Tonight marks the first night of Passover. We had a very nice, intimate meal at a fellow believers house with one other couple. We actually made it through most of the service with all of the kids. Of course, we had to give them "jobs" so they felt like they were a big part of it this year. When it came time for washing of hands, the oldest got to hold the bowl for the water to fall into. Our 6 year old poured the water over every one's hands. And our 4 year old got to carry the towel for drying hands. Of course, Elliana, who is almost 2, was content sitting at the table eating Playdoh! When we were reading about the plagues that happened in Egypt, the kids threw toy locusts, flies, ping pong balls for hail in the direction of the adults. They also turned water red to represent the water turning to blood in Egypt. All in all it was a very nice Passover meal. Now comes the hard part! Not eating leavening for 8 days! This will be very difficult for the kids because most of the snacks they eat lately contain some sort of yeast. I guess it is a good time to re-incorporate fruits and veggies for snacks.
I am, as I always do, having a hard time letting go of the traditions I had as a child and not passing them on to our children.
I grew up Lutheran, celebrating Easter. I remember the excitement of Easter as a child, waking up in the morning, finding baskets filled to the brim with chocolate, candy, and sometimes even a toy! I loved the building excitement as each of us would find our baskets and help the other kids find theirs. After we gorged ourselves with as much candy we could sneak before mom cut us off, we were off to church. Often, it was hard to sit still because of the sugar pulsating through our veins! After church and a quick afternoon nap, we headed to my aunts house for a huge Easter egg hunt. The winner always won a giant chocolate bunny. Mmmmm, more chocolate. However, as time goes on, it seems as though there is way to much emphasis put on Easter baskets and Easter eggs, and no emphasis put on what Jesus did for us. This is very frustrating for me, a good reminder of why we stopped celebrating the holiday. For us, we want to live like Jesus did, and he celebrated Passover, even becoming our Passover Lamb.
As it comes to this time of the year, I want to create traditions for my children to pass on to their children. I want them to remember excitement about Passover, not just remembering sitting through a very long service and dinner. Do any of you have any suggestions for me?
Thank you for your frank comments about your celebrations of Passover and Easter. I, too, grew up with Easter baskets, lots of candy (even though it was many, many years ago) and Easter eggs. However, when my children came along (again, many, many years ago) we chose NOT to celebrate Easter in this manner. We are Christian and saw nothing Christian in the bunny, eggs, etc. We celebrated our risen Saviour with reverence and respect. Resurrection is very sacred to us and our remembrance of our suffering and risen Savior is a very dear and reverent time for us.
ReplyDeletePassover is the Old Testament "looking forward" to the coming Lamb, and while a very real event, is sacred because it gives a time to look to the Lamb.
Thank you for your post.