We enjoyed celebrating Holy Week this year. It was very similar to last’s years celebration, except I took less pictures. We really enjoyed reading though Piper’s Lenten Lights each night. You start out the day before Palm Sunday with seven candles and blow out a successive one each night until the last one is blown out on Good Friday. Then on Easter you relight all the candles. The visual element makes the readings more meaningful.
Palm Sunday we decorated our Resurrection Tree and reenacted the story of Palm Sunday. The tree is just a dead branch Becca chose from outside. The ornaments are all handmade.
Monday we reenacted the story of Jesus clearing the Temple. We also started our Resurrection Countdown Calendar, which had a extra treat for each day counting down to Easter.
Wednesday we had a family outing and went to Ban Lung and spent several hours and a pool that has watersides. It’s one of the nicest pools we’ve been to for little kids, since there are two large shallow areas for children and three different sets of slides varying in height.
Thursday we had a Maundy Thursday service, with feet washing and a reenactment of the Last Supper. Friday we had a Good Friday service with readings and singing.
Saturday was craft day and an Easter egg hunt. Clara was especially excited about finding eggs, it was adorable. I’m so thankful for the plastic eggs we got when in Bangkok when Clara was born.
Sunday afternoon we visited a young widow who recently lost her unsaved father. Nee is one of the people who is training to work on the Jarai Bible translation. After we returned, we had a dinner of buffalo roast, mashed potatoes, salad, and bread. Then we reenacted the Easter story and watched a few clips of the resurrection from different movie. Then we exchanged gifts. The kids are always so pleased with their gifts and with giving gifts. Afterwards we had apple pie and did our last Lenten Lights reading.
Thankful for the Holy Week we were able to have – thankful that our lives are changed because Jesus is Alive!