"Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”"
Luke 24:1-7
[As is typical of my blog posts this is not a short one! :)]
The day before Resurrection Sunday our family cleaned up the house and prepared for a "Resurrection Dinner." Since we would be gone during most of the daylight hours on Sunday we had our dinner on Saturday. Paw-paw, Na-naw, and G.G. (my grandparents and great-grandma) came over to share in our feast! :)
Lydia chewing on a Resurrection egg.
The table (set with Mama's fine china and glasses) and the workers in the kitchen.
Hannah's 1st place buttermilk rolls - Lexi helped make them too! :)
Cookies! We made spritz cookies on Friday and decorated them with icing and sprinkles and my grandparents brought some butterstar cookies from Ukrops.
Our menu for dinner was as follows:
Roast Beef
Potatoes
Carrots
Greenbeans
Kale
Asparagus (garden fresh)
Buttermilk Rolls
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Sparkling white (and red) grape juice
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Refresh-Mints (a.k.a. pillow mints)
After dinner and clean-up we made our way into the den for some time reading about Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection and then some time praising Him through song.
We used the Resurrection Eggs that we had from our past church (HEFC) to illustrate the different Bible truths and to make it fun for the little guys. There were 12 eggs (all different colors) and each stood for something:
Egg Color - Contents - The Item Represents - Scripture
Hot Pink - Coats - The Triumphal Entry - Mk. 11:7-8
Light Purple - Coins - Judas' Betrayal - Mt. 26:14-16
Dark Green - Soap - Jesus Washes Disciples' Feet - John 13:4-5
Light Yellow - Bread - The Last Supper - Mt. 26:26-28
Dark Blue - Flower - Garden of Gethsemane - Mk. 14:32-35
Light Pink - Thorns - Crown of Thorns - Mt. 27:29
Light Green - Cross - Jesus' Crucifixion - Lk. 23:33
Dark Orange - Cloth - Darknes Noon to 3 P.M. - Lk. 23:44-45
Light Blue - Spear - Piercing Jesus' Side - Jn. 19:32-34
Dark Purple - Spices - Burial of Jesus - Jn.19:39-40
Light Orange - Stone - Stone that was Rolled Away - Mt. 28:1-2
Dark Yellow - Empty - Empty Tomb/Resurrection - Lk. 24:1-8
[Please forgive my terrible columns! :)]
A flower from the Garden of Gethsamane.
Alexis was one of the egg-passer-outers; Daddy was the other.Eden and Josiah took the eggs around and showed them to everyone.
A thorn in symbolism of Jesus' crown of thorns.
Lydia wandered around the whole time.
Daddy would have someone look up each verse that went with the item in each egg and they would read the verse as Weedels and 'Siah showed everyone.
A cross symbolizing Jesus' crusifixion.
A black cloth showing the darkness that covered the earth as He hung on the cross.
A rock representing the stone, in front of Jesus' tomb, that was rolled away! :)Once we finished the eggs we sang and praised the Lord until Daddy said it was time for dessert! :)
Mama played the piano and Caleb beat expertly on the D'jembe.
Hannah, Na-Naw, Paw-Paw singing. (not chanting)---
Our Resurrection Sunday plans were to get up early, take showers, eat a speedy breakfast, and then head up to our Aunt and Uncle's church to watch my Uncle get baptized and become a deacon. We took some quick, self-timed photos before we left around 8:30.
The picture is way bright and I cropped it...
This is one of the original pictures.---
Our Uncle and family attend First Baptist Church in Woodbridge, VA. It was a beautiful church and pretty big because it had to fit the 1,000+ members and all the Resurrection Sunday visitors. We could hardly find a parking spot! :)
The service was a bit different from ours. My Uncle was the last to get baptized (after over 25 people).
The service was a bit different from ours. My Uncle was the last to get baptized (after over 25 people).
My Uncle (the one on the left) and the pastor.
After getting baptized.
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After he (our uncle) got batized, we went to our Grampa-ma's house. Grandma took the normal family pictures before we all got comfy and then we waited for dinner. Of course, dinner was one of the best! :) Grandma made twice-baked potatoes, greenbeans, salads, and Grandpa cooked the Omaha steaks to perfection! :)
My cousins, left to right: Diana - 13, Stephen - 11, and Amanda - 14
Everyone, but Lydia, on the steps by the Easter baskets.
Grandma.
My cousins, left to right: Diana - 13, Stephen - 11, and Amanda - 14
Everyone, but Lydia, on the steps by the Easter baskets. 
Grandma.After we looked at our Easter baskets we went outside for the Easter egg hunt.
Everybody (but napping Lydia) lined up, ready to get their eggs.
Everybody (but napping Lydia) lined up, ready to get their eggs.Daddy was the fantastic photographer for the rest of the pictures!
Lexi's ready (far left)!
Josiah on the hunt.
Lexi on the move!
'Manda and Hannah searching for eggs.
Eden found one! :)
Mama helping Josiah!
Uncle Greg
Lexi's ready (far left)!
Josiah on the hunt.
Lexi on the move!
'Manda and Hannah searching for eggs.
Eden found one! :)
Mama helping Josiah!
Uncle GregAfter we thought we had found all the eggs (we found over 8 later) we went to the pavement, got a plastic bag from Grandpa for our goodies, and opened the eggs, and examined the contents.
Stephen peeking inside an egg.
Zoe, Amanda's pug, behind Seth.
My beautiful Grandma.
Caleb and his goodies.
Diana and Stephen on a toddler's toy going down the hill! :)
Eden on a bike.
Amanda and her lovely Mama (a.k.a Aunt Amy).
My gorgeous Mommy. (no bout a dought it)
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Stephen peeking inside an egg.
Zoe, Amanda's pug, behind Seth.
My beautiful Grandma.
Caleb and his goodies.
Diana and Stephen on a toddler's toy going down the hill! :)
Eden on a bike.(Eden just recently found out she can ride without training wheels, so she's been zooming here and there and showing everyone her new-found skill!)
Amanda and her lovely Mama (a.k.a Aunt Amy).
My gorgeous Mommy. (no bout a dought it)---
Even though we did do lots of different things not directly associated with the Resurrection, we still tried to remember what the day was about, and that without his sacrifice and rising from the dead, we would not have eternal life and we would all still be lost in our sins.
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We left later that night and arrived home around 9:30.
Josiah resting on Mama.
(Lexi was photographer)
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I mentioned on my last post that we were going somewhere this week. Daddy worked for the Mixons (some friends from church) for a couple months, in exchange for a week-long stay at their beach house located in Emerald Isle, NC. The house is beautifully decorated, Oceanfront, and more! If you'd like to view it go here: http://www.shorewoodrealestate.net/crystal_charm.htm. After some different things they offered us an extra 2 days to stay since no one was renting the week before or after us! They have been extremely kind and have tried (and suceeded) in making this vacation fun and easy! This will be the 10-Wassenbergs first-ever family vacation by ourselves and we're greatly looking forward to it! I would love to say lots more about the prepration for the beach but it's Friday night and we're leaving tomorrow morning so we still have some packing to do, cleaning up, etc.
I'll try and make up a post as soon as I can and I'll have toooooonnnnnnnnnsssssssss of pictures! :-D
All for Jesus,
Kimber
