And our pretzel-making went really well too! We had another family over to try the adventure, and it was lots of fun. Easter morning the kids handed pretzel in gift bags with little message about the history and symbolism to people as they came into church. I hope we can do it again next year, and maybe even at some point learn how to make pretzels from scratch… Rachel, got a recipe?

Our little boy wasn’t so successful, but I ran all over town today and finally stopped in at Old Navy, which is just as well since our long and lean kids usually have to be cinched into pants from other stores lol…and he won’t be left out. :^) (I’m pretty sure that the entire city of Lynchburg has at least one little boy who wears 18-24 months and likes the *exact* same clothes we do.)

Now for that coconut cake…

Thanks everyone for the table centerpiece ideas.

One more idea I thought I could share is actually something we came up with last night on the spur of the moment, but are really excited to try. A few months ago I came across a fun little book by Eric Carle (of the “Brown Bear, Borwn Bear…” fame) called “Walter the Baker.” It is a fictionalized story of the invention of the pretzel. On the back page is a short description of the tradition of the pretzel, which happens to be Lenten in origin (I plan to research this one further).

Apparently, the criss-cross in the middle of the pretzel is a symbol of penitence, of our arms being crossed in prayer as we bow before the Lord.

So we have decided to do a pretzel craft with our daughters on Saturday. I bought a giant bucket at Costco, some melting dark and white chocolate, and lots of fancy suagrs and Easter sprinkles. We’re going to decorate the pretzels together, then hand them out to loved ones as an Easter gift. We’re really looking forward to it, so I’ll let you know how it goes!

And glad you’re on board with the whole peep thing.

My husband has pneumonia so we are really hoping to not cancel our Easter celebration. Here are some things our family has done over the years, my two cents worth to add to the pot of ideas:

Fast through Lent with special family worship centering on this special season and leading up to Easter.

Tom Wright’s (N.T. Wright) book: “The Scriptures, The Cross, And The Power of God” Reflections for Holy Week. We go through this book during Holy Week starting on Palm Sunday. EXCELLENT book, it has readings for every day of the week.

NOT every year but sometimes we do a Christian Passover on Maundy Thursday. We do a Christian Sader meal where my husband explains to the family and any friends we invite all the symbolism and how everything pointed to Christ. The years we’ve done it, it has been very profound, the kids LOVE it, especially the part where they get to whip each other with green onions. Friends of ours introduced us to this tradition a few years back.

We have always attended a Good Friday service.

Dye Easter eggs and cook and make all sorts of Easter goodies from different ethnicities around the world.

My husband and I set out the kids’ Easter baskets right outside their bedroom door so they run right into them first thing in the morning. Each basket focuses on something special for that child.

Sunday dresses, hats, purses, gloves and shoes the whole shebang. Wow, now that I have son I’ll have to start looking for some “little man” clothes.

Go to church.

Huge Easter Feast with Lamb. Being middle eastern that is one of our traditions. We eat lamb for Easter symbolizing the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

Easter egg hunt for the kids afterwards. Yes, Valerie, chocolate AND peeps included.
Spend the rest of the day enjoying family and or friends and basking in the Love of Jesus.

I’m sure I may have missed something, but that’s basically what we do. I am always looking for ideas so I thank all of you women who have written. I LOVE the corsage idea!!

Happy Easter everyone! May you celebrate it robustly, with the same vigor and love our Lord himself showed when He died and rose again that first Easter.

Let us look forward to speaking those beautiful words on Sunday morning:

He is risen!
He is risen indeed!

However, when I was about 10, some friends who had just returned from working as missionaries in Israel invited us over for a Passover seder. The rich meaning and ceremony of the ancient traditional meal final allowed me to “get it” about what Easter was really all about. We instantly made this a family tradition and included brothers and sisters in Christ more often than immediate family. Since then, I have always loved Easter, not for the pretty new dress that I got most years, or the wonderful baskets that Mom still often prepares for us, but for the actual POINT of this Holy Day. We still hunted for eggs and made our selves sick on jelly beans. In fact, one of my most fond childhood memories is when Dad made each of us a little sign with our names written in animal letters and we followed our own color-coded trail of “Easter Bunny Poop” (jelly beans) to baskets that Mom had hidden throughout the house.

Now, as a relatively new bride, my husband and I are struggling to establish our own traditions. But this is one from my family that we have been anxious to bring into our own. We don’t have children yet, but this year, we are celebrating the Passover at our house with both sets of our parents. If you have never been to a seder, or seen a demonstration of one, I strongly encourage you to seek out this information. Celebrating it yearly as we do certainly isn’t for everyone. And it is important for Christians to remember that we are not under the Old Testament pharisaic law in celebrating the ancient feast, keeping kosher etc. But this was the last meal that Christ shared with His disciples on earth. This is when He instituted Communion — and it is actually already built into the ceremony of a traditional Jewish seder! The Jews celebrate the miracle of the resurrected messiah every year — and don’t even know it!
There are several excellent sources for messianic — or Christian/completed — Jewish traditions and information. We use the hagada (or “story book”) from www.messianicjewish.net and they also have great, Biblically sound resources for learning about all the Biblical feasts.