Here’s my contribution to your rainy day activities: Bust out a little project for your Easter table! Here are some splashy little name tags that are super easy . . . and due to the fact that I can not for the life of me figure out how to embed the PDF here on Femina, I have had to post the download and instructions for this little project over at Amoretti. So trot along over there if you’re needing a project for the afternoon that involves a very low level of commitment!
Easter and Advent are the two pivotal Christian celebrations in the church year, so we obviously want our families to honor and commemorate these days in a manner worthy of the great events they mark. Though our secular society also marks these days, we want the tone of our own celebration of these holidays (holy days) to be established by our worship services, the centerpieces of the festival. In other words, our family celebrations are secondary; the worship is central. So this means we have the pleasure of creating traditions, carrying on old traditions, and enjoying the way we each celebrate with our families in our homes. The church does not mandate how we do this. So since someone asked, let’s start talking about a few Easter traditions.
As I’ve already said, Easter celebration begins with worship. For all my life, Easter Sunday meant new clothes for church, and I still like the symbolism of newness and resurrection in wearing new clothes. It’s not just about the “Easter parade.” New garments or special clothing has long been a way of signifying the importance and Continue reading ‘Easter Festivities’
Our ten-day forecast is cold and rain, rain, maybe some snow, and more rain. Though the farmers are doing a victory dance, it can still be hard on the rest of us, especially you moms who have to call off the springtime walks for the week. But even if it’s a downpour outside, that’s no reason to let it start raining inside too. So here are a few ideas to keep the rainy day out in the yard where it belongs.
1. Pick up the house. A tidy house is lots more fun to be in than a big mess. Plump up the pillows and shine up the coffee table. Put fresh sheets on the beds. And don’t forget to make sure you are looking cheery. Fix your hair and put on some earrings and a cute bright sweater. Now we’re talking.
2. Bring in some flowers. The grocery stores have plenty of selections. Get a bright colored flowering plant or a bunch of tulips (or daffodils) and put them on the table. Of course an Easter lily is the perfect choice right now.
3. And speaking of the table, put on a cheery runner or tablecloth. Look around in your linen closet and pull out something fresh, preferably bright yellow!
4. Fill the house with some cheery music.
5. Turn on the lights! No reason to fumble around in the dark. Change all the burnt-out light bulbs and surprise yourself with how bright your house can be!
6. Fill the house with some yummy smells. Make some bread or cinnamon rolls.
7. Put some bright throw pillows on the sofa and ditch those dingy tan colored things.
8. Make some play dough with the kids and get them busy with their hands. Easter is coming, so color some eggs!
9. Write some thank-you notes, call your mom to say hi, wrap a birthday gift.
10. Invite some friends over for soup. Shine the silver for the big Easter dinner.
Okay, so that’s probably more than ten. But you get the idea. Most importantly, in all these things, overflow in gratitude to God. Count your blessings. Rejoice!
I just wanted to jump in for a second and say that I finally wrangled a few minutes of action out of my brain and started a new knitting project (actually two, but the other I have to quickly finish before I can get a picture). You will all be glad to know that also, at this very moment, my bathroom is clean. We have not sacrificed everything for the Easter tree! I am hopeful that I may manage a few minutes of sewing time tomorrow (I don’t know why I am hopeful – we have had to admit that the twins are just not napping anymore. No, wait! I know why I am hopeful – the bathroom is clean!), and maybe that will result in some finished Easter dresses. We will see how it all pans out in the morning!
But, in the meantime, if you want to crank out some Easter eggs with some scraps of yarn that you had around, these take hardly any time, and they are pretty cheerful if I do say so myself!
As Easter approaches, what better time to get our hearts and thoughts and minds in order. Not that we wait until Easter each year to do this! But the upcoming annual celebration of the Resurrection presents us with good grounds for clearing away the debris that has accumulated. (A bit like winter’s pile of dead leaves in my garden.)
The Bible gives us much consolation and comfort from Genesis to Revelation, but somehow or other, we can still manage to get distracted by many burdens and cares. Our flesh tends toward anxiety, worry, discontent, ingratitude, and envy. These are all worldly things, things on the earth, things below. And Paul tells the Colossians to put to death, put off, and put away the old earthly stuff (3:5-9) and put on the new man, which is being renewed and sanctified after the image of our Creator (3:10).
But we want to fuss a little bit about this. “It is so hard.” Of course it is hard. No one said it would be easy. The Christian life is compared to a race not a stroll in the park. Paul tells the Philippians (4:8) to think about certain things: things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, or worthy of praise. Why did he Continue reading ‘Easter Thoughts’
Yes, this is outdated and essentially old news. But then again, I’ve only just peeled myself up off the floor after Easter and so I could hardly have been expected to mention it earlier!
Here’s what happened. In the comment section from last week when everyone was giving their ideas for Easter menus, I loved the suggestion (from Cindy I believe) to make Resurrection Rolls. I mean, how festive is that? (I should mention at this point that I also made Cheryl’s deviled egg chicks . . . because how could you look at that picture and then NOT make them? Mine looked like googly-eyed owls wearing flight goggles, but still quite a striking presence on the table. They lent a high tone to the whole proceeding.)
Anyway, I thought I should definitely make the Resurrection Rolls for Easter breakfast. But since I didn’t get around to that until about 10:30 pm on Saturday night, I decided that I would just do the old trick of letting them do their second rise in the fridge overnight and baking them in the morning. I made my favorite dough for cinnamon rolls which makes a lovely, squidgy dough – and wrapped them round the marshmallows, dipped them in butter and stuck them in the pans And now we come to the moment where I stop, drop, and show you a picture of my fridge. Brace yourselves.
(I would also like to take a moment to congratulate myself on my great spirituality . . . I didn’t even photoshop out the grimy floor underneath, or even reduce the resolution so Continue reading ‘Slight Symbolism Glitch’
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