Today was Good Friday ... a day for us to focus on the Cross and prepare our hearts to remember how Jesus sacrificed for us. Good Friday is not to be confused with "Fun Friday" as I really try to pare down the day, no playdates or parks or egg hunts, but instead we try to make it a day to remember and reflect on this most important holiday to us as Christians...
Before breakfast I had the boys pull out all of their Bibles so we could read about the cross all day...
As a side note, I just have mention how surprised I am at how many of the children's bibles just SKIP the story of Jesus on the cross... as if there could be anything more important!
This year, we have started reading The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos. This was another Pamela Benton recommendation and it is a GOOD ONE. I will have to give my shameless plug as we are loving this Bible for the big boys. It goes a step beyond the other children's bibles we have and really dives into the text. It's not a replacement for scripture, by any means, but trust me - you will WANT this Bible as your kiddos pass the ages of 4, 5, 6 and are needing MORE... This one, actually, would be a great start for ANY new Christian, regardless of age. (PS: this doesn't mean that I love the Jesus Storybook Bible any less!!)
After reading through some of our Bibles, we took our bike ride to get some exercise ... the bike ride which is now only referred to by its full name, "5 Mile Bike Ride" - ha ha! The boys did a great job - pictured here at our "refuel stop". We stop under a street sign about halfway through the ride and the boys get off their bikes to drink a juice box and a snack on a quick treat before heading the rest of the way home
Once home they were looking forward to this project/craft we had planned for Good Friday - this is the picture posted of the finished product as made by a family other than ours.
Jared and Will sure love those projects! This idea was shared with me by a friend on Facebook and it seemed like a fun and relatively easy way to represent the empty tomb. I didn't have all the materials on hand to make exactly this as pictured, but it will be close...
We still need to wait for our wheat seeds to sprout, but I'm looking forward to this reminder of the empty tomb around our house in the weeks to come.
One of the coolest things that happened today, on Good Friday, was that our caterpillars started entering their cocoons. We were all amazed to see this transformation happen, literally overnight. I am blown away by the timing of these caterpillars entering their "tombs" on the same day we remember Jesus dying and being laid to rest in his.
Caleb has turned the corner in reading, too, as his attention span is increasing, and with it his ability to sit and listen to books. He said, "book! book!" asking for the child's bible on the counter, then hopped up onto this chair to "read" it. He was so sweet that there was no need to tell him he was reading it upside down!
After Daddy came home we took our walk as a family through the prayer garden - a Good Friday tradition. If you've never been, this is another thing I'd highly recommend. The garden is set near the mountain preserve on 40th/Shea and has a beautiful set of reliefs that guide you through the stations of the cross. The big boys this year were able to sit and discuss the events leading up to Jesus' death and resurrection, and, as always - put their fingers in the wounds in Jesus' hands and feet and side. This was Caleb's first year out of the stroller and even he could point to the pictures and say "Jesus, Jesus" as he touched the reliefs. And, tried to climb on them of course.
Our experience this year in the prayer garden was even more rich after reading the Vos Bible throughout the day as it told the story of the Passion in even more detail than the boys had ever heard.
... so much detail, in fact, that Will was totally floored before bed to hear that Judas hung himself on a tree... in hindsight I'm thinking that perhaps that part of the story could have waited until next year...
All, in all though, it was a Good Friday.
And, the best part is ... Sunday is coming.
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