We’re just a month away from the biggest holiday on the Christian calendar- Easter! The time to celebrate our living hope- that Jesus being sinless and fully God and fully man took our place on the cross, not only dying for our sins but resurrecting with power over sin and death! If there was ever a time to celebrate dear friend Easter is it. But Easter really can be a strange time for parents of faith. How do we pass on that big message to our children especially little ones like toddlers? How do we talk about sin and death and even more- the miraculous in that Jesus rose from the dead? It can be an awkward time where Christian parents want to disciple their children but just don’t know how and hope Sunday school will fill in the gaps. This post is meant to help with that. I really poured my heart out on the topic last year in my post Passing on a Faith That Sticks so please check that out for some validation on how challenging it can be while finding some hope in practical steps to take in celebrating the Savior.
As for today- I want to challenge you to pass along the Easter message by reading aloud to your kids for just 10 minutes a day for the next 30 days leading up to Easter! Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t make every day- but my hope is that your kids will anticipate this time to be close with you and to learn more about this sacred time of year. Here are a few of my book suggestions!
- Explore C.S. Lewis’ world of Narnia in his book, “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.”
During a Costco run last fall I noticed they were selling the entire Chronicles of Narnia series. Never having read any of C.S. Lewis’ literature but knowing that he was a well respected Christian theologian I picked up the series and thought it would be good to have for the kids someday when they were older. Well one day I decided to experiment with it and read 10 minutes of the story to my then 2-year-old- and just turned 4 year-old to see if they could stay on track with the story. I have to tell you that for a book set in London, using unfamiliar words from a time long ago and for having very few pictures I was shocked that my toddlers not only understood but were immediately hooked. They hated when the 10 minutes were up and begged me to keep reading. They looked forward to what would happen next inside the magical world of Narnia and so it became a special time for reading aloud daily. But what surprised me even more was how Lewis was telling the Easter story through the fictional narrative of the great lion Aslan, who died for Edmond’s transgressions and then through the deep magic from before time resurrected from the dead to defeat the white witch and save all of the Narnian’s who were on his side. We celebrated finishing reading the book by watching the DVD as a family with stove-top popcorn and Aslan cupcakes that I made and decorated myself.
I choked up during the movie several times at just how beautifully Lewis was telling my children the story about what Jesus did on the cross for them. It lead to such rich and meaningful conversation and really helped my kids grasp the concept of just how wide, long and deep the love of Christ really is. Quite frankly my kids became a little obsessed with Narnia and wanted to watch the DVD almost everyday pretending they too were brave knights fighting the battle against the white witch. They even wanted to dress up as the characters from the film for Halloween and ran around with their swords yelling “For Narnia and for Aslan!” 
Last week I decided to reread them the story -this time for 15 minutes a day drawing out and discussing the Easter themes within the narrative and celebrating finishing the book by watching the DVD but this time with friend’s from church & culminating with a Resurrection Egg hunt. For more ideas on how to have a Resurrection Egg hunt visit my post Passing on a Faith That Sticks. - A Few Other Easter Reads…
Two books that really teach children- even toddlers the Easter message through theology about sin, the need for a savior and grace are The Garden, The Curtain and the Cross by Carl Laferton & Catalina Echerverri and This is the Gospel by Kids Read Truth. I heard about Amon’s Adventure by listening to the Read-Aloud- Revival podcast- it’s actually a fiction adventure story about a boy named Amon that takes place during Easter week. Can’t wait to read it to the boys!
3. The Easter Story in Children’s Bibles…
So I am a huge fan of Sally Lloyd-Jones’ Jesus Storybook Bible . I have been reading it to our son’s since they were babies. I just love how Sally threads the redemptive story of who Jesus is and the redeeming work he came to do from the Old Testament to the New Testament. She writes, ” No, the Bible isn’t a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave prince who leaves his palace, his throne, – everything- to recue the one he loves…You see the best thing about this story is – its true.” She weaves in the Easter message from start to finish. Lent would be the perfect time to read through the New Testament in the Jesus Story Book Bible and draw out the Easter themes. You can even get the CD and listen to Sally read it to you in her darling English accent.
And since our kids have been reading the Jesus Storybook Bible for so long they have pretty much memorized it. So I went ahead and got the ESV Children’s Bible which is a child’s first real bible not a storybook one. We tried reading it to our boys but it’s still a little advanced for them so for now we are showing them the pictures and exploring the maps in the back which they love. I have showed them the different pictures of the resurrection in each gospel. If you have kids perhaps 5-years-old and up it would be great to read through the gospels which end with the resurrection account in each one.
These are just some ideas. The point is to create a sacred space to intentionally focus on the cross in meaningful ways for your family during the season of Lent. For other ideas such as how to decorate for Easter, bake an Easter message, have a resurrection egg hunt and more check out my post https://inspiredchickblog.com/2018/03/25/passing-on-a-faith-that-sticks/
