If you have been reading my blogs, you know I joined Freshwater Church on St. John. We meet at Hawksnest Beach every Sunday. Many tourists to the island will come to visit and many return year after year. Not only do we gather for worship but we spend time together after church sharing a potluck meal, then hang out at the beach afterwords to swim, snorkel, paddle board and kayak at Hawksnest. It’s a good time to get to know one another….share our life stories, be there for one another with our ups and downs and give help when help is needed. I also join the women every week to go on a hike, snorkel and devotion. Having this connection with such a great group of people has been priceless!
Being part of a small church, you learn to volunteer to take on some of the duties to help out. There are the the ones who come early and sweep the pavilion, move the picnic tables aside to set up camp chairs and place Bibles and handmade song books in each one. There are the ones who take on the majority of the after service picnic to provide the main meal, beverages, picnic utensils, condiments, etc. Then there are the ones who help with children’s church held in the other pavilion just far enough not to be heard or distracted. I am one of the few who volunteered to help with children’s church since I have experience from being a Sunday school teacher for many years at a church back in Indiana.
This day it’s my turn (with lots of help) to teach about Easter Sunday. Now, Easter Sunday is usually well-attended by not only regular members but others who live on island and tourists. We knew to expect a good amount of kids and planned ahead with hiding plastic Easter eggs with candy and Easter stickers for a hunt after the service.
But Easter, for Christians, is more than an egg hunt. We wanted to teach about the days leading up to Jesus’s crucifixion and His glorious resurrection. So for our lesson, all of us on island were collecting our empty egg cartons to use for our kid’s project. I had a sample of what I wanted to do and we got creative and collected all the items the children would put in each egg. With each item, we explained what each thing meant.
In egg #1, we had a leaf to represent Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem. Egg #2, we put 3 dimes to represent the 30 pieces of silver which was paid to Judas to betray Jesus. Egg #3, we placed a plastic communion cup to represent the bread and wine Jesus shared with his disciples at the Last Supper. Egg #4, we placed a flower to represent the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed. Egg #5, we placed a knotted piece of twine to represent the whips used to beat Jesus. Egg #6, we placed thorns from a local thorny bush to represent the crown of thorns placed on Jesus’s head. Egg #7, we placed 3 nails to represent the nails used to place Jesus on the cross. Egg #8, we placed dice to represent the lots thrown by the guards for Jesus’s garments (as predicted in the Old Testament). Egg #9, we placed a stick to represent the spear used by the guard to make sure Jesus was dead. Egg #10, we used a small piece of linen cloth to represent the linen Jesus was wrapped in to be placed in his tomb. Egg #11, we used a large rock to represent the boulder that was placed in front of the tomb so no one could steal His body. Egg #12, is empty to represent the empty tomb, Jesus’s resurrection from the dead.
When reading through this, some of you might be thinking, “wow, that’s pretty graphic !” It is. Truth is brutal sometimes. Yet, the ending is what we celebrate!!! And the kids got it and were moved by the account of what Easter was really about. They were able to then take their dozen eggs home to use each Easter and share what they learned with their family. It is supposed to be done as a family sharing project starting 11 days before Easter. We gave a handout with correlating scripture for each day for the family to read and contemplate. The kids were excited to show their parents what they learned and the parents appreciated something more significant done with their children than just an Easter egg hunt. So we plan to do the lesson each Easter!
MOTHER’S DAY
It’s difficult to spend Mother’s Day with your children when you have four children living in different areas of the country/territories. This particular Mother’s Day , Sunday, 5/8/2016, I am on St. John with my two oldest, Michelle and Cortney. It’s also the day I decided to get baptized.
Baptism means different things to different Christian denominations. Some, like the Catholic Church, believe baptism is required to be saved to enter heaven which is why infant baptism is performed. Others believe you receive the Holy Spirit when you become baptized and then are ‘born-again’. My understanding of baptism is it is an outward, public confession of faith and belief that I am saved through the sacrifice of Jesus (God in the flesh), not by any good deeds of my own, and ask the Holy Spirit ( the third person of God) to guide and direct my life.
I had been baptized as an infant but I wanted to make this decision as an adult fully vested in my beliefs.
So here I go:
It was a beautiful day, surrounded by family and church family and friends!
****that June (2016), it’s back to Indiana ….next blog picks up in January 2017 on St. John
Traveling Rose in St. John 