Give It Up

Well, we started another Holy Week tradition tonight. We've been preparing the kids for this one for a couple of days now. Our focus? Lent. Yeah, try explaining this one to a 5 and almost 4-year old=) Instead of starting on Ash Wednesday we are making it a little more age appropriate by starting tonight and concluding our "fast" on Sunday.

In our explanation we talked about how Jesus gave up Heaven to come down to earth as a baby, how God gave up his Son and how Jesus ultimately gave up His own life for us. Then we explained how Jesus was tempted and that we will be tempted to play with the things we have given up but that we can ask God to help us.

Surprisingly Areyna had the hardest time thinking of what to give up for a whole week. I think she really gets it. She even shed a couple of tears while thinking about not being able to wear any princess dresses for a week, or play with any Barbie's for a week.

Zeke on the other hand was naming things left and right until he finally landed on the perfect sacrifice.

I've known what I was going to give up for a while! It's past overdue for me.

And Josh...well, lets just say that Josh and I both wanted to exemplify giving up something very near and dear to our hearts.

Josh is giving up Coffee

I am giving up my computer

Areyna is giving up makeup

(I know...I can't believe how hard it is for my 5-year-old to give up makeup!)

Zeke finally landed on his Spiderman car, HA!

Every day we will check off a day on our chart so the kids can visualize when they get their toy back. I wanted them to see that they weren't giving it up forever but instead for a time so we can focus on Jesus.

Yes, I am giving up my computer for a week *sigh* and will resume normal posting duties next week. But don't forget to come back every day this week for a devotional and activity that I've scheduled for you to do together as a family.

Additional Resources:

Remember to check out Josh's blog every day for an adult devotional for Holy Week.

My friend, Jenn, has also gotten very creative as their family has begun the tradition of celebrating Holy Week as well. Make sure you check out her blog for other fun ideas this week!