He is Risen!

On Saturday, April 23, we got dressed up in the afternoon to head to our Easter church service. We arrived a little early and while they signed Joshua into his normal room, no one was working in that room that afternoon. I can definitely see his age in that he simply went with the flow and joined another classroom. I was thankful that there were no tears or confusion. As we were waiting to go into his room, we talked about MANY stories, including Shadrach, Meshach and Abendego. He loves the Bible stories and can recite most of them by heart. I love how much he enjoys them.

Our sermon that evening was on being in the "land between" - or anywhere that you find yourself where you can't go back to the way things were but you haven't arrived at exactly where you're going. For some folks that's being laid off from one job and you haven't landed a new one. For others, it may mean a death in the family, a foreclosure on a house, or an upcoming move. I thought of us having a baby - we're never going back to our little family of four, but we haven't arrived with our fifth member yet. The sermon wasn't really an 'Easter' sermon per se, but I thought it was good. The pastor noted that the Israelites wandered in the dessert for 40 years, and they grumbled against God rather than trusting Him. Our response should be to trust in our Lord, be thankful rather than complaining, and look to Him to provide for us and our future.

Speaking of stories, I love some of the crafts that Joshua comes home with from preschool that helps him tell a story. Here is his palm branch, which we talked about what "Hosanna" means (God saves!).

The next one is a paper plate that he created at preschool to depict the tomb where they laid Jesus' body. He would tell us how Jesus was a man, even though He was God, too. He came to earth and performed many miracles like making all the sick people well. But, some people didn't believe Jesus and who He said He was. So, they put nails in his hands and feet and hung Him on the cross, where He died. And everyone was very sad. They put His body in a tomb. Three days later, his friends went to visit, but the stone (represented by the crumbled bag) was rolled away. An angel told them that Jesus wasn't dead - He was alive! He had risen! And He would go up to heaven to be with God after visiting His friends.

As Joshua would tell the story, he'd move the stone (which was held on by tape). He LOVED to tell anyone who would listen the story of the cross. Since the Bean has been really into the story of Moses, I could also tell Him that Easter is our passover. We don't need a lamb's blood because Jesus' blood covers our sins (or what we do wrong). He is our way to be with God. I'm not sure how much of it Joshua understands, but I'm glad he's interested and I know that he soaks in more than we think.

Thank You, Jesus, for dying for our sins! Thank You for rising again! Thank You for Easter!