Hello Everyone!
I hope you're all having a great Holy Week thus far. I know personally, ours has been exhausting already and we haven't even gotten into the thick of it yet... But that's what I love about Holy Week! It's so tough and you're working so hard to prepare your house/kids/mind/spirit/church/everything for Pascha! Then the feast comes and it was all totally worth it and it's just a teeny tiny glimpse of what our Royal Banquet will be like in heaven. I was just thinking today about how awesome this opportunity is. To get to live out the resurrection each year and fast and push ourselves spiritually is such a beautiful blessing from the church. It also dawned on me this morning as well that we get the opportunity to adjust our fasting and Holy Week practices each year. So maybe after Holy Week this year, we look back and say, "That was a little too much for the kids." or "Maybe we didn't need THAT much food for Bright Week..", or "I felt like I was so distracted by my phone/tv/work this past Holy Week." These are some things I have found myself saying in Bright Weeks past.
Well, Lord willing, next year we have the opportunity to do it all again and focus more on what's important. I try to be graceful to myself as I think about what I would have done differently each year, but also earnestly ponder adjustments for next year to make Lent more meaningful for our family. What a blessing from the fathers to look the death and resurrection of our Lord in the eye each year, and to ponder the final judgement, but then have the freedom and grace to grow even more in the next Lenten season. It's like annual practice for the Last Judgement. I know, I know, that's the point. But today, I got to think on it for a bit and mull over the beauty of it for about 3 whole minutes before being called away by crazy toddlers.
Wishing you all a blessed Holy Week! Here are some Pascha cards that I made for our kiddos to color and decorate. If you like the illustrations, they are from our Pascha to Pentecost coloring book available here.
