Object Lessons

I was talking to a friend about Easter, and she mentioned that it was strange that we spend a whole month decorating, talking about, and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ--yet Easter comes and goes without all of the pomp and circumstance. If you think about it though, we would not celebrate the birth of Christ if it had not been for the Atonement and His death.

So this week our family decided to really focus on the mission and Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

During our Family Home Evening, we talked about Jesus, the last supper, the Garden of Gethesemene, the cross on Calvary, and the empty tomb. It was a lot to cover for short attention spans, and towards the end it got a little rushed. I had an object lesson that was supposed to demonstrate how the Atonement was like a carnation (Jesus Christ)  absorbing the food coloring (sins) in the water (our spirits). I didn't know if the kids understood any of it--and there was no instant gratification, of course. I also didn't know how long it would take for the flowers to absorb the dye.

The next morning the older kids had gone to school, and Grant was sitting at the table while I was cleaning up breakfast. He kept asking me a question, but I couldn't understand his words, "Mom, why won't Jesus take the colors?" What? I repeated it, trying to figure out if that is what he really said. It was. It took me a minute to figure out that he was asking why the flowers had not yet absorbed the food coloring. (Operatic singing in the background) He got something from our lesson! He understood that the white carnations represented Jesus, and I had promised him that the carnation would take the color, and he was asking why it hadn't happened yet! What a wonderful teaching moment to sit down with my four year old and talk about Jesus taking away our colors (sins). 

The goal was to have a little devotional each morning in place of our regular scripture study, and for each person in our family to take a moment and share stories and testimonies about Jesus. We missed it this morning, but maybe tonight?  

On Sunday morning we are going to get up early and go somewhere beautiful (Joe's job to find the location) to watch the sunrise and have a more in-depth Easter devotional. If you are interested and want ideas for your own family, I plan to base it on the FHE manual lesson titled "He is Risen" (<--- click on it). 

I know that Christ has indeed risen, and that He lives. I know that because of His sacrifice we can be forgiven of our sins, perfected, and someday reunited as families. He knows what we are going through, and He can help us to get through it all.