HE IS RISEN!: Keeping Christ at the Center of the Celebration

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They're the joyful agains our children

shout on the swings, the exhausting

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agains of cooking and laundry, and

the difficult agains of discipline.

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So much of what we do

as mothers is on repeat.

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So what if we woke up with clarity,

knowing which agains we were called

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to, and went to bed believing we

are faithful in what matters most?

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We believe God's Word is

the key to untangle from the

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confusion and overwhelm we feel.

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Let's look up together to embrace a

motherhood full of freedom and joy.

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Thanks for joining me for another

episode of the again, podcast.

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I'm your host, Stephanie Hickox

and this is brought to you by

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entrusted ministries today.

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I want to announce officially that we

have some epic freebies available for you.

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On our interested ministries website.

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Go to the homepage and sign up and we

are going to send you a full lesson

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from entrusted, with a child's heart.

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We just want you to see what

does interested with the

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child's heart really entail.

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And this is going to give you

a fantastic taste of that.

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The second thing I want to

talk about today is Easter.

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I think something that is so discouraging

is when you see a fantastic idea for

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a tradition, but it's two days before

and you don't have time to prep.

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And you're like, oh man, if I would've

known about that a week ago, that would

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have absolutely been in our lineup.

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So I'm wanting to make sure

that I give you ample time.

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It's March 13th, you have until the week

of Easter and Easter is on March 31st.

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If you need a reminder, several

of these ideas you'll obviously

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want to do prior to Easter.

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But hopefully this is going to

give you plenty of time to get

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your ducks and your eggs in a row.

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For many of us with Easter being in March,

it will fall close to our spring breaks.

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And I hope that is an opportunity to make

it even more intentional in our homes

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and a more peaceful, joyful opportunity.

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Easter is a, my favorite holiday by far.

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I love it.

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All the warming weather, the pastel

colors, the Cadbury mini eggs.

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And of course the spiritual

implications, which humble me to my core.

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I even welcomed my first

born on good Friday.

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Boy did Jesus's suffering mean a

lot to me during that experience?

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I think Christmas is fantastic, but

there's usually so much going on.

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People often get so focused on the gifts.

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Easter.

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However is all about Christ.

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Sure.

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There may be some baskets of

goodies and some filled eggs, but

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I think the heart of the holiday

is easier to keep on the forefront.

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It's been so fun for me to celebrate

this life-changing occasion with my kids.

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And today I just wanted to share with

you a few things that we have done.

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In our home that.

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Point to Christ in his sacrifice.

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The first.

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Ideally I'd like to share is

a book or commendation that I

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heard of from my friend Holly.

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And it came just at the

perfect time for my family.

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So we started doing this.

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When my boys were younger.

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And it was, it came at a season where I

knew the Lord was stirring in my heart.

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Just asking if I was focusing

enough on grace in my home.

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Those who are near to me know that I often

struggle to accept my own weaknesses and

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failures and with all of the correction

and instruction I provide for my children.

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I just wanted to make sure are they really

understanding grace and forgiveness?

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I'm truly thankful for the Lord.

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Whenever you feel like your

parenting pendulum is tilting a

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little bit to one side, how he

makes sure to get you back on track.

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When a good friend shared the

following Easter activity with me, I

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thought this is such a great way to

make grace tangible to my children.

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Jill Hardy wrote a beautiful

story, entitled the sparkle, egg

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about a boy learning how Jesus

has sacrificed impacts him.

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The book summary is as follows.

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Easter is coming and Sam loves Easter,

but this year he's upset about a lie.

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He told his parents.

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Even though he apologized

and they forgave him.

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Sam can't shake the feeling that

he is a bad kid for what he did.

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Meanwhile, his parents help him make a

special Easter craft called a sparkle ag.

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His mom tells him to write

anything he feels sorry about or

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ashamed of on a piece of paper

and put it inside his sparkle leg.

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On Easter morning when he opens

his egg, expecting a surprise.

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Sam vines that it is empty.

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His parents explained that because Jesus

died and rose again, we are forgiven.

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Like the tomb that first Easter

day Sam's egg is empty and Sam's

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wrongdoing is completely forgiven.

