Jackie's Journey: Conflict

Conflict…the plight of the ages.

My husband tells me conflict is “confessing another’s sin instead of your own!”  It happens more often than we want.   It often comes when least expecting it.  It can be planned and contrived for personal benefit.  It is unspeakable if entered for selfish purposes.  It speaks its own ugly language.  It brings with it a sense of rejection.  It leaves a taste of loneliness if unresolved.  It defies common sense.   It strengthens selfish resolve.  It denies truth.  It stands in the way of peace and unity.  You have to sacrifice your peace with God to be a participant in it.  It divides friends and fellowship.  It has no godly purpose or end.  It separates all that is good and emphasizes the negative.  It wounds the Spirit.  It brings with it depression and failure.  It lies to us about our value.  It leaves us discouraged… 

Ever been there?

Who hasn’t?  What causes conflict and how can we avoid it? 

If everything has a purpose…what is the purpose of conflict?  Is there anything redeemable in a clash of wills?  The Word of God is filled with conflicts and resolutions.  I don’t have to look far to find God’s mind on the subject of conflict.  Psalms 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, records David’s prayer in the midst of conflict.  The first four verses express a promise and a goal.  “Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.  Blessed are they who keep his statues and seek him with all their heart.  They do nothing wrong; they walk in His ways.”  Then comes the conflict.  “You (God) have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.  Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your degrees!  Then I would not be put to shame...”

Conflict is a direct result of not fearing and obeying God.  His Word clearly records my responsibility (vs. 12-40).  My failure to follow His instruction results in conflict.  My response to a conflict reveals my true character and my relationship with God(Verses 41-48).  Conflict is my signal that I have violated a very simple scriptural principle.  I have ceased to fear and obey God!

There are varying types of conflict from wars among societies to crossed wills with a two year-old child!  We are specifically addressing conflicts in relationships with an emphasis on how can I avoid a conflict!?

While at Bible School someone asked me if I believed in “personality conflicts”.  It was certainly a common phenomenon on campus and in the dorms and the question was thought provoking.

What do you think?

If I am walking in the Spirit in all the light I have and you are also, can there be a conflict?  Not likely.  There will instead be deference and understanding of one another.  However, if one of us, or both of us, is not walking in the light of God’s Word we can count on conflict!  Both of us want our own way!  We have sacrificed our peace for conflict!  What a destructive exchange!  Harmony is the absence of unsettled offenses. “A genuine confession is explaining how I have failed so that God will not be blamed for the consequences”. 

Years ago Ralph gave me a verse that I quote to myself often when tempted to enter into conflict…It goes like this:  ”Great peace have they that love Thy law and NOTHING shall offend them (or make them stumble)”.  Psa. 119:165   That means that NOTHING (or no one) has the power to bring offense that I would choose to accept.  There is no excuse for anger, self-protection or division.  “Great peace have they…”   The choice is to maintain my peace and walk in the light or choose all the negatives that come with conflict!

Which do you choose most often?

As Moms, our children are busy reading us while we are communicating with one another.  What do they hear?  The purpose of conflict is to teach us the power of the peace of God in our lives.  To sacrifice peace for conflict is disobedience against our Creator and demonstrates the lack of fear we have of the consequence that comes with every act against His will. 

The next time you are given a choice, which will you choose?

“… my heart will be blameless toward your decrees, that I may not be put to shame…I put my hope in your Word.” ! Psa. 119: 6-11.  

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is discipling and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey: Sloth!

I saw my first sloth while traveling down the potholed Panamanian Highway!   It was pitiful…my heart ached to pick it up and lift it into the tree it was approaching.  Toiling with every move, I wanted to hurry its journey along, be a good servant and speed him on his way.  He sluggishly lifted his head and peered up at me…I imagined he was beckoning my help.  However, his long claws and musty smell made him unapproachable.  His matted greasy blanket of a greenish colored coat made me hyperventilate in the heat and humidity where we stood.  His slow motion gave new definition to idleness! He seemed so needy.  I just wanted to fix it all!

Have you ever been there?

What do you think of when you look at this mammal? 

