Life is definitely keeping us busy...and causing time to sail a little faster. I seem to be running here, there, and everywhere these days (both physically and mentally). I admit, all the busyness can be exhausting, but I guess I'd rather be busy than idle. As Proverbs 31:27 says, "She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness."
I've been reading Proverbs 31 a lot lately. While preparing for a Bible study a couple weeks ago, I was drawn to this particular chapter. The study was on Lydia and I was looking for parallels between her life and the Proverbs 31 verses. There were several. It's always amazing how even after reading a scripture passage several times, God has a way of making it seem brand new. God's word is truly alive! As I read verses 10 - 31, I felt a huge twinge of conviction. Is this really what I should be aspiring to? Really? Wow. Yikes. We're talking about
me, here. This could take several lifetimes. I just don't think it's possible. But the more I read, the more I realized it all comes down to verse 30 (perhaps, the most well-known of these verses). "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." The fact is, my number one priority should be to honor God and draw closer to Him everyday. To depend on Him for everything. If I can put all my trust in Him and remain within His will, He will take care of the rest and in His time, mold me into the Proverbs 31 woman He wants me to be. (I certainly can't do it on my own.) While I recognize and believe this to be true, unfortunately, it is easier said than done. For it is the busyness of life which causes my prorities to shift...but with God's help, I will do my best to stay on track.
Well, I had not intended to go into all that, but my mind tends to ramble sometimes. This post was meant to be about Easter, soooo.....
A couple weeks before Easter, I brought out the resurrection eggs. Both kids L-O-V-E those eggs...and I love that they L-O-V-E them. Each day, either during our regular morning Bible time or later in the day (or both) we went through the Easter story. Jacob and Annabelle split up the eggs evenly and opened them up as the story went on. First I told them the story, then they usually wanted to tell me the story themselves afterwards -- such a great way to teach them what Easter is all about.
Of course, keeping up the tradition, we dyed eggs. Nothing fancy. No all-natural, homemade veggie and fruit dyes this year. Just good ole Paas. And it was so much easier. And the kids were just as happy.
We only dyed one dozen. That's all they (and I) had the patience for anyway. Twelve was quite enough. Jacob wrote on a few with the invisible "magic" wax crayon. I was slightly dismayed, but not at all surprised, when I pulled his orange egg out of the dye and read the word "poop" which he had written on the side. "Jacob, really?? Why did you write 'poop' on the side of your Easter egg?" I asked. He laughed and laughed, then finally said, "I guess 'poop' isn't really an Easter word. Here, I'll fix it." He grabbed the sticker sheet, picked out one of a cross and covered up his non-Easter word. "A cross is better than poop," he said. "Becase Jesus died on a cross."
While Jacob was writing "poop" on the side of his egg, Annabelle was dying her pink shirt blue. Thank goodness for OxiClean. It washed that blue dye right out.
Annabelle loves flowers. Everywhere we go, she picks flowers -- landscaping around buildings, other people's gardens, from the flower stands at the farmer's market, and all other places where she shouldn't be picking them. It's a little embarrassing. She picked one from a farmer's market stand once and handed it to me. "I love you, Mommy," she said, happily. Then what do I do? I mean, it was such a sweet gesture, but it was a
stolen flower. I knew she would cry if I threw it to the ground, but I didn't want to walk around holding a flower that I didn't pay for. I explained to her that she should not pick flowers like that. Unfortunately, we've had the same conversation several times and it seems she would rather go to time out than to leave the flowers alone.
Given her love of flowers, we sent her a little Easter bouquet. It arrived just as we were finishing the eggs -- perfect timing. She loved it...and she could pick these all she wanted. :)
Easter morning, the kids hurried through their baskets so we could get ready for church. The Easter Bunny was light on candy this year and the kids didn't seem to mind. Actually, I think they received just the right amount. Good job, Easter Bunny! **wink, wink**
After the baskets, we were off to church to celebrate.
We went out for lunch after church, then headed home. Annabelle was wired from Easter candy. Unbeknownst to Heath and I, she had polished off almost an entire chocolate bunny in the car on the way from church to the restaurant. She had gotten it from church and just couldn't wait to get into that box. Jacob, as usual, had a little more restraint. He waited until after lunch to eat his. With all that chocolate, back yard playtime was absolutely necessary. Actually, we went for a "family run." I quickly volunteered to stay with Annabelle. We ran some and walked some and she had a blast. Heath ran with Jacob. He let Jacob set the pace and he ended up running the whole way -- about 1.8 miles! He was so excited to be running with his Daddy.
We ended the day with a load of laundry since Annabelle's beautiful white dress was now striped with cranberry juice and chocolate. OxiClean to the rescue!
And that was our Easter -- full of fun and surprises -- all while celebrating and rejoicing in the fact that HE IS RISEN!
