Resurrection Day 2012 (part 1)

Leading up to Resurrection Day, we read portions of Scripture over candlelight.  At first all the candles are lit and then at the end of each day after reading a part of the Resurrection Story, we blow out one of the candles...displaying how the Jesus the Light of the World came to die.  On Good Friday we blow out the last candle and the candles remain unlit until Resurrection Day.  For on Resurrection Day all the candle are lit and shining brightly which displays how Jesus is alive.  Oh how exciting it is to celebrate this truth!   We also began a new tradition in order to share the wonderful story of Christ to our family.  Being that our children are becoming more interactive and growing in their understanding.    The tradition begins the day before Resurrection Day, as the boys look around to find rocks to put in their black cloth based baskets.  This is to symbolize the weight of sin that Jesus carried on our behalf.  We then cover the baskets before going to bed with a red cloth which symbolizes that Jesus died for us.  In the morning, we wake up to find the baskets now covered with a purple cloth symbolizing the royalty, that Jesus is Lord and He is risen. The purple cloth is then removed and we find exciting goodies in the white cloth based basket.  This symbolizes that Jesus forgives us by cleansing us from all our sin and now we can enjoy His goodness because of what He has done.  All in all this new tradition was a hit and of course the good news of Jesus fills our hearts with joy not only on Resurrection Day but every day.