At the Cross

Our House of Curls has been enjoying the signs of spring in our front yard: beautiful flowers blooming, green grass growing, bees buzzing and fruit blooms popping up. We are so excited about the yummy veggies and fruits that we will get to enjoy this summer!

With the arrival of spring, also comes Easter! We love celebrations in our house and take full advantage of the fun activities that come with them.

Easter baking

Easter crafts

This is a very easy Easter craft that any aged child can participate in and enjoy!


Tape Art
Tempera paint or fingerpaint
paper
Masking tape


First, choose a design. Since it is Easter, I used a cross. Using the tape, construct your design on the paper:

Let your child paint all around the tape. You can use brushes or if you're adventurous, let them use their fingers:

Let the paint fully dry:

Lastly, carefully pull the tape from the paper:

My girlies loved this and were so surprised that the cross was "hiding" under the paint!

I wanted to take this craft and create a simple but understandable Easter lesson for my girlies. We've been reading through the Jesus Storybook Bible and have a cute little set of wooden figurines to make the story come alive for them.

It's been fun reading through the story and acting it out! Oldest girlie has been asking a lot of questions about why Jesus had to die, why He had blood on His hands, and why the soldiers were so mean to Him. These questions have led to several great discussion about our sins, repentance, and forgiveness.

To help the girlies visualize this, we have been making a list throughout the day of the things we do that makes God sad and also the things that please God. I emphasize to the girlies that He loves us regardless of what we do, but that we will daily sin and make Him sad with our choices and actions. We have also been talking about our expressions and how they reflect what we are feeling. 


We labeled one paper with a happy face and one with a sad face:

The girlies say out loud what they have done and so do Mommy and Daddy and then we write them all down on paper. We then ask God to forgive us by praying to Him.

BUT, the best part of this illustration happens at the end of the day. We rip up the paper that lists our sins and we throw it away! The girlies love ripping up the paper!!

We then talk about how when Jesus died on the cross, He took away our sins! We don't have to live with our sin, we don't have to feel sad or discouraged. When we ask God to forgive us, He takes them away.

What an amazing story; the Gospel story of Jesus Christ! I am so thankful that we can celebrate both His death and His resurrection, not just this weekend, but every day of our lives. I have heard Jeremy Riddle's song, "Sweetly Broken" several times this week and it has honestly brought me to tears a few times thinking about what Christ endured at the cross for me. He suffered, was shamed, beaten, and hung on a cross for me. And yet, how quickly I forget and forsake Him for the crappy things of this world! It breaks me and makes me long to be more like Him. I want to love Him, and not people; Pursue Him, and not fame; Desire Him, and not time for myself; Praise Him, and not a silly image that fades.   


Happy Easter everyone! May you find yourself resting at the cross and in the great love of Christ!

"Sweetly Broken"

by Jeremy Riddle

To the cross I look.

To the cross I cling.

Off its suffering I do drink.

Of its work I do sing.

On it my Savior, both bruised and crushed,

showed that God is love, and God is just.

At the cross You, beckon me,

draw me gently to my knees and I am,

lost for words so, lost in love I'm

sweetly broken, wholly surrendered.

What a priceless gift,

undeserved life have I been given,

through Christ crucified.

You've called me out of death.

You've called me into life.

And I was under Your wrath,

now through the cross, I'm reconciled.

In awe of the cross I must confess,

how wondrous Your redeeming love

and how great is Your faithfulness!