Oh my heart. We just began our "Countdown to Easter" activities this afternoon and, as any good teacher will tell ya, what I had planned went right out the window!
I am so excited this Easter to be incorporating the activities and lessons in this wonderful new ebook, "A Sense of the Resurrection", but wanted to find a way to lead in to the activities and kind of see where my 5 year old was with understanding and remembering the story of Jesus and His Death and Resurrection. We sort of took a softer approach last year as my boy was just not ready for the details of the death or even just dealing with the cruelty that Jesus went through. It was all too much for his little heart to take in.
So, since we are in the middle of what seems to be days upon days of a storm that only Noah could appreciate *sigh* we started off with snuggling in on the couch and watching The Read and Share Bible's Easter Story. I absolutely love this DVD. It is 30 minutes of slow and simple examples of what Easter is all about without all the heart-wrenching and gory details. From the Last Supper to Jesus rising from the dead to his miracles at Galilee. The story is very easy for young children to follow and I thought (since we haven't seen it since the fall) my boy would get the back story that he needed to begin some of the activities.
Well, I was so very surprised with what happened next! The minute I put the DVD in the machine, the questions started. He had questions about the architecture of the buildings, the names of the "characters", what their words meant, how Jesus was able to do "magic", how they got him on the cross......it just went on and on and on! It took us nearly 2 hours to watch this little 30 minute show! I mean, really! I paused the DVD at every question and we talked and talked. When the scene of Jesus on the cross finally came up, I went and got the cross that was hanging on the wall in the playroom. The cross that was laid on my grandmother's coffin at her funeral mass. The one that we had blessed and was passed to my mother and then to me when she passed.
I showed him the nails in Jesus' hands and feet and he reached out hesitantly and touched them almost as if he didn't want to hurt Him anymore by touching the wounds. He asked if the soldiers had put the nails into Jesus "gently" or "very hard". I pointed out the crown of thorns and he wanted to know if that was why Jesus looked so sad. He asked repeatedly why everybody just stood there, why nobody came to help Jesus, to get him down and take him to the hospital. That was tough to hear as a mama.
We finally got to the end of the film and we talked again about what Jesus said, about "always being with you" and he related that to what we do during mass before the reading of the Gospel, to make the sign of the cross on our heads, lips, and hearts as Jesus is always on our minds, on our lips, and in our hearts. We talked about how that's exactly what Jesus was telling his followers when he came back. He wanted His followers to keep Him and His Message going by being more Christ-like, and we should always try to do the same by keeping Jesus at the center of our thoughts and actions, to speak "light" (as my boy would say), and to love.
And then it happened. The tears. Oh, the tears fell harder than the rain outside. My precious boy sat clutching that cross tighter than I don't know what and just let everything out. "I cutted Paige in line today!! I wanted to be first and I cutted her!!!" More tears. And then, "Maya screamed at me and said mean things to my heart!! And then she blowed in my face!!" Oh, my heart, he had taken everything in that we had been talking about and was just so upset over what had happened to him at school today (and how many times had I asked him "What did you do at school today?" only to be met with "Nothing Mama.")! After I held him, and rocked him, and wiped his tears, and just let him get it all out, we talked about how "cutting" in line in front of his friend may have made her feel ("Mama, she wasn't mad, she said 'okay' to me!") well, maybe that's how Jesus felt even when everybody was being so mean to Him and turning their backs on Him? And when I asked if maybe Paige had felt sad in her heart, but "turned the other cheek" anyway, that was an example of what Jesus was living. And then, of course, the talk turned to "keeping Jesus on our minds" and how maybe "cutting" in line was not the right thing to do and how he could have waited for his turn to be towards the front of the line to happen another time....just like mama had to wait for her turn to catch a green light this morning, any light! *sigh* But at least I was first in line at all the red lights! Ha!
We then talked about sweet Maya, his best friend in the whole wide world (and according to Miss Maya, her future husband), saying "mean things to his heart" and WWJD? Could he try to understand why she said those things? Was she tired, or hungry, or frustrated like he gets? Could he say something nice to her tomorrow? Could he bring her a snack? Maybe play with her at recess? Or sit quietly with her on the swings? Show her that even though her words may have hurt, that you are still her friend, still care for her, and forgive her. All those tears were gone and there was such a sense of relief on my boy's face.
I really don't think my mama heart could have been more proud today! So much learning and growing for one precious little boy. ♥ Joy really will fall like rain when you speak life!
I really don't think my mama heart could have been more proud today! So much learning and growing for one precious little boy. ♥ Joy really will fall like rain when you speak life!
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