My husband and I attended a seminar last year called, "Conquering Debt God's Way" and we are committed to getting out of debt. Last year we paid off our student loan, but we had some difficult things happen that got us off track. My mother died and then my aunt died and we forgot about our goal. Well we attended the seminar a few weeks ago and have recommittted ourselves to getting out of debt. It is such a painful process, it seems like I really try to stick to a budget, but is is so hard. A part of me would like to sell everything to expediate the process, but we do need to have beds to sleep in! We did have a garage sell and did pretty good and we are going to sell some things on ebay. Our next debt to pay off is our van. I'll keep you posted to let you know how it goes.
What about you? Send me you stories about how you are trying to get out of debt or how you got out of debt at sheri@denimjumpers.com.
Have a great day!
Sheri
Celebrating Easter means celebrating Christ's death and resurrection. I'm always looking for ideas on how to make it meaningful to my children, so I asked you to share with me what you do. If you have anything to share please email me at sheri@denimjumpers.com. Here are suggestions from fellow homescool moms. I will post some more tomorrow!
-From T.Par. We are reading the book of Matthew. We sing praise songs that include "Hosanna"
or remind us of the cross.
We will be attending a Passion Play at a local church. Sometimes we do a seder supper or communion with family on Thursday. We've acted out the crucifixion at coop. We hide eggs with scripture segments. The children bring them back and we put the scripture together.
I thought of having a sunrise service with outdoor worship, amid the dawn, a crackling fire, a powerfully short message on the resurrection, a time of declaration, testimony and prayer, followed by an already prepared breakfast feast. I know a homeschool dad that plays, "He is Risen," on his trumpet every Easter at 5:30 a.m.
From A. R.-We're going to try dying eggs with vegetable peelings this year.
The eggs represent new life. The vegetable/plants were used a long time
ago to dye things (history/social studies). This was mentioned in a
science book.
You can peel beets, onions, potatoes, oranges and radishes. Place 3-4
eggs and the peelings of your choice (or combination of peelings) in a
cheesecloth bag). Cook the eggs-mixed until hard boiled. After they are
cooked, carefully remove the bags from the water.
We are also going to use the Resurrection Eggs with our daughter.
These sounds like a great activity to do the night before Easter with your children. I haven’t tried them yet.
EASTER STORY COOKIES
To be made the evening before Easter. You need:
1c whole pecans
1 tsp. vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch salt
1c sugar
zipper baggie
wooden spoon
tape
Bible
Preheat oven to 300 (this is important-don't wait till you're half done with
the recipe)
Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden
spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He
was beaten by the roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3.
Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl.
Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to
drink. Read John 19:28-30.
Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His
life to give us life. Read John 10:10 -11.
Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush
the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by
Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27.
So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1c.sugar. Explain that
the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He
wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Ps. 34:8 and John 3:16.
Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are
formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of
those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isa.1:18 and John 3:1-3.
Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet.
Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb here Jesus' body was laid.
Read Matt. 27:57-60.
Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.
Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus'
tomb was sealed. Read Matt. 27:65-66.
GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven
overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read
John 16:20 and 22.
On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the
cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter
Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matt.
28:1-9
What a wonderful way to teach children and grandchildren the true meaning of
Easter!
We love hearing from you and would love to hear your suggestions on how you teach your children about Easter. Do you do anything special? Do you have a Passover meal? How do you teach your children how special Christ's death and resurrection is and how do you make it meaningful to them? We will post your ideas so we can share them with everyone. Please email sheri@denimjumpers.com with your thoughts.
Thanks
Sheri
Danielle's Place has some fun ideas and crafts to teach about Easter and Palm Sunday. There is also a recipe for Resurrection Cookies. This is a fun site and I'm going to be using some of the ideas this week!