Wrap up for our Sense of the Resurrection lessons

We wrapped up our Easter lessons this week. Just in time to spend the weekend celebrating with friends and family. The first half of our lessons are here. Today I will share with you what we did in the last few lessons.

Day 7 our sense was feel. We discussed how Jesus might have felt being nailed to the cross. Then we did this to remind us what He did for us.

Sunshine then put a picture of Jesus on the banner. 
Day 8 was taste. We talked about the bitterness of sin and discussed how Jesus took our sin in as if He was drinking it. Then we tasted red wine vinegar to experience what Jesus was offered on the cross when He said He was thirsty.

For the banner she added sand to the tongue.
Days 9-12 we finished all up all in one day because of the busy weekend ahead. Lesson 9 we discussed all the sounds that took place just as Jesus died. We made this fun rattle. And glued gravel to our rock paper for the banner.

Lesson 10 we talked about the tomb being sealed. Sunshine colored a tomb picture and then placed duct tape over it to represent sealing the tomb.
Lesson 11 Talks about the angel giving the news that Jesus had risen just as He said. Sunshine make a sun catcher by cutting up a clear plastic cup and decorating it. She then wanted to hang it on the back porch.

She also added an angel to the banner.
Our final lesson, 12 is on Jesus providing for us and how He has a plan for each one of us. Sunshine put scales on her fish using foil cut into circles. She then added those to the banner to complete it.

To see the first half of the banner go here. I hope this gives you some ideas for next year. I got all of the lessons from A Sense of the Resurrection: Touch, Feel, Taste, Listen, Smell the Resurrection
There is so much in these lessons that we didn't even get too, so much more to experience with our Savior! So we are looking forward to digging into this again next year!

Praying you have a very blessed Easter Weekend!




Affiliate link in this post. I only share what I feel is truly a blessing to families. 

Was His sacrifice really a sacrifice?

I don't even remember what blog I was reading but somewhere recently I read a comment on a blog post where the reader in effect was asking a question on how was it that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross really did anything? How was it such a big deal when He was able to come back alive? How did that cost God anything? And now He is with His Father in heaven and still gets to rule and reign- so how is that really sacrificing anything? This person went on to say that no one not a pastor or anyone else has been able to explain it their satisfaction. I didn't really have the time or words to really answer at that moment. And I will have to admit in my past I have asked that myself- but it came from a place of wanting to grow in my faith. As I have pondered and prayed and searched scripture- here is how I would answer those questions.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. It is hard for us to imagine that God has always been. Always existed, always has been in perfect love and light and goodness. God has never been separated. And then in John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. For the first time EVER God became one of us. Lived among us, grew up among us, taught us, loved us, healed us, celebrated with us, cried with us, prayed for us. And all the while he stayed in contact with his loving Father (example John 17).
Then He submitted and willingly gave his life for us. He was a willing sacrifice. A righteous man willing to die for sinful man; a people who rejected Him. And as He died ALL of mankind's sin was put on Him--my sin was put on him. My shame, my lies, my theft, my gluttony, my gossip, my lust, my selfishness and much more-- all of it was put on Him. And because of my sin, God had to turn away. Jesus, for the first time ever was separated from His Father. Oh how it must have crushed Him (Mark 15:34).

But then on the first day of the week we have an empty tomb... I tell my little girl that Jesus had to come back alive to show that He really is God. We really can trust Him. He really can take away our sins. He really is making a place for us in heaven. He really will come back again for us. It really is that simple. If Jesus stayed dead for all eternity then wouldn't He be just another prophet? Just another good man?

I don't know all the answers. I am no scholar. The only "training" I have is a love for my Lord and some Bible studies under my belt. How He works it all out boggles my mind sometimes. But you see that is the really cool thing about my God. I don't get all the answers... I don't get to figure Him out. I just get some of the answers and then He helps me to trust Him with the rest. THAT is the kind of God I want. I don't want a god I can "figure out" or find all the answers to my questions. I want a God that is bigger than me. Bigger than my questions. Bigger than my sin and bigger than anything I will face here. He asks me to trust Him and then tells me that He will never leave me or forsake me.