I envisioned something creeping up on this sleeping animal and his not being able to defend himself.  The sloth, I understand, sleeps 15 hours day and night!  This motionless mammal is so still that the moths move into his thick hair!  He hangs upside down 90% of his life cycle and eating is his primary occupation. When food becomes scarce, he goes hungry…a sloth will die of starvation if food is not always within grasp!!  

“Slothfulness brings deep sleep; and an idle soul

will suffer hunger” Proverbs 19: 15.

 I love to study the world of nature for insights and analogies.  As I watched the mild mannered sloth struggle to move, I realized there is a lesson to be learned.

In extraordinary times God looks for extraordinary men and women that He can count on.  This remnant does not need great intellect, talent, or resources.  But they do need to be obedient channels through which God can show himself strong. II Cor. 12: 9-10

For most of us the enemy of disobedience is the willful rebellion of crippling slothfulness.  It is crippling because its subtle characteristics are usually unrecognized until the pattern of laziness is set!

Would you consider yourself a lazy person?

As moms, we don’t like to think of ourselves as being lazy! Our lives are busy from sun-up to sundown….

Listen to the 6 symptoms of a slothful mom:

• She hears God’s Word and walks away with no change
• She does not seek the Lord with her whole heart (guilty of little surrenders)
• She does not diligently examine her life for growth and transformation
• She does not consistently engraft the Word into her mind, will and emotions
• She does not earnestly share the truth with others
• She forgets where she came from and is self-deceived Jas. 1:22-24.

Life is a race against time.  We are called to be “doers of the Word”.  We will win the race if we realize the following truths about respecting time:

• It is limited! (Make the most of what is left!)

 Do you procrastinate, live for the moment and let the future take its course?

• Death is certain!   What will your legacy be?

Are you a person of example or excuses?  Are you spiritually prepared?

“It is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment…” Heb.9:27

• Christ’s return is even more certain
  • Are you counting the days, aware of His return?
• God determines our days and time is short!
  • Are you busy with the task on God’s heart?  Are your children prepared?

“The length of our days is seventy years or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass and we fly away”  Psalm 90:10

We are moms with a destiny!  How productive are we? 

Days must be counted. (1 week has 168 hours!)

How much time do we spend eating, sleeping playing, on social media?

              How much is left for productive work? Meditation, Reading the Word, Prayer…? 

“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psalm 90:12

• Our time requires accountability.  (1 week has 168 hours!)
  • Do you rationalize your need to be held accountable?
• Time is given with purpose for God’s Work.

Are you busy with the task on God’s heart? Or are you preoccupied with your own busy life?

“…The night cometh, when no man can work.” John 9: 4 

We cannot recover lost time!

Are you winning the race?

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is discipling and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

True Friendship

Thank you for a wonderful book launch! We could not have done it without you!  We know many little girls received the books in their Easter baskets this weekend.  We are just giddy thinking about it!

Friends, you have been so supportive and kind during this launch of our new book, A Royal Easter Story! Jackie and I are so thankful!

When we look to friendship in the Bible and around us, we see those who hold each other up.  Friends are ones who think the best of the other person and strive to make them successful in all they do.  Friends are the ones who make it clear they care about you and accept you for who you are.

Looking back over the last couple months, it has been a wild ride full of princess fun. We have spoken to hundreds of moms on what it means to make the King in your home feel like he has come home to his castle.  We have manned booths across the country sharing our Princess Parables tools and meeting so many of you at conferences.  We threw a wonderful princess dress, Easter basket and books giveaway with almost 1,000 entries! 

Most of all, so many of you have shared your love of the Princess Parables with your family and friends! Some of you have even found time to give us a good review. You trust us, believe in us and care enough to recommend us, and for that we are truly grateful!

Stories have flooded in over the years of what a difference our books have made in your families' lives.  This has kept us going and helped us to stay strong in the vision we feel God has given us. 

Here are a few stories: We have had moms tell us their husbands would never read God's word, but when their daughter asks him to read a Princess Parables book, he will gladly. We believe God's word does not come back void. We have had dads let us know they can't read one of our books without crying at the end. Some families have decided to not do Disney in their homes and our books have given a different option. We have had girls have Princess Joy birthday parties and give their gifts to Samaritans Purse or the Ronald McDonald house.  We have heard of many Princess Parables Clubs and Princess Teas where girls learn character qualities and biblical lessons.  And most of all, we have just enjoyed watching little girls come to our booth and let us know how much they love our princesses!

