Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
John 15:13

Jesus talked a lot about giving on Day Four of Passion Week.  Of course He had every right to do that since He was about to give the ultimate gift of His life on the cross for the sins of the world.

Encourage your children to give today as you talk about how much Jesus gave.  Bake Easter cookies (see recipe below) in the shape of a cross to share with neighbors.   As you make them,  talk about Jesus’ gift to us.  Say:

Everybody has done wrong things such as disobeying, lying, being unkind, etc.   God calls this sin and there must be punishment for it. But Jesus loved us so much that He took the punishment for all the wrong things that were done or would ever be done.  He died on the cross so we would not have to.  We can now have a happy life forever with God.

In your giving today, don’t forget to give thanks to Jesus for His gift of life to us.  Here’s a simple song to sing to Him  -  Jesus, Jesus, Thank You Jesus.  Make up your own songs together.

My mother’s old-fashioned tea cookies recipe:

3/4 cup crisco or butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 & 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 & 1/2 cup Self-rising flour
Mix all together, roll out, and cut into shapes
(If you don’t have a cross cookie cutter, roll out 2 small ropes & lay one across the other to make a cross.)
Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes.

Ice with butter cream frosting:
1 box confectioner sugar
dash of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup butter

Read here about Day Three of Passion Week.  Jesus had a busy day, having his authority challenged 4 different times and spending time teaching. In your personal reading, read chapters 11 – 16 in Mark to become very familiar with the account of Jesus’ last week on earth.  Be prepared to tell some of the parables with enthusiasm.  Read to your children from their children’s Bible some of these stories that Jesus told.   Click here for books of various parables by Arch Publications.  Click here for books and videos related to Easter. Click here or here for a good children’s Bible.

Jesus often taught in parables. Follow His example in teaching and use visuals or stories to get the point across:

Plant a seed as a visual to illustrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. Talk about when we put seeds in the ground we can’t see them anymore, but after awhile they will push their way out of the ground.  Just like when Jesus died and friends put him in the tomb, they couldn’t see Him anymore, but after three days, the first Easter morning, Jesus came out of the tomb alive! (marigolds or zinnias sprout within three days!)

Take a family walk and notice any new growth as you talk about the fact that Easter comes at springtime when seeds begin to sprout after being dead all winter.   The plants come out to praise God and remind us that Jesus is alive! (Psalm 145:10 All Your works shall praise You, O Lord,)

What happened on Day Two of Passion Week? Click to find out. Tell your children the events of this day some 2000 years ago.  You can be very animated as you tell of Jesus cleansing the temple because He loved God’s house so much and people were not respecting it.  Talk of ways to respect your church (keep it clean, don’t run inside, listen to your teachers, etc.)

Emphasize that your bodies are now the temple of God and we must take care of them.  Plan and prepare a healthy meal together and have a family exercise night. Check out the Train Up the Child store to the left for books on nutrition. The Adventures of Junk Food Dude is an excellent book for children to learn about healthy food choices.

Make a cross out of twigs or craft sticks and keep it in a prominent place during the Easter season.  Point out that it is empty because Jesus didn’t stay on the cross or in the tomb . . . He is alive!!

Read all about Palm Sunday at Day One of Passion Week. Tell the story with enthusiasm to your children.

Make palm leaves out of green construction paper or white paper and paint green.  Let children cut into the edges to make the leaves.

Act out the story:  use a stick horse or a broom as the donkey or even let dad be the donkey   Let one child be Jesus and as he rides into the city, the rest of the family can wave the leaves.

Have fun teaching the Greatest Story ever told this Passion Week!!  Follow Train Up The Child for information and ideas all week.

Exodus 20:3
You shall have no other gods before Me.

Here’s a simple way to illustrate the meaning of this verse.  I used these cards with my children 30 years ago, so don’t laugh at the TV with rabbit ears   We made cards illustrating things we might be putting before God such as friends, money, and TV.

We also read from The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes, the Bible story recorded in Exodus 32:1-6 about when God’s people turned away from God and started praying to a golden calf that they had made.  We talked about how this caused God much sorrow,  just as it makes Him sad when we put other things or people before Him in our lives.

Let your children help make your own cards with pictures of things that tend to take your family’s time and attention away from God.  Place the cards face down and mix them up.   Then take turns choosing a card to see who picks God first.

God will give you all the things you need and enjoy if you give Him first place in your life and live as He wants you to. (Matthew 6:33)

Did you or your children ever wonder why we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?    I’m not sure what lies behind some of the traditions associated with the day, but the man that the holiday is named for has a story children need to hear.

