First Stitches of Last Child

The girls and I made a field trip to Craft 2.0 yesterday. We were tasked with choosing a little something for Mr Six. I quickly realised that six year old boys are not the target demographic of many of the stall holders. We were rescued by SuperVery who sold us a very cute Sock Owl kit. Easter Sunday is damp and dull here - perfect conditions for parking the kids on Mum's bed for some stitching, fueled by Easter chocolate.

Didn't he do well on his first stitching!

Crafty boys need their very own needle case for their supplies so Mum had to oblige.

Easter

With life as it is at the moment, my Easter crafting has been done FOR the kids, not WITH the kids.

Easter in Lego

Yup - that is Lego Jesus on a Lego cross complete with a hinge at the bottom for ease of Roman hoisting.

I also got given a Lego basket of Lego Easter eggs in bed this morning but it was reclaimed for parts before I could grab a photo.

This wee man can spend a full adult work day building his Lego creations. If only he got paid for it!

(Disclaimer: We rent this house, so no, I did not choose the attractive curtains in the background.)

It's good to be alive!

Today the autumn sun shone warm, we enjoyed a family bike ride along the river and ate too many Easter eggs and buns. It felt great to be alive on this day that our family celebrates Jesus' resurrection.

I was intrigued to read Sharon Astyk's description of her Jewish faith as being a communal religion requiring a critical mass of Jews for many spiritual practices. I'm not sure why Christianity, with its roots firmly embedded in the Jewish faith, has swung so far towards the individualisation of our faith.

I'm wary of the mood of triumphalism that creeps into our celebrations on Easter Sunday - particular in the evangelical branches of the Church that I've always been a part of. Sometimes we simply rejoice in our individual salvation "ticket" and fail to see that the Easter story is a powerful call to a gathering of believers to a different life, a difficult life.

Let me just throw some random Rob Bell quotes I've been enjoying at you:
"The way of Jesus is the path of descent. It's about our death. It's our willingness to join the world in its suffering, it's our participation in the new humanity, it's our weakness calling out to others in their weakness."
"The gathering of the church, in a service or worship or teaching setting, is to remind, instruct, and inspire people about being Eucharist ["The Good Gift"] for the worlds they find themselves in."
"The Eucharist is ultimately about what we do out there, in the flow of everyday life."
"Disconnection from the suffering of the world, isolation from the cry of the oppressed, indifference to the poverty around us will always lead to dispair."

So for me Easter has been yet another reminder that this journey I'm on is with others and for others.