A season of gratitude

We started Sunday in church by looking up some Scriptures on thankfulness: (Psalm 107:1, Psalm 31:19, Psalm 145:7, 1 Chronicles 29:11-13, Psalm 100 and Psalm 95:1-6). We pulled out the things in those verses we have to be thankful for---God's faithfulness, He is our Refuge, etc.

The night before we went out and gather some branches and put them in a vase with river pebbles.  I  cut out circle and feather shaped tags and punched holes in them.  We used these pieces to write out our praises and thanksgivings and then we hung them on our tree.  We started with barren branches and finished with a harvest of thanksgiving. 

For prayer time, we gave out 5 kernels of candy corn and did circle prayers of thanksgiving for each kernel.  Even our littlest one participated. 

Kernel 1- God loves us.

Kernel 2- God provides for our needs

Kernel 3- Thankful for the friends God has given us.

Kernel 4- Thankful for the people God has given us who love us.

Kernel 5- God hears our prayers and answers us.

This is a wonderful idea for extending thanksgiving from only a single day into a season of gratitude. We even had friends over and invited them to join us by adding their words of praise and thanksgiving.  Our tree is brimming over and a constant reminder of what our response to Him should be. 

Palm Sunday

Our Palm Sunday celebration centered around Luke's account of the Triumphal Entry (Luke 19:28-40) and what it means to give God praise. We asked the question- "If the rocks cried out, what would they have said?" We had the basket of stones on the table, we asked each person in turn to select a stone. Then tell a story from the Bible from the point of view of the stone witnessing each event. For example, one told of how amazing it was that God used a small stone as himself to slay a warrior giant. Therefore that stone would have proclaimed Jesus as a deliverer. The kids enjoyed it so much, they couldn't stop telling stories holding up the rock and pretending it was talking. I was surprised at how many stories came to mind.

We had a wonderful time of praise and worship with lots of songs appropriate for Palm Sunday:

Blessed be the Name -Chris Tomlin

Blessed be the Name of the Lord

Lord, I Lift Your Name on High

Hosanna

Sing (or the rocks will)

Our daughter made her own palm tree branches to wave as we had our worship time. She has always loved Palm Sunday.

As a point of interest we read this legend:

Legend of the Donkey's Cross

"Bring me the colt of a donkey."

was the Master's request.

A young donkey was brought to Jesus

to carry Him into Jerusalem.

A week later Jesus was ordered

to be crucified.

The little donkey so loved the Lord

that he wanted to help Him carry the cross.

But, alas, he was pushed away.

The sad little donkey waited to say

goodbye until nearly all had left.

As he turned to leave, the shadow of

the cross fell upon the

back and shoulders of

the little donkey.

And there it has remained,

a tribute to the loyalty

and love of the humblest of God's creatures.