As we wrap up this weekend in Cincinnati at a convention, we are in awe of all that God has done.  He has been faithful and with us this entire journey.  Thank you for your friendship and support!  You have blessed us!

We will be launching a new book in the fall, A Royal Christmas to Remember, and pre-orders will begin on July 13, 2016.   We will be doing giveaways and more fun things then! If you would like to be part of the Princess Promoters Insiders Group on Facebook, we would love to have you join our friends there!

~Jeanna Young

When Jeanna is not writing, speaking, event planning, or homeschooling, she can be found scrapbooking her life, redecorating her home, loving on her husband, planning fun events for her kids or eating healthy to stay cancer-free!

Jackie's Journey: A Royal Easter Story!

The Princess Parable Book Series is designed to inspire noble thoughts and actions.  We have been blessed in so many ways by those of you who buy them, read them and use them as a teaching tool to minister to the spirit of your little girls.  We have a Princess Parable Prayer Book for Toddlers and a Devotional Book coming soon.  Our A Royal Christmas to Remember is due out this fall, just in time for Christmas. We have recently been asked by our Publishing House to submit a proposal to bring you another series of books for the little princesses who started with us six years ago and are now ready for Chapter books.  We humbly seek God’s Word for inspiration and His heart for leading.

Will you pray with us?

The first of our two seasonal princess books arrived the 26th of January, 2016!  We are excited it made its arrival in time for Easter.   It is not too late to get one!  A Royal Easter Story is taken from Luke 11.  We are introducing our five young knights in this book for those of you who have patiently waited for them to arrive.

A Royal Easter Story reveals the truth of a caring and selfless good Father who not only gives us good gifts, but also answers us when we seek Him. The princesses’ life-lesson is that a TRUE princess must learn to lose her life serving “Others first”— no “Me first” attitudes.  While in carriages racing the young knights to the annual Easter celebration, the girls come upon a lost little girl who desperately needs their help. They terminate their contest with the boys to give their attention to the more important needs of little forlorn Alina. Her name means “light” and she opens the eyes of the princesses to see the real race in life.

Easter is the celebration of our heavenly Father and King, who is “The Light”. He is noble and always focuses on others and what is eternal and matters most … US!  He never sacrifices the permanent on the altar of the immediate!  Our Father’s devotion caused Him to wage war against principalities on our behalf. He gave the ultimate sacrifice (His life for ours on the cross!).  Not only did He die for us, but He is alive and is available to all who ASK, SEEK, and KNOCK!                               

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Lu. 11:9-13

 Please visit Amazon  or Barnes and Noble to find our “hot off the press” A Royal Easter Story.   Also available are the Princess companion pieces (Princess Dolls, Princess Sticker and Activity Books, Princess “I Can Read” for the emergent readers, A Treasury of three Princesses or a Collection of all Five Princesses and much more…).

We are so grateful to each of you and the encouragement you give us as we continue to step into the print HE leaves behind…

Won’t you give thanks with us?

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is discipling and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Celebrating Passover Seder Dinner

The table was set with gilded table linens and pillows to recline. 

The lamb was roasted and the Seder plate full.

Our children dressed in costume to make it a full experience.

Last year, we invited another family over with kids the same ages on the Thursday before Easter.  We took all the leaven out of our house and began to decorate.  We put tables on the ground with pillows to sit on so we could “recline” like Jesus did in the Last Supper.  We dressed in traditional-feeling clothing for an added effect.  We ate lamb, read the Haggadah, drank the “fruit of the vine” and ate the bitter herbs.

Ever since I was in my twenties, I have enjoyed hosting and attending Seder dinners during Easter week.  Keeping “the ordinance in its season from year to year” (Exodus 13:10).  As a mom now, we have incorporated the Seder dinner into how we celebrate the Resurrected King. So much imagery and scripture fulfillment make it a “must” for our family.

Now some of you may be wondering what is a Seder dinner?

