Month: March 2012

The Jesus Tree–Day Twenty-Nine

Today’s reading was about Peter’s confession of Christ and his receiving the keys to heaven. We read all three accounts, from Matthew 16:13-20, Mark 8:27-30, and Luke 9:18-21. The Matthew reading is the most detailed, and I love the boldness of Peter’s response when Jesus asks Peter Who he says Jesus is: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter may have stuck his foot in his mouth a lot, (one of the reasons I like him so much…I can relate to him!), but he also had a great faith, and is a great example to believers.

The First Day of Spring

To celebrate the first day of spring, we made a fun, new project–edible bird’s nests! Conveniently, you can currently find half of the items in the Easter candy aisle, and the rest are staples available year-round.

You start by mixing chow mein noodles (12 oz.) with melted chocolate…I used almond bark (about 20 oz.).

Mold into nest shapes.

Put a few “Robin Eggs” in each nest.

Add Peeps to the nests as desired–we only put one in each nest, but if you’re nests are bigger, or you have more Peeps than we did, you can always have a pair of birds!

This was a fun, hands-on project. And while I despise marshmallow Peeps, the children do not share my feelings, and really enjoyed getting to eat the special treat they made!

And, a glimpse of a few other spring crafts we’ve made over the years…

Coffee filter flowers. Super easy to make–just decorate a basket style coffee filter with markers, then spray with water to allow colors to spread and blend. When dry, pinch the middle, then attach to a green chenille stem. Instant bouquet!

You can also use the same technique to make coffee filter butterflies. Instead of just pinching the middle, wrap the chenille stem around the whole center of the filter, and use the ends to make antennae.

This is a good project for the beginning of any season…you can even assemble it over the course of an entire year. Tissue paper makes up the leaves, (and snow), for three of the seasons, but for spring, we used a flower paper punch to decorate the tree. Fun and pretty!

The Jesus Tree–Day Twenty-Eight

Today’s reading was a classic–the story of Zacchaeus, found in Luke 19:1-10. I don’t think that there’s a child that isn’t familiar with this story, but it’s still a good one to read when presented with the opportunity. This is another passage that reminds us that Jesus came to seek the lost, as Zacchaeus was a sinner just like us. Not only that, but he was generally hated by his peers, because of his status as a rich tax collector. And yet, Zacchaeus came to faith, and made amends for the wrong he had done, and while others may have complained about Jesus’s acceptance of him, Jesus Himself rejoiced that another who was lost had been saved.

The Jesus Tree–Day Twenty-Seven

Today’s reading focused on Jesus healing the centurion’s servant in Matthew 8:5-13. This is a great story, because it shows the faith of an “outsider,” and serves as a reminder that Jesus came to save all, not just the Jews. It also gave us an opportunity to practice our Latin, as the children attempted to define “centurion” based on what they’ve learned this year!

What We’re Reading–The Time of Easter

We have a lot of books for the Time of Easter, which begins with Ash Wednesday, (the start of Lent), and ends with the Day of Pentecost. The focus of most of these books is Easter itself, with the time leading up to Easter being secondary in most cases. I work really hard to make sure we don’t read any resurrection stories before Easter Sunday, which can be a bit of a challenge–sometimes, we can only read a part of book during Lent, and then have to wait until Easter Sunday, (and the days following), to finish it. I’m not nearly so fastidious during Advent, when we read Christmas stories all season long.

I’m also very careful to keep only religious Easter books around–nothing secular at all, so the list isn’t long compared to our Christmas collection. It actually makes me a little sad that there are so fewer options at Easter, when Easter is an even more important festival than Christmas. Again, at Christmas, I’m a bit more flexible in what we read, especially stories that showcase how Christmas is celebrated in other countries or at other times in history, although I do try to stay away from Santa stories wherever possible. You won’t find any “Easter Bunny” in our Easter readings, though–I really want to emphasize that which is sacred at this time of year!

All that being said, I thought I’d share the books that we do look forward to reading every year at Easter time, most of which are published by CPH!