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Once he accepts this forgiveness

fully, Sam realizes a truth.

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We can shine with God's light.

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When we let God's gift

of grace into our hearts.

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So the basic concept is that you read

the book with your children and then

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each person decorates a sparkle egg.

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I found.

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Some simple eggs at Walmart

that had glitter on them.

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And we bought those and then glued

beads or different craft items on them.

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And they all decorated them.

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Of course, mom's got a man the hot glue

gun, then I gave them each a piece of

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paper and explained that they were to,

depending on their ability level, they

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can draw a picture or write something.

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Down about something that they know

that they need to leave at the cross,

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that something that they're still

struggling to feel forgiven about.

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Now you don't want this

to feel forced or coerced.

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It's wonderful if they don't have

anything like that, but maybe they

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can't think of it right on the spot.

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And.

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And you might need time for little

ones, especially to think of that.

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But I always do this with my kids.

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'cause I find that.

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The truth and Romans eight one, there

is therefore now no condemnation.

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For those who are in Christ.

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Jesus.

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That is a truth.

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I need to repeat to myself often.

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And when the enemy tries to

remind me of mistakes that I

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know I have taken to the cross.

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That I need to continue to

preach the gospel to myself.

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So I always draw a picture or write

something down for myself so that That I

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can also embrace this miraculous truth.

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That Jesus died for my sins.

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So we fold up those little pieces

of paper and I don't ask my

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children to share them with me.

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And we put them inside the sparkle

egg, and I make sure that I remember.

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Which egg belongs to which child.

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Then when I'm preparing.

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Their Easter baskets.

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I removed the paper from the eggs and

close the egg backup and make sure that

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it's in the right child's Easter basket.

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You could of course do this idea without

the book, but I've found that the

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book communicates in a very clear way,

this amazing concept to little ones.

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Another powerful idea.

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That is.

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Been impactful for my children.

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Is that a week or two

before Easter, I get out.

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Homemade set of resurrection

eggs that I made.

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When I taught third grade,

I had a store-bought version

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that the students really loved.

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But I found, a set of pastel

speckled eggs at hobby lobby.

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One year and it was a great deal.

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I took these speckled

eggs and a gold marker.

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And made my own version making

a simple drawing on each egg.

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I put those in a basket and then

I use the book Benjamin's box.

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And I lead my children through

this fictitious little boys

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observations of the holy week.

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It is a powerful.

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Though, not overly graphic

method for teaching children

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about Jesus, his sacrifice.

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There are a page or two

that you might want to be.

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Careful about if your children

are particularly sensitive.

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But it's not as graphic as many

crucifixion depictions are.

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This will forever be.

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An activity that I treasure

above so much because my oldest

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actually accepted Christ.

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After we went through this

story, he really was able to

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see what Jesus has done for him.

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And why each step in this

story is so important.

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Each time you turn a page in the book.

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There is an item that

relates to that page.

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For example, there may be a

coin on the egg that corresponds

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to the page about Judas betrayed Jesus.

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I know that the store-bought version

of resurrection eggs are all over,

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so I'm sure you can find those.

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On Amazon or at a craft store and we'll

link to these books and resurrection eggs.

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In the show notes.

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Feel free to click on

that too, to make it easy.

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Another activity that is a must

do for us is every Saturday

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evening, before Easter Sunday.

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My boys and I have made

resurrection roles.

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These are a very simple way to show

children that Jesus was in the tomb.

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And then he wasn't.

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You and tomb a marshmallow with

the butter and cinnamon sugar.

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And this represents.

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The spices and involvement process.

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That the women.

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honored Christ's body with, and

then you wrap this marshmallow.

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You wrap it and place it

inside of a Crescent roll.

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So you're not going to roll the

crest and roll like you normally do.

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You're just going to fold

it over the marshmallow.

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I will tell you that it's.

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Absolutely important that you pinch

the sides together, super tight.

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Otherwise the marshmallow we'll see about,

and it will feel much less mysterious.

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You bake them for 10 to 12

minutes and then you leave the

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rolls in the oven overnight.

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When you wake up on Easter

morning, you get out the rolls.

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And when you bite in.

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You will discover that they are hollow and

that Jesus, the marshmallow has arisen.