The Seder, a festive Jewish holiday meal, actually means "order." It is called this because the meal is done in a certain order, which takes us from slavery to freedom. The Haggadah—which means "the telling"—is the book used at the Passover Seder. The Haggadah explains the foods on the Seder plate, recounts the highlights of the Exodus, and includes songs, prayers, questions and vignettes. A Christian Seder dinner shows the fulfillment of the Messiah and how Jesus is our Passover lamb.

The dinner is full of faith lessons and connects the Old Testament with the New.  One can easily see how Jesus came to fulfill the prophesies of old when one participates in the Messianic Seder dinner.  I love how the tradition incorporates our children by asking these four questions during the Seder dinner:

Why is this night different from all other nights?

Once we were slaves in Egypt, but now we are free.  God asked us to set aside this night each year to remember—just like Jesus did at the Last Supper. We are to remember we are free, but bought with a price.

On all other nights we eat either bread or matzah, but why, on this night, do we eat only matzah?

The yeast represents sin. So we have cleansed it from our house.  See the stripes on the matzah? They remind us how Jesus was beaten for us and we break the bread to cherish how He was broken for us.  We were delivered from slavery and given new life.

On all other nights we do not dip our vegetables even once, but why, on this night, do we dip twice?

As they wept for their lives as slaves, so the salty parsley represents their tears.  But they also painted blood on the doorposts of their home with hyssop branches so the angel of death would pass over that fateful night.  They were miraculously delivered because the Passover Lamb, Jesus, has become the sacrifice for our sins.

On all other nights we eat either sitting up straight or reclining, but why, on this night, do we all recline?

Before we were slaves, but now we are able to recline as free people.  The price has been paid for our lives. We are no longer bound and chained.

Can I encourage you to celebrate the Seder dinner with your family this year?  You can find it at a local church or Messianic Jewish temple. You can also look online to find everything you need to create the experience at home.

I hope we can all celebrate next year in the New Jerusalem!

~Jeanna Young

When Jeanna is not writing, speaking, event planning, or homeschooling, she can be found scrapbooking her life, redecorating her home, loving on her husband, planning fun events for her kids or eating healthy to stay cancer-free!

Jackie's Journey: Thorns and Thistles!

“By His wounds we are healed”.  Isa. 53

The cross is the center of our commemorating the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  His selfless and sinless sacrifice in our place is our reason to celebrate and praise His Name.  We call the holiday Easter and for a moment in time we stop and rehearse His ultimate sacrifice…His life for ours on that thorny and thistled  “old rugged cross”.  Not only did He die for us but also on the third day He rose from the dead and gave us the promise of a resurrected life after death! 

This deliberate and divine act of love was to give our lives promise, plan and purpose.  We are destined and programmed to serve others first, not ourselves.   In our new release to the Princess Parable Series, A Royal Easter Story, we introduced five young knights who present a challenge that draws our young princesses into a chariot race which ultimately reveals the truth of what the cross teaches. 

Do you live a life selflessly and sacrificially serving others?

 We cannot be consumed with a life that seeks its own and find life abundantly.  It is an impossibility.  Local churches open their doors on Good Friday to give us the opportunity to take a personal account of our commitment to our first love and renew our loyalty to live as Jesus challenges us to live…Holy!  We are reminded to live serving others, as He did, with eternal values and purpose in view.

As moms, we are dedicated to teaching the character of Christ into our little princes and princesses.  We focus on drawing their attention to the importance of serving, helping and caring for others.  That is why we find ourselves saying, “Can you comfort your little brother” or “Will you help mommy?”  Teaching by example, without excuse, is the most powerful tool in our toolbox!  We are “known and read” by these little eyes and ears.  They know if the cross is real in us, or not.  We don’t fool them, but we do confuse them when our life message does not speak the reality of Christ in us!

Are your little ones confused? 

“Then said Jesus to his disciples, IF any man will come after me,

 let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

Matt. 16: 24

The cross holds the hope of humanity.  Denying self-life (our pride and selfishness in all its ugly forms)…and taking up His cross (His desires and His perfect Will for us)…  authenticates His life in us.  Living life consistently with no unconfessed sin and nothing between another person and myself enables me to follow Him.  “His crucifixion is the key; His resurrection the door…it is only by His death that we have the mandate to enter into the gates of eternal life.  His door is open always.  Christ is King.”  Isrealmore Ayivor

 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live;

yet not I, but Christ lives in me:

and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,

who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

Gal.  2: 20

“There are no crown-bearers in heaven who were not cross-bearers here below.”

