Day 105- An April 15th First

Do you know what today is?  I know it is tax day, but that's not what I'm talking about this time.  Today is Passover.  Joel actually reminded us of that last night.  Today when I looked at my planner I saw that it was Passover.  Laura and I decided that we would celebrate Passover as a family today. We celebrated Passover today as my "first."

What we did in celebration of Passover would not pass for a true Jewish Passover celebration.  We don't know enough and did not have time to do anything close to that.  I do know a bit about Passover in the Bible and I do have an Internet connection to get some ideas on how to celebrate.

Was this easy? Of course not.  We had dance, homework, supper, baths, and a couple of emotional upsets in the house tonight. Yes, we ended up being a little late for bedtime, though not nearly as late as when Joel has a 7:30 ball game. We decided to push through the setbacks and go for it. 

Joel is ready to celebrate

Hannah Grace reminded everyone that the blood of Jesus brings peace

Our version of unleavened bread

There are 4 (depending on who you read) cups of the "fruit of the vine" drunk at many traditional Passover feasts (juice at our house)

Our Passover was done Wilkinson/South Alabama style.  I did a bit of research and put together an order of proceedings where we could all follow along with what was happening.  There were activities and parts for all of us to read. Here are a few things we did.

We had a search for leaven. In the Bible, leaven can be a symbol of good or evil; most of the time it represents sin or evil. This is true in the Passover celebration.  Many Jewish homes will set aside days, if not weeks, to cleanse their home of leaven. Leaven in this case represented the potential for corruption and sin. Its removal signified the attitude of repentance and the willingness to remove any corrupting influence in one’s life and submit to God in obedience.

I hid a piece of a loaf of bread in the house and the kids had to hunt for it.  This symbolizes the desire to rid our lives of sin and be ready to worship God.  They enjoyed that part of the celebration.

We also drank 3 or 4 cups of juice each symbolizing a different aspect of God's activity in the Passover. We sang songs. We ate unleavened bread dipped in bitter herbs.  Hannah Grace was very brave to try this since I told her she did not have to do this part. Joel originally was going to pass on this as well but was inspired by Hannah Grace to give it a try. Laura lit candles symbolizing God's presence with us.  There is a pitfall there.  The suggestion I read was that Mom lights the candle. I think that author did not have a 9 year old boy in the house. 9 year old boys have a thing about lighting stuff and that can be a source of sharp disappointment not easily gotten over.  At the end of the feast, the children open the doors of the home symbolizing the desire for the Messiah to come.  We have the joy of knowing that the Messiah has come.

The family actually enjoyed this more than I thought they would.  It was a fun "first" and something pretty cool to do during Holy Week.  It gave us all kinds of ways to talk about Jesus and how He is the fulfillment of the Passover.  Yay, Jesus!!

Praising Jesus that He is the fulfillment of the abundant life,
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. Passover
2. Jesus being the Lamb of God
3. Candles