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Instead you just have a delicious

and very easy cheap for the morning.

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Like I said, it's very

simple, but it's effective

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and a fun way.

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For kids to see what Christ has done.

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I'll also link to that

recipe in the show notes.

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Betsy always does an egg smash

every year after Easter dinner,

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she brings out a large basket of

beautifully dyed hard-boiled eggs.

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All the guests get into pairs and

try to smash their opponents eggs.

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So everybody only gets one.

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In your duel, you are allowed

to just hold the egg and smash

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it against your opponents egg.

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If your egg cracks, you are out.

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In almost every battle.

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One is going to crack and the

other is going to remain intact.

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This tournament continues.

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With the new pairings of uncracked

eggs, getting together until the last

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person doesn't have a crack deck.

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My uncle David usually really

goes for it and smashes hard.

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And sometimes that pays off

for him and he is the winter.

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It's fun to have a prize or a

little extra dessert for the winner.

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of course before all of

this, those hard-boiled eggs.

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serve as a beautiful

part of your decorations.

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Growing up.

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And even to this day, my mom loves to

make large sidewalk talk birthday signs.

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In our driveway.

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She does this for many holidays.

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And we really like to make

a huge, he is risen sign.

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On our driveway for Easter.

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Make it as big as you can,

as vibrant as you can.

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It's usually the first time it's

warm enough to break up the sidewalk.

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Talk again.

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So we really like to get

that out and to just declare.

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That he is risen.

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To all who walked by.

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And I think this would be a really

sweet went to even get neighbor

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kids, to participate in and have a

great conversation about why Easter

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is so important to your family.

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A truly simple and easy tradition.

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That is a must do for

us on Easter morning.

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Is our confetti egg tradition.

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I found these at Walmart

a couple of years ago.

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And I think we've used them maybe five

years in a row and they still have them.

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I'm so thankful.

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Each year I buy extra just in

case they stop making them,

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but so far I've.

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The big foot to see that

they're still there.

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And they're super inexpensive.

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So I buy these confetti eggs.

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And they are hollow eggs that

are filled with confetti and then

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sealed off with tissue paper.

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And I will put down a plastic

tablecloth and there are cuter

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options every year with these.

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I'll put a plastic, tablecloth

that down on the table.

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And then I set the table.

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With.

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Just maybe a fun napkins and

paper plates, because I have

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learned that is part of the key.

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To a peaceful holiday

morning with little ones.

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I just want to make sure that.

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Can we get to church on time and

joyful and all of those little

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things have really helped.

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With those items on the table, then

I will set out these confetti eggs.

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And it's nice because they have that

flat edge where the tissue paper is.

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So they will.

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Set nicely around the table.

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Then on Easter morning before we eat.

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We grab our resurrection eggs and

we shout as loud as they want.

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And then we smashed the confetti

eggs on the table and it looks so

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pretty with all of the confetti.

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I just always want my kids to

know I'm going to cheer louder

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for Jesus than for anything.

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And then we enjoy breakfast

together before we get ready.

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There are also some worship songs.

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That I like to put on in the background.

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Was it a morning like this, I love the

lyrics of that and the anticipation.

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That.

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Produces.

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Those are some of my favorite

ways to keep the focus.

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Of Easter truly on Christ, but to

make it really fun for little ones.

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Don't forget to head to our website

to grab that full hour long lesson

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of entrusted with the child's heart.

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Also, don't forget to write a review

or share this with a friend or both.

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We know you're busy, Mama, so

we are truly grateful you joined

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us for this episode of Again.

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If you're looking for more information

about building your home on the

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foundation of Jesus Christ, head to www.

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EntrustedMinistries.

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com to learn more about our study for

moms, Entrusted with a Child's Heart.

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This scripture saturated study

has blessed families around the

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world, and we want it for you, too.

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Before you go, I want to pray

this benediction over you

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from 2 Thessalonians 1, 11 12.

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We're rooting for you.

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To this end, we always pray for you,

that our God may make you worthy of His

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calling, and may fulfill every resolve

for good and every work of faith by

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His power, so that the name of our Lord

Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in

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Him, according to the grace of our God.

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And the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Amen.

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Until we meet again.