Charles H. Spurgeon

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is discipling and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Egging

This morning while the grass was still wet and the drops still hung on the roses from the California spring rain, my daughter and I set off to EGG her best friend's house.

EGGING???

When I was in high school, EGGING was a popular tradition, not one I remember enjoying. Egg guts can take the paint off any new car.

No, this was a different sort of EGGING, in the spirit of Easter and Christ, who died for our sins.

 “Mom, how many eggs should I fill with candy?”

 “Can we put a dollar in each of them for fun?”

 “They are going to be so surprised!!”

Being a mom means we find fun traditions to tie the heartstrings of our kids to us and ultimately to Jesus. Creating a life-giving home oftentimes means engaging my family in the world and the neighborhood we live in. Teaching our children to serve others and share the gospel begins in small ways. This Easter we are starting a new tradition – “egging” our neighbors and friends.

We filled 12 colorful plastic eggs and copied off the sign for their door. We headed off to their house without them knowing. We filled some eggs with candy because God is “sweet” on them. He just loves them so much. We put a dollar in a couple because it cost Jesus everything to die for us. And we left one empty because HE HAS RISEN! While everyone was inside, we taped the EGGED sign to the door and quickly hid the eggs around their yard. When we were finished, we knocked on the door for them to come out. The kids had so much fun finding the hidden Easter eggs.

Sharing Christ’s love this Easter can be as easy as EGGING a neighbor’s house. You can share them with friends by secretly doing it and leaving or sticking around to say ‘hi’. Either way, the blessing is just sharing this Easter tradition and sharing Christ’s love for others.

Of course, we had to leave our new book, A Royal Easter Story, hidden in the bushes for them to enjoy. Your princesses or knights will love the newest book in the Princess Parable series.

How will you be sharing the Joy of Easter this year?

Be sure to check out the giveaway we're doing for a custom princess parables dress! Head on over to the Princess Parables FB page to find out the details!

Photos Courtesy of CYD Weeks Photography

~Jeanna Young

When Jeanna is not writing, speaking, event planning, or homeschooling, she can be found scrapbooking her life, redecorating her home, loving on her husband, planning fun events for her kids or eating healthy to stay cancer-free!

Slowing Down this Easter

We live in such a fast paced world. As I write this article, Easter is just around the corner. Holidays seem to bring out the “hurry” in all of us. There are usually plans to make, meals to prepare, activities to organize, errands to run, and on the list goes. Busy! It’s hard to be purposeful about slowing down. 

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. There are so many wonderful things to celebrate as a Christian! New life! Forgiveness! Grace! Love! Eternal Life! I’m sure I could come up with quite a list here.

This Easter season I was so blessed as I sat down to read a new story to my kids. I purchased the newest book in the Princess Parables series, A Royal Easter Story, at a conference I recently attended. The story is a perfect example of the blessing we can be to others when we take the time to slow down. I really love are all the conversations I’ve been able to have with my girls about why serving others is so important.

3 Ways to Teach Kids the Importance of Slowing Down this Easter

For me, slowing down started by taking a break from all my busyness to read to my littles. It’s so easy for me to put it off. I’m trying to get better at saying “yes” to my kids whenever they ask me to read to them. Here are a few more ideas for slowing down.

1) Take time to sit down as a family and think about the blessing of the cross. There is so much focus on Jesus, the cross, and His tomb at Easter. Do our kids really understand the importance of Jesus dying for us? Sometimes we become so comfortable with seeing crosses everywhere that we forget to slow down and truly remember what Christ did for us on that cross on top of Calvary.

2) Looking to the needs of others and not what we are trying to accomplish. It’s easy to hurry by and not notice the needs of others around us. Maybe there is someone who needs a little extra love and encouragement this Easter. Just like the princesses in the story who decided to make helping a lost little girl more important than winning a race.

3) Make Easter your time for rebirth! Forget about the resolutions of January that may or may not have made it to March. I love taking time at Easter to really do a heart check and see what things God may be asking me to lay down. This is such an important lesson for our kids, too. Teach them to allow God to really search their hearts and bring anything that needs to be repented of to light. Sometimes even our prayer time gets hurried. Take time this Easter to slow down and listen for His still, small voice.