One further thing came to my mind this week. Thank the Lord that He will be there! I don't want to be there without Him. If He was dead forever I wouldn't get to thank Him. I wouldn't get to dance or run or commune with Him. I wouldn't get to take His hand or look into His eyes. I wouldn't get to sing my song of praise to Him. He wouldn't get to wipe away my tears- for good. I don't want to miss Him. I love Him, I want to be with Him. But He is alive, He is Risen! There is an empty tomb! He really defeated death and sin and He did that for me and He did that for you.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave is one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

Have a blessed Easter!

Our lessons from a Sense of the Resurrection

Our lesson, Bible and supplies for our first day!

We are enjoying our countdown to Resurrection Sunday with
A Sense of the Resurrection These lessons have been wonderful. Everything from deep conversations about what Jesus did for us to giggling over making our own scented paint. Some activities are simple such as gluing leaves onto paper. While other days are more involved like baking bread. But each day is meant to involve one or more of our senses. Here are some of the things we did.

 Day one we read about Mary and her offering- of washing Jesus' feet with an expensive perfume. We made scent jars for our home as well as scented paint by putting a kool-aid packet into some water and painting a "paper" jar. We then cut it out and added it to our Easter Banner.
On day two we cut leaves and discussed Jesus' triumphal entry. Day three we learned why Jesus would wash someones feet. She painted some feet to add to the banner.

Day four we made bread and learned that Jesus gave himself up for us. She added to the banner torn strips of brown paper bag to resemble bread.

By the way: Sunshine makes good bread!

Day five we talked about Jesus truly being King of kings and the purple robe the solders put on him. We added a cross with a purple cloth to the banner. Day six (half way through) was on Peter forgetting how much he loved Jesus and denied him 3 times. We put 3 feathers on the banner. We homeschool so these lessons just become part of our school day, but these are made to fit any schedule. And any time you would be able to invest would be so worth it!
What are some ways you teach the Resurrection Story to your children. I would love for you to share in the comments below!

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Making a big deal of the Resurrection and still keeping within budget

It's not about what she gets, its not about how cute or how fun. It is about pointing her to my Savior, creating family memories, and trying to make as big a deal of His death as we do His birth. And all without blowing the budget. This year I believe we have a balance of some budget friendly items but also something that she needs "spiritually".

First off I have this on order.

She is at the stage where I have read all the devotional Bibles we own to her. I feel that she is ready for a Bible that she herself can read. I chose this one because I use the NIV, this one will be close to my version. I also wanted an early reader Bible to help her gain confidence in her reading abilities. I want her to enjoy scripture reading, not to get frustrated with it. Looking through it on Amazon, there are even fun study questions throughout the book that will allow us to explore deeper. I am paying $12.80 (plus $3.99 shipping) for a new hardcover early reader.

Now on to the basket. I shop the thrift stores regularly and was pleased to find this bike basket for only 65 cents! I new immediately this would be used for her Easter basket.

After Easter this will be added to her bike

The items I am filling it with are from Dollar Tree, Walmart, and Joann's and all cost $1 each. With the exception of the My Little Pony stuffed animal which was $4 at Walmart and the cross necklace which I saved up for and bought from a friend who sells Premier Designs. The total for the basket was $13.65 the total for cross and Bible is $36.79.

We believe Easter is a special day and deserves to be celebrated!

Other ways we are making a big deal out of the Resurrection  are our DIY Resurrection Eggs and  our Sense of the Resurrection lessons, which we are working on each day as we head into the big day!

He is Risen!



Affiliate link included in this post. I will only share what I truly feel is a blessing to families. 

DIY Resurrection Eggs!

Counting today there are 13 days until Easter. Want a fun easy way to celebrate with your kids? Make some DIY Resurrection Day Eggs! Gather all your supplies today then start counting down tomorrow. You will open your last egg on Easter morning. Other options are to do them over several days or even all at once. I have done them all on one day as an Easter morning Sunday School lesson before.

What you need:
Bible
1 empty egg carton 
12 plastic eggs
number stickers (or permanent marker)
several small leaves
a couple pieces of bread (or croutons)
3 dimes
a small piece of purple cloth/felt (I used a sock)
thorns (from tree or bush)
small strip of leather
2 tooth picks to make a small cross
3 small nails
piece of sponge dipped in vinegar
1 toothpick & small paper triangle (to make spear)
small flat rock
glue gun 

Once you have gathered your supplies decorate the outside top of your egg carton. I used scrapbook paper and sticker letters and glued it to the top. Then I took the 12 eggs and numbered them 1 to 12. I then started filling each egg with that days item. Below is the list of what to put in each egg and the Bible verse for that egg. At the end of this post I will have a print button for you.

