Preparing for Easter

Today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Lent is the 40 days (minus Sundays) leading up to Easter.  The forty days commemorate the time Jesus spent fasting in the desert and endured temptation by the Devil. It is also a time for believers to prepare for Resurrection Sunday through prayer, repentance, alms giving, etc. Many people use this Lenten season to give up something.  We, as a family, are going to try to add some things. Just like with Advent and Christmas, we are trying to make Easter more meaningful for our family. We want to take this time to truly stop and listen to God. We want to love and help others by serving and putting others first. We also want to pray and savor God's word. Then for the two weeks leading up to Easter we will be doing some specific Resurrection crafts and activities with the boys. If you are interested in making Easter more meaningful, here are a few resources that have helped us and some of the things we are going to try to include during this special time:

• a link to my Pinterest Easter board for activities for the boys
• Resurrection series- We'll start this 10 days before Easter
• Rachel Held Evans- all of her Lent ideas
• 40 Days of Living the Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight
• The Little Way of Lent: Meditations in the Spirit of Therese de Lisieux
• a traditional Passover meal
• A Holy Experience
• The Jesus Storybook Bible 

As always we'll be sure to share along the way.