Did you know Patrick isn’t Irish? He was born into a wealthy English family about 385 A.D. He died on March 17, 461.  When he was 16 years old, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and taken to Ireland as a slave where he worked as a shepherd.  During this time he was lonely and afraid; this caused him to turn to God with his whole heart.  After about 6 years as a slave, Patrick escaped and began studying to be a priest.

However, he did not forget Ireland; he had a desire to go back one day and tell them about Jesus.  He did eventually return there as a missionary.  Isn’t that amazing that he would want to go back to the place where he had been enslaved and tell them of God’s love?  What an act of forgiveness! Eventually Patrick was called a saint by the Catholic Church because of his love and kindness to the people of Ireland.

It is believed that Patrick brought the shamrock plant to Ireland and used the three-leafed plant to illustrate the message of the Trinity. This would be a good time to teach about the Trinity.  Click here for help in sharing the concept with your children.  A good children’s book to illustrate the Trinity is 3 in 1: A Picture of God.

Go outside and look for clover and talk about the Trinity; be like St. Patrick teaching the Irish.

Click here for a shamrock craft.

God likes things organized.  Just read in Exodus 36-40 and see the details He gives for the furnishings in the Tabernacle and the arrangement of the furniture.  As always, He is our example.  If He wants His House organized, our homes should be organized. But I’m aware that with all you have to do, the house sometimes becomes low on your list of priorities. However, getting organized will save time in the long run, and having a clutter-free home will have a calming affect on your children.

Accomplishing this comes very easy for some people, but others find it more difficult.  We can claim some of God’s promises that apply here:
Philip. 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
1 Thes. 5:24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
Ask God to help you ‘watch over carefully all that goes on throughout your household ‘(Proverbs 31:27)

Don’t beat yourself up if your gift is not organization -  but don’t be afraid to ask for help from those who do have that gift  -  it’s all part of ‘bearing one another’s burdens’(Galatians 6:2).  Some people really enjoy organizing and would be delighted to help. If that’s not you, you have different gifts that you can share. In fact, some people may tend to be so organized that they will need to learn from you how to sometimes  leave the broom and go build a memory!

Read 1 Corinthians 12 to see how the Body of Christ is to work.

The Christian Stay at Home Moms blog offers a book to help in organizing.

Involving Your Children in the Process

Deuteronomy 6 tells us to teach as we go.  You can make cleaning and organizing a teaching opportunity as you talk about how God was specific about organizing His house and we should do the same.

Give them age-appropriate jobs to do so they can feel a sense of accomplishment:
(Galatians 6:4 Let everyone be sure that he is doing his very best, for then he will have the personal satisfaction of work well done and won’t need to compare himself with someone else.) Lead them to memorize this scripture.

Be like Mary Poppins and ‘find the fun in every job to be done’.  Make a game out of cleaning – for example pretend that a bomb will go off if the job isn’t completed by a certain time;  or pretend that the president or Jesus is coming for a visit.  I like to lead children in a chant of (1 Cor. 3:9) – ‘we work together; we work together’ as we clean up.

Make a game of it:

And please don’t forget to ask for help if needed

Let your children know the history of special days or the reason for celebrations. God commanded His people to do this in Joshua 4:20-24:  At Gilgal Joshua set up the 12 stones they had taken from the Jordan. [21] He said to the people of Israel, “In the future when children ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ [22] the children should be told that Israel crossed the Jordan River on dry ground. [23] The Lord your God dried up the Jordan ahead of you until you had crossed, as he did to the Red Sea until we had crossed. [24] The Lord did this so that everyone in the world would know his mighty power and that you would fear the Lord your God every day of your life.”

We are familiar with February 2 being called Groundhog Day. But did you know it is also called Candlemas?  It is celebrated forty days after the birth of Jesus Christ.  In Luke 2:22-35, it is recorded that Mary and Joseph took infant Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem for the ritual purification of Mary after childbirth  and in order to present their first born which was required by the Law of Moses. As they presented Jesus to Simeon, he prophesied: “Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against. Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of manyhearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).

Celebration of Candlemas Day began by Roman Catholics with lighting candles and parading through the streets as a commemoration of the presentation of Jesus and the prophesy of Simeon.  German immigrants known as Pennsylvania Dutch brought the tradition to America in the 18th century.

But where does Groundhog Day come in?  Candlemas occurs half way between the first day of winter and the first day of spring.   Ancient thought was that hibernating creatures were able to predict the arrival of springtime on this day.  Traditionally, it was believed that if Candlemas was sunny, the remaining six weeks of winter would be stormy and cold. But if it rained or snowed on Candlemas, the rest of the winter would be mild. If an animal “sees its shadow,” it must be sunny, so more wintry weather is predicted.

