Easter at the Bramblet home is a big deal. Not only are we celebrating the event that our entire Christian heritage hinges on, the Resurrection, but it is a holiday replete with family memories of laughter and absolute fun. It is also a rich season of passing on our Judeo-Christian heritage to our children.
Setting the Stage with Easter Decorations
Besides the fact that I absolutely love bunnies in the spring, I also have a thing for baby daffodils. They remind me of my mom and they are just so sweet. I think I buy a new potted plant every time I go into Trader Joes. I can’t resist. After they have all bloomed, they can be planted in the yard, too. Bird nests, bunnies, spring perennials, and of course Banka’s famous homemade cards are a favorite Easter decoration each year.
Table Set
Over the years, my table has always looked different on Easter Sunday. Some years I am in the mood for bunnies, other’s, birds and nests, or even pots of baby daffodils. The children love to help set the table, and including them in the setup helps enforce the importance and value of not only hospitality, but beautiful details. They will carry these habits and skills into their own lives someday. Check out my post on how to Transform Your Home Into a Seasonal Haven.
I always enJOY bringing out my grandma’s fine china and the candlesticks. Bits of spring moss dot the plates to bring a bit of the outdoors in. Spring is just such a beautiful time of new life, and what better place to display it than at the family table where everyone gathers to eat together.
Menu
- Lollypop Lamb Chops
- Potato & Yam Gratin
- Roasted Asparagus with lemon
- Coconut Macaroon Berry Cobbler
- See’s Candies Chocolate Butter Eggs (an annual treat from grandma)
Easter Activities
Easter is one of our favorite holidays, especially because we love sharing it with friends and family. Not only is it a relaxed and easy meal, but there are just so many fun traditions. Everyone who has come to share Easter with us has left saying, “I didn’t know that Easter could be so much fun!” This is a celebration day of the most important event in history. Over and over again in the Bible, God implores His people to remember and celebrate. What better way to remember than to have fun together, which makes deposits in our lives that bring us together. Learning can be fun and fun can involve learning. Establishing traditions as a family and then sharing them with other families reminds us that life is worth celebrating. After all, a family that has fun together is a family that runs together.
Coloring Eggs
I have been coloring eggs for 40+ years, and I have to say, the brown eggs make the most rich colored Easter eggs. So beautiful!
Egg Hunt
Each year I empty my glass jar of coins and fill 100 plastic colored eggs with my spare change. There are also two golden eggs and two bronze eggs that we fill with cash. These of course are a little harder to find. Troy hides the eggs while I get set up for dinner. My favorite picture is always the “on your mark-get set-go” picture.
Egg Toss
Did I mention that our eggs are not hard boiled? Yes, this makes the stakes much higher. For the team that wins the egg toss each year, it is quite an honor.
Spoon Relay
Weaving in and out and around the trees in an obstacle course with an egg on a spoon looks easier than it is. Especially when you have to pass it off without touching or breaking the egg.
Egg Splat
I don’t know about you, but there is something about throwing an egg against a solid surface that is just so gratifying. We have this contest where we all line up and throw an egg at the tree. If you miss, you are out, and then those remaining take five steps back. We do this until eventually there is a winner. When the game is over, the tree is beautiful with all the colorful egg shells plastered all over it. This is my favorite egg game, because I get to reminisce about my softball days. I’ve still got it.
What It is Really All About…Jesus
Jewish Messianic Seder
We have always enJOYed getting together with friends and family to focus on the significance of Passover and the Jewish Seder and how everything points to Jesus. It’s not just for the opportunity of seeing Troy in a yamaka. Each food, glass of wine, song, and activity have such deep significance.
1 Corinthias 5:7-8 says, “Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” We celebrate our Passover Lamb and keep the Festival because it gives us an opportunity to pass the story onto our children of their Christian heritage, and it reminds us of how Jesus delivered us from the bondage of sin and death to give us new life through Him.
Another thing I find fascinating about the Passover Seder is that in Luke 22:15, Jesus Himself, as His last living wish, wanted to share this meal with His disciples. “And he said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.'” He demonstrated to them, through a ritual Festival that they had participated in their whole lives, that He fulfilled it all and would become their final Passover Lamb.
We don’t celebrate the Jewish festivals as an act of law, but of an appreciation of His grace, and the blessing that we receive through remembering. If you ever have the chance of participating in a Messianic Passover Seder and see how Jesus, the Messiah, fulfilled it all, you will be blessed. I am always amazed at how a Jew can miss the symbolism and all the prophecy that Jesus fulfilled.
Easter Sunrise
Every year, on Easter morning, I get up before the sunrise so I can place myself in that moment and what it must have been like to see the stone rolled away from an empty tomb. Terrifying. Exciting. So many questions. And then to see the risen Savior. The only response is to fall down at His feet in worship. When that sun comes up, it proclaims His victory all over again. New Life. The old has passed away and everything is made new. Unpacking the power of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus and what that means for me personally is my lifelong pursuit. The Father gave His Son fully and I want to spend His gift extravagantly, because it cost Him everything.
Resurrection Eggs
We have been using Resurrection Eggs for years. After all the egg games have been played, we gather in the living room and each person collects a numbered egg. Starting at number one, each person will open the egg and find a symbol inside that represents the Easter story. For example, there is a stone in one, representing the stone that sealed the tomb that was rolled away. As you work through the twelve symbols, ending on the last which is an empty egg, we can celebrate that He is risen. The tomb is empty.
Over the years, the repetition seals the biblical account in our children’s minds. These are seeds that are planted in their little hearts, telling the story in a practical way they can grasp. Using the eggs, also takes back what the world system has tried to hijack in making Easter all about the Easter Bunny.
Matthew Visual Bible
Before there was The Chosen, there was the Matthew Visual Bible. Now, although The Chosen is my new FAVORITE depiction of the life of Jesus (through the eyes of His disciples), I think Matthew will always be the movie we watch on Easter Sunday. When Jesus turns around at the end to beckon us to follow Him, tears stream down my face. I can’t wait to see Him face to face. It is also a pretty unique show because it is taken word for word from the NIV text.
Happy Resurrection Day ! He is Risen!!!
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Messianic Passover Seder Haggadah by Little Shoots, Deep Roots is a printable guide you can download for free. This will give you all the items needed for your seder table and meal as well as the script and family discussion.
One year I also purchased a Passover box from a company called Days that specializes in the Jewish feasts. Now granted, they are not from a Messianic perspective, but they were a lot of fun. The kids enJOYed rolling out their own Matzo bread and working on the activities. They have boxes for each of the Jewish feasts.
In everything you do -eat, play, and, love- may it always be Seasoned with Joy!
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