#1 small leaves for palm branches, Bible verse- Mark 11:8 
#2 small pieces of bread or croutons for the Passover meal, Bible verse- Matthew 26:26
#3 3 dimes for 30 pieces of silver, Bible verse- Matthew 26:14-15
#4 small purple cloth for the robe, Bible verse- Mark 15:17
#5 thorns for the thorn crown, Bible verse- Matthew 27:29
#6 strip of leather for the scourge/whip, Bible verse- Mark 15:15
#7 2 toothpicks for the cross, Bible verse- John 19:17-18a
(to make the cross I hot glued them together, then I cut the ends of each point off just enough so it would fit into the egg)
#8 3 small nails for the nailing Him to cross, Bible verse- John 20:25b
#9 small piece of sponge soaked with vinegar, Bible verse- Matthew 27:48
#10 toothpick/paper made into a spear, Bible verse- John 19:34
(hot glue triangle paper to an end of toothpick and trim other end down if needed to fit into egg)
#11 small flat stone for the stone rolled over the tomb, Bible verse- Matthew 27:59-60
#12 empty egg for the empty tomb, Bible verse- Matthew 28:6

Each day have kids pick the egg for that day and open it up, let them explore it and talk about it. Ask them questions about it. Then open to the Bible verse for that day and read it and discuss with them what God's Word says. Pray with your kids thanking God for His Son Jesus and what He did for us! 

I plan on doing this each morning with Sunshine during breakfast. Then later in our school day we keep working on our lessons from Sense of the Resurrection!

print directions 

Affiliate link included in this post. 
I will only share what I truly feel is a blessing to families.  

P.S. I thought I would share this book that we borrowed from the library. The Legend of the Easter Egg by Lori Walburg. It has a meaningful way to think about Easter eggs! 

DIY Easter Banner for our Sense of the Resurrection studies

We will be starting our lessons in a Sense of the Resurrection this week and I wanted to share with you how I made our Easter Banner to go with our lessons.

 

I went to Joann's with a couple of coupons and got the chevron material and the heat n bond. I had already gotten the felt and ribbon at Walmart.

  I needed a pattern so that my triangles would be straight. I found one on Pinterest of course here

Using the pattern I made, I cut out all of my triangles. I cut out 6 white felt. I then cut out 12 triangles from the chevron material- from those I will make 6 double sided for added durability. I want to be able to use this banner every Easter. 

Once all the triangles were cut is was time to start putting it all together. I did these steps in several different time settings. It is just how my week was going, so I took advantage of small chunks of time. If I added it all up, I would say it would be under 2 hours to complete. Since I wanted to double side the yellow chevron pattern I started with those first. From reading the instructions (on the heat bond package) I cut strips and placed them on the inside of one chevron pattern and ironed it (no steam) in place. I did this to all three sides of the triangle.

Once the paper strips had cooled, I peeled the paper part off and matched up another chevron triangle on top with the outside of the material facing up. I then ironed it fusing both pieces together. (sorry, I forgot to take a picture of this step) When I had fused all of my chevron triangles together I then had 6 chevron and 6 white felt that I needed to piece together. Along the top of each triangle I iron on a strip of heat n' bond and one by one ironed the matching (gross grain) ribbon to each triangle. 

 Once I was all finished with adhering all 12 to the ribbon I decided that to help it be the most durable I went ahead and ironed on another strip of ribbon to the other side. Putting the ribbon on the both sides also makes it double sided.

Then, because I didn't get the extra hold heat n' bond I did a simple straight stitch on my sewing machine. I don't want it to fall apart next year. So going forward I will remember to get the extra hold stuff (lesson learned).

And that's it! We will actually be adding to the banner in the coming weeks leading up to Easter. Starting tomorrow, we will begin our Easter lessons in our homeschool and I will share what we complete as we go along! Do you have any special Easter lessons planned? Please share. 

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