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way of everlasting!
–Psalm 139

Fun Easter Basket Gifts…& a Giveaway!

My girls have enjoyed their Princess Parable books so much. I’m a huge fan of them! The character, virtue, and the biblical life lessons that are incorporated in each book is so refreshing. Ashlyn and Caitlyn have loved looking through the pages. Honestly, I just love the character and modesty aspect of the books. There is always a biblical lesson to be learned. For that reason, one idea I had for this year was to tuck a Princess Parables princess into my girls Easter basket. I think they would really love them.

…OR you can enter to win a FREE Princess Parables Easter Basket!

The giveaway ends in a few days–March 20th! So, be sure to sign-up! Just click the picture above or HERE and you’ll be entered into the contest. This giveaway is hosted by Princess Parables. I’m just excited to be able to tell you about it! 

May the Lord bless you and your family this Easter! 

Kristi Clover is homeschool mom of five blessings ranging from teens to tots. She spends most of her days watching over her "castle" and attending to the needs of her loyal subjects. She is married to her Prince Charming and resides in southern California. She records her royal adventure in motherhood at www.raisingclovers.com. You can also find her at YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, — &Periscope as @RaisingClovers!

Jackie's Journey: Bunnies, Baskets, and New Beginnings!

Ah…Spring!  Don’t you just love it?  Martin Luther wrote, “Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.”

In Panama we had only two seasons…Dry Season and Rainy Season.   I used to miss spring in the jungles.  With the introduction of spring comes Easter, refreshing the garden and the promise of new life everywhere! 

 As Moms, we try to make every holiday one that will commemorate the occasion and create a family tradition.  We decorate and plan special family gatherings with a menu that is reminiscent of the day being celebrated… Christmas Dinner, Fourth of July B-B-Q’s, and Easter Brunch with Easter baskets filled with colored eggs!  Our homes become “show pieces” for enhancing the lesson of the season. Easter affords us one of the most amazing opportunities to rehearse again the enormous sacrifice of our Savior and His Resurrection that is our living hope after death!

 Easter reminds us of the Life the invisible Creator has given us. Rom. 1: 20   The barren ground exploding with magnificent splendor, as far as the eye can see.  The magic of new life bursting from the earth bringing forth flowers of every imaginable color and size…tulips, lilies, lilacs, daffodils… Tiny bunnies, fluffy chicks popping out of eggs, foals, fuzzy lambs and every other living being confirm the wonder of revival of life after a long winter. 

Revival can also be personal and immediate.  It is the power of the Holy Spirit transforming God’s Word into our soul.   There has never been a need, as great as today for revived lives, revived families, fellowships, communities and nations. The desperate need is there but the realization of our personal need is not!  And revival starts with us!   

“For revival is not a green valley getting greener, but a valley full of dry bones being made to live again and stand up an exceeding great army. (Ezekiel 37)  It is not good Christians becoming better Christians—as God sees us there are not any good Christians—but rather Christians honestly confessing that their Christian life is a valley of dry bones, thus qualifying them for the grace that makes all things new”! (Roy Hession)  For the Christian, death is a promotion!  New Life springs from our continual choosing to die to our pride and selfishness.

 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy,

to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God,

which is your reasonable service.” Rom. 12:1

Some give Him a place; some give Him prominence; but what Christ wants in our lives is pre-eminence.  The fruit of His being pre-eminent in our life is a spiritual renewal that restrains the anger of God, restores our God-consciousness and reveals His continual activity in us.

For those who have humbled themselves under the mighty hand of God at that place where sin is washed away, it has meant revival of their Christian lives in the truest and simplest sense of the word.

As we look forward to celebrating our Savior in the coming days, let’s use this time to revisit our need for personal and continual revival.  His death and resurrection came with plan and purpose.  It was to give us life from death.  New life does not begin with someone else.  It begins in each of us!

Let’s exchange dry bones for New Life!

 “If you are risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God.”  Col. 3:1

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is discipling and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Do-It-Yourself Easter Tradition!

Mommy, is it time to bring out the colored eggs?

Are we finally 12 days away from Easter?

Is it my turn to open the egg tonight?

