Looking Forward to Easter, pt. 1

by Peggy Brown

When my children were young I was in a Moms in Touch prayer group. It was a wonderful time of getting together with several other moms each week to pray over our children and the teachers in their school.

One week we each received a call requesting that, if we wanted to participate in making an Easter project, we should bring a dozen plastic Easter Eggs to our next Moms in Touch meeting. Since I’m always one for a project devised by someone else, I arrived with my eggs in hand. I was anxious to see what was in store.

Well, what we produced that week was a tool that we could use with our kids to encourage teaching moments specifically on the 12 days leading up to Easter. Now you have to appreciate how much we love these. My youngest is 21 now and we still get out the eggs as a prelude to Easter.

I thought I would share them with you early, so that if you want to create this set of eggs you have time to do it BEFORE Easter! (This gives you an insight into one of my personal flaws…I procrastinate! If you have this same flaw, you have lots of time to procrastinate and STILL be done in time ;-) You may have seen similar sets of these for sale at Christian bookstores, so if creating is not your “thing”, you can buy it!

The idea is that you open one egg each day for the 12 days ending with the 12^th egg on Easter. Each one contains an object and a small slip of paper with a scripture written out including the reference. I put mine in a basket in the middle of the dining room table as a part of my Easter decorations. Each day as you read the scripture and consider the object you have an opportunity to share spiritual truth with your child in a very natural way.

Here we go:

(First thing to do is number the eggs 1-12 with a permanent marker)

#1- Object: 3 silver coins (nickels/dimes)

Verse: Matthew 26:15 - and he (Judas) asked, "How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?" And they gave him thirty pieces of silver.

#2- Object: Several crackers (we used Oyster crackers)

Verse: Matthew 26:26 - And while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."

#3- Object: Small piece of purple fabric

Verse: Mark 15:17 – They put a purple robe on Jesus and used thorny branches to make a crown for His head.

#4- Object: Thorns (we used a small piece of rose stem with a few thorns attached)

Verse: Matthew 27:29 a - And after weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.

#5- Object: Representation of the cross (we took wooden skewers, broke them into appropriate lengths and tied them in the center with red thread)

Verse: John 19:17-18 a - They took Jesus therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him.

#6- Object: Piece of paper with the words: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Verse: Luke 23:38 - At the top of the cross these words were written: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Because this got a bit longer than I’d anticipated, and also because next week it is entirely possible that I’ll be out of town becoming a grandma , I am dividing this into a 2 week entry. So, stay tuned for the next installment!

Heavenly Father, Your gifts to us are so gracious and generous! Sometimes I am unable to do anything but stand amazed. As we look ahead to Easter, I ask that You would begin now to catch our attention with the magnitude of Your love for us. Give us greatful hearts! Amen