looking for activities for Hudson that will reinforce Biblical truths. The older he gets, the more I am able to incorporate into our day. With Easter approaching, I knew that I wanted to try to use the Resurrection Eggs. You can purchase a set, but I decided that I could probably make my own with items around the house.

I purchased plastic Easter eggs from the dollar store. They came in a pack of 18. I saved an empty egg carton to hold the eggs. Back in late elementary school, I learned the power of fingernail polish remover. I remember having the cutest white shoes to wear with my Easter dress. But the first day I wore them, I got black scuff marks up the side. My mom showed me how to remove those scuff marks with fingernail polish remover. Since then, whenever I am hoping to remove some painted or stamped on image, I try this miraculous stinky liquid first.

For the egg carton, I simply rubbed a cotton ball that had a little polish remover on it over the ink. And, I am happy to report that it pretty much removed all of the stamped images on my egg carton.

I selected twelve colored eggs and started gathering my items. I will be using the printable version of the resurrection eggs found here.

I numbered each egg with a regular black permanent marker.

Here are the items I found around the house.

1.  Palm Branch (leaf) – Jesus was celebrated when he entered the city.

2.  Bread (Gold Fish) – Symbolizes the Last Supper. We might even drink a little grape juice when we talk about this egg.

3.  Silver Coins (3 dimes = 30 cents) – Judas took a bribe to betray Jesus.

4.  Purple Cloth & Thorns (leftover cloth and thorns from the yard) – Jesus was mocked by the soldiers.

5.  Whip (some string) – Symbolizes the beating that Jesus endured.

6.  Cross (pieces of a Popsicle stick glued together) – Jesus carried his cross.

7.  Nails – (3) Shows the pain Jesus went through as he was nailed to his cross.

8.  Sign (I wrote “King of the Jews” on a small wooden tag, but you could use paper)  - The sign that was nailed above Jesus saying he was the King of Jews.

9.  Spear and Sponge (piece of a Popsicle stick with some electrical tape and a cut-off corner of a dish sponge) – Signifies the proof of Jesus’ death and his last moments.

10.  Spices (cinnamon and cloves) – Jewish people were traditionally buried with spices.

11.  Rock – Symbolizes the stone that was moved from Jesus’ tomb.

12.  Nothing – Shows the empty tomb.  Jesus has risen.

I am so excited to begin this tradition with my kids. In future years, I might even let them help me gather items to fill our eggs.

I made a little sleeve for our egg carton from wrapping paper and I plan to tuck the printed descriptions inside this sleeve.

PS. Whenever I see an empty Easter egg, I am always brought back to this touching story about a little boy with an empty Easter egg.

What activities do you use to help prepare your family's hearts for Easter?