Palm Sunday

I'm not sure my mom is capable of having a small simple gathering at her house.  Whenever we go to dinner or family home evening or anything, everything is amazing and thought out and perfect! 

Tonight's gathering was no exception. We went for a dinner of homemade waffles to start off the afternoon, then we had a Fireside/FHE style gathering in the living room.  We sang some Easter hymns and then mom and dad each gave a small lesson. 

Mom talked about Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, when Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey and all there placed their clothing and palms down to welcome him in:

Mom invited us to think about the cloth laid down for Jesus' donkey to walk over and to imagine our feelings upon seeing the Savior come to our own city. How amazing it would be to see Him! 

Mom had prepared a bunch of large ivy leaves and each of the kids got to take a leaf and lay it down to make a path for the Savior.  Then we all shouted Hosanna together to express our admiration and joy! 

Dad's lesson was similarly memorable.  Dad reviewed with us the beginning of the last supper, when Jesus meets with his apostles and washes their feet.  He talked about Maundy Thursday being the day before Good Friday and the day Jesus gave us a new commandment: to love one another as He loved us. To demonstrate, Papa got a basin of water and washed Levi's feet.  All the kids were intrigued and wanted to have a turn also. 

 Of course, that was the plan, and one by one, each one of the children got a turn getting their feet washed. As he washed, he spoke of our service-centered gospel. We accept callings and assignments in the church not to get praise or admiration or riches.  We fulfill our callings in order to serve all those in our stewardship, to see to their spiritual and physical needs, as Jesus did.

 Papa also talked about how teaching others to serve is part of our divine calling. Peter was taught by Jesus to take care of the affairs of the church and serve the believers.  He then called Levi to wash the feet of the rest of the children there, as he had seen and been instructed.  So Jesus calls to all of us to serve our fellow brothers and sisters on earth!

 Christ has shown us how.  It is up to us to find joy and fulfillment in following his counsel.

 It was such a sweet moment with all the cousins washing each other's feet. I know I haven't done a great job summarizing the story, but I'd invite you to read John 13 to get the full account.  What a new and refreshing Easter experience! I feel the start of a new Palm Sunday tradition!

Of course, we had to finish the day with a sillier tradition... the egg hunt.  Even though all the eggs were empty, the kids still had fun hunting for them.  Jade was helped by big cousin Calder, who was an intense egg hunter! Any kid who found an egg got a little bag of jelly beans and a gold dollar (basically we just skipped the stuffing and emptying the eggs part... it was more efficient that way...)

I hope as I approach Easter Sunday this year, I can remember the joy that Christ brings to me and fulfill all kinds of opportunities to serve! Happy Palm Sunday!