Easter week - Sunday

Easter is a week away and it has really been on my mind. I want my children to undertand what Easter is really about. Sure, the Easter bunny will come visit our house and we will all eat ourselves silly, however it is about so much more than that. Its actually about the most important thing that has every happened to mankind...the atonement and resurrection of our Savior.

I have found it quite easy to emphasize that Christmas is about Jesus. It's not hard for a child to grasp that Christmas is actually about Jesus' birth. It is, however, more challenging and complex to teach children that Christ took on the sins of the world in the Garden of Gethsemane, and that He was crucified. I have always struggled to teach this to my kids because honestly, it breaks my heart. Especially in the early years of my conversion, I totally blocked out anything to do with the atonement and crucifixion. I just couldn't handle it...I couldn't swallow it. It made me sick to think of those things happening to anyone, let only my Savior, my Redeemer, my best friend. But as the years have passed and my understanding has deepened, I have come to love the story on a very deep, raw and personal level. My kids need to know...they need to know what Jesus did. They need to know why He did it. They need to know how He did it. They need to know who the Savior really was. And I can't teach them that without telling them the story of Easter.

With that, we are celebrating Easter week. We will be reading the scriptures and doing activities to mark each of the 7 days before Jesus was resurrected.

Tonight, we celebrated Jesus' triumphal enterance into Jerusalem. We read the account in Matthew 21, watched a bible video of it, then made 'Hosanna palms' and re-enacted the scene. It was a special way to start out the week - shouting 'Hosanna!!' and welcoming The Lord with love. 

I honestly and truly pray that the Spirirt will enter our homes and hearts this week to help prepare us - all of us - for the celebration of Easter.