So now you know and can tell your children.  Be sure and read Luke 2:22-35 and tell in your own words about Jesus going to ‘church’ for the first time.  Then just have some fun with groundhog crafts:

http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/mgroundhog.html

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/groundhogday/popuphog/ (my personal favorite!) Sing this song Mr.-Groundhog when you finish this craft.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/groundhogday/

Whatever our age, we all see Christmas as the time for writing letters to “Santa”, enumerating the things we have been wanting all year. Over the years, Santa has gotten more letters requesting the Red Ryder BB gun and the Easy Bake Oven than any other toys.

The Red Ryder BB Gun is a BB gun made by Daisy Outdoor Products and introduced in 1938, named for the comic strip cowboy character Red Ryder. The BB gun is still in production despite the fact that the comic strip was canceled in 1963. The Red Ryder BB Gun is a lever-action, spring piston air gun with a smoothbore barrel, adjustable iron sights, and a gravity feed magazine with a 650 BB capacity. The Red Ryder BB gun was featured in the popular 1980’s film A Christmas Story, where the main character is desperate to get one, but is constantly thwarted with the warning “You’ll shoot your eye out”. The movie’s fictional BB gun, described as the “Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot Range Model air rifle BB gun with a compass in
the stock and a thing which tells time,” does not correspond to any actual production model.

America’s first working toy oven, was turquoise and had a carrying handle and fake stove top. It was invented by designers at Kenner Products (now a division of Hasbro). In its first year, 1963, over 500,000 lucky kids talked their parents into spending $15.95. By its fifth birthday, the EASY-BAKE Oven was a household name. In 1965, Hasbro introduced the Kid Dinners for the oven which were mini TV-dinner-like trays partitioned into three sections to hold beef and macaroni, peas and carrots. In 1968, General Mills created very cool miniature boxed versions of its Betty Crocker products for the EASY-BAKE Oven. The oven is still in production almost 50 years later.

Now it is 2010 and the hot items are the Xbox, the iphone, and the ipad. No matter what the item, we all have something we desire.

So how do we transform this to make it a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ?

When you make your wish lists, just remember that all these things will never bring you complete fulfillment. But there is One who is the Desire of all people, whether they know it or not, who will bring fulfillment. Haggai 2:7 (NKJV) ‘…and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. The Christ Child is the “Desire of All Nations”!

[Along with our Christmas wish list, our family also makes out a "Grown-Up Christmas List" which is composed of our personal spiritual desires for our lives for the coming year.  Each family member has a copy of everyone's requests so we can pray for each other.  Each year at our birthday party for Jesus we take inventory of our lives to see the results of the prayers throughout the year.]

Christmas cards connect us to family and friends. Cards remind us that someone cares and, more importantly, has taken the time to remember us.

Christmas cards originated in England over 150 years ago. In 1843 Sir Henry Cole, the founder of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, had so many Christmas greetings to send that handwriting them was impossible. Yet he wanted to make his friends aware of the need to help the destitute on that holiday. His answer was to commission John Calcott Horsley to paint a card showing the feeding and clothing of the poor. A center panel displayed a happy family embracing one another, sipping wine and enjoying the festivities, and the words “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You was printed on that first card. Although he had the best intentions, the card drew criticism for showing a child enjoying a sip of wine and Sir Henry was considered to be”fostering the moral corruption of children.” ” Legend says Sir Henry didn’t send any cards the following year, but the custom became popular anyway.

From this first-known Christmas card a flourishing card industry has evolved. That early card was hand-colored and lithographed on stiff cardboard, then delivered by hand, a far cry from today’s mass production and almost instant delivery of internet e-cards.

Still, the overriding purpose and custom of exchanging Christmas cards grows out of that very human need to connect.  Christmas is that special time of year that makes us feel that we are all a part of the same family and being part of the same family we owe each other some measure of good. Christmas cards are one way we convey this to others and make them feel special?

How do we transform this to make it a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ?

As Christians, we are all part of Jesus’ family. The world should know us by our love. Jesus came to show us how to love one another, care for one another, and encourage one another, not just at Christmas but all year through.

John 17:11 (Msg) For I’m no longer going to be visible in the world; they’ll continue in the world while I return to you. Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life that you conferred as a gift through me, So they can be one heart and mind as we are one heart and mind.

Have a family night of making Christmas cards to send to friends.  Let your children be creative using paper, markers, stickers, glitter, glue, pictures cut from old Christmas cards, etc.  Think of sending a card to someone who has had a tough year.