When my kids were little, we started the tradition of the Resurrection Eggs.  I made our little colored egg set and it has lasted all these years.  As I look back on different family traditions we have adopted, I think counting down to a holiday has always been a favorite.  My kids enjoyed doing something every day.  I love these eggs that no only are fun, but also build faith and wisdom into my kids’ lives.

Creating a sense of heritage and expectancy, we open a different egg each day. I have also heard of families doing all the eggs at once. Inside each egg, a surprise object and corresponding verse tells the Easter story.  Each day builds up to Jesus’ death and resurrection while giving tangible items for my kids to remember. Many of these years, I had a stack of great Easter books to read, one a day, counting down to Easter.  Of course, we ate chocolate, too.

Since many of you who read this blog have little princesses and knights, I thought I would give you the plan to make your own Resurrection Eggs.  They have been around for many years.  In fact, you can even purchase a set from Family Life.

Whether you make them or purchase them, my hope is you will start this new tradition this year.  You can make them or order them this week and be ready to start on March 16th - twelve days before Easter.  They are easy to make and not expensive.  I hope you will enjoy this craft that will give you years of enjoyable memories, as it has in our family.

Making Resurrection Eggs

To make the Resurrection Egg set, you will need an empty egg carton,12 plastic eggs (different colors, if possible), and 11 story starters with verses (shown below).  First, number your eggs 1-12.  Then place the story starters in each egg that corresponds to the number. Copy off the verse and put inside the egg, too.

(1) Jesus enters on a donkey - a small plastic branch or leaf

   Matthew 21:1-11; Zechariah 9:9

(2) Judas betrays Jesus - a dime

Matthew 26: 14-16; 47-50, 27:3-4; Zechariah 11:12-13; Psalm 41-9

(3) Jesus eats the last supper and washes the disciples' feet -small bite size saltines sealed with shellac and small cloth or soap

John 13:3-17; Mark 14:22-26

(4) Garden of Gethsemane - a small plastic cup or let children form small cups from clay

Mark 14: 32 – 41; Luke 22: 39-46

(5) Jesus is arrested and goes before the Sanhedrin – piece of twine

Mark 14:43 – 64

(6) Peter denies Christ – a rooster (can be paper copy)

Luke 22:33-34; Luke 22; 54-62

(7) Soldiers mock Jesus and he is sentenced to death - a small thorn or piece of a small rose bush stem/ I made a sign “King of the Jews”

John 19:1-16

(8) Crucifixion of Jesus - hot glue two small twigs together to make a cross that will fit into the egg or a nail, and a die (for the soldiers casting lots)

John 19: 16 – 24

(9) Death of Jesus – small sponge

Matt. 27: 45-56; Psalm 69: 21

(10) Burial of Jesus – a small piece of linen cloth or gauze and a spice (piece of vanilla bean) 

John 19: 38-42

(11) The Tomb-a stone (you can purchase pretty ones in bags in the craft section of stores) and paint the egg black 

Matt. 27:62 - 66

(12) He is RISEN!  leave this egg empty

Matthew 28:1-10; Psalm 16:8-11

Creating an Easter Book basket

Reading books along with opening the eggs is a wonderful tradition to start.  We do a similar practice at Christmastime.  If you don’t have any Easter books, I would suggest ordering a few this year and adding to your collection each Easter.  You also can fill in your collection with books from the library.  Here are a few classic Easter books to review.

The Easter Story by Patricia Pingry

The Legend of the Easter Egg by Lori Walburg

The Easter Egg by Jan Brett      

The Country Bunny by Dubose Heyward

P. Zonka Lays an Egg by Julie Paschkis

The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt

Easter in the Garden by Pamela Kennedy

The Flowering Cross by Beth Ryan

Benjamin’s Box: The Story of the Resurrection Eggs by Melody Carlson

Of course, we would love for you to add our book, A Royal Easter Story, into your collection as you create wonderful family traditions to celebrate our Lord and Savior. 

What traditions do you keep and enjoy this Easter season?

~Jeanna Young

When Jeanna is not writing, speaking, event planning, or homeschooling, she can be found scrapbooking her life, redecorating her home, loving on her husband, planning fun events for her kids or eating healthy to stay cancer-free!