  • Amon’s Adventure–Like its counterparts for the season of Advent, this book by Arnold Ytreeide is meant to be read throughout Lent. It is not divided into daily readings, however…that’s up to the reader to organize. I find that a bit irritating, because, unlike Advent, which can have a varying number of days, Lent always has the same number of days, and should have been easier to write into daily readings. Except for Ash Wednesday and Holy Week, I chose to forgo readings on Wednesdays and Sundays, and split a few of the longer chapters up over two days, in order to stretch out the readings to last through the whole season of Lent.
  • The Very First Easter–A fantastic book by Paul Maier, which tells the whole Easter story. This is a follow-up to another family favorite, The Very First Christmas, and like the Christmas story, Maier’s Easter tale is Biblical, well-written, and has beautiful illustrations.
  • The Very First Christians–Sometime between Easter and Pentecost, we read the follow-up to The Very First Easter, which focuses on Pentecost and the early church. Like all of Paul Maier’s other books, this one is also excellent.
  • The Real Story of the Exodus–A different series, but also by Paul Maier, this is a good book to read on Maundy Thursday, to make the connection between the first Passover and the Lord’s Supper.
  • That’s My Colt!–This is a story about a boy whose pet had a special purpose on Palm Sunday, and then continues to follow the story through all of Holy Week.
  • Easter ABCs–This is a new book for us this year. I got it mostly for Ladybug’s benefit, and as the title suggests, it goes through the alphabet letter by letter, and mentions some aspect of Easter for each.
  • The Easter Cave–This is a rhyming book, with each line building upon the last. It’s especially good for preschoolers, as they can help “read” the story through the repetition.
  • Things I See At Easter–The children are really too old for this book, but it’s good practice for Moose to read it, and the simple pictures are good for both him and Ladybug to look at and connect to this time of the church year.
  • The Time of Easter–We all still love the story of Smidge and Smudge, two mice living in a church, learning about the church year. As the title suggests, they learn all about Lent through Pentecost in this title.
  • The Story Bible–Through the course of our Jesus Tree readings, we’ll be reading the whole Holy Week/Easter story in this children’s Bible. I’m very impressed with this particular Bible, and if I didn’t already have it, I might have bought The Easter Story, which is taken directly from The Story Bible, and includes all of the parts of the Easter story.
  • Before and After Easter: Activities and Ideas – Lent to Pentecost–I know, I know…a book from Augsburg Fortress? But, I found that there are some good stories and activities in this book, even if I don’t use everything in it.
  • Celebrate Jesus! At Easter–This isn’t a read aloud book, or a children’s book…it’s more of a devotional. And while we don’t use it daily, it does have lots of good ideas, Bible verses, and hymns that can be implemented throughout the Easter season.
  • A Very Blessed Easter Activity Book–OK, technically this isn’t a book we’re reading, either. But it is a reproducible book with fun crafts, puzzles, and Easter pictures. The reproducible part means we’ll get a lot of use out of it, and it’s good for a variety of ages, so I can find something for everybody in it at this point.

Hymn of the Day

Today is the commemoration of St. Joseph, Guardian of Jesus, and there happens to be a verse for this occasion in the hymn, “By All Your Saints in Warfare.” It’s also a great verse for parents to take instruction from!

By all Your saints in warfare,
For all Your saints at rest,
Your holy name, O Jesus,
Forevermore be blest!
For You have won the battle
That they might wear the crown;
And now they shine in glory
Reflected from Your throne.

We sing our thanks for Joseph,
The guardian of our Lord,
Who faithfully taught Jesus
Through craft and deed and word.
Grant wisdom, Lord, and patience
To parents ev’rywhere
Who guide and teach the children
Entrusted to their care. 

Then let us praise the Father
And worship God the Son
And sing to God the Spirit,
Eternal Three in One,
Till all the ransomed number
Fall down before the throne,
Ascribing pow’r and glory
And praise to God alone. Lutheran Service Book #517, verses 1, 14, and 3

March 19–St. Joseph, Guardian of Jesus

From the Treasury of Daily Prayer:

St. Joseph has been honored throughout the Christian centuries for his faithful devotion in helping Mary raise her Son. Matthew’s Gospel relates that Joseph was a just man, who followed the angel’s instructions and took the already pregnant Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:24). In the Gospels according to Matthew and Mark, Jesus is referred to as “the carpenter’s son” (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3). This suggests that Joseph had building skills with which he supported his family. Joseph was an important figure in the early life of Jesus, safely escorting Mary and the child to Egypt (Matthew 2:14) and then settling them back in Nazareth once it was safe to do so (Matthew 2:22). The final mention of Joseph is at the time the twelve-year-old Jesus visits the temple in Jerusalem for the Passover (Luke 2:41-51). Joseph, the guardian of our Lord, has long been associated with caring parenthood as well as with skilled craftsmanship.