I hope you don't mind...but I think I am going to do things a little differently this week--this Holy Week before Easter. Now, I am a good old fashioned Baptist girl, so we don't talk a lot about "Holy Week" and we don't participate in giving up things for Lent. However, I have friends who do, and I always love asking them all about it. I think it is wonderful to make changes in order to get your heart ready to celebrate Easter.
That's what I want to do this week. I want to get my heart ready for Easter.
My week this week will be anything but quietly contemplative. I mean--this is the BIG WEEK for my oldest's 10th Birthday Room MakeoverReveal! (Check back--I hope to post all the exciting pics next Monday!) Tomorrow, I paint the room, and the rest of the week will be spent finishing some very fun craft projects for the room that I hope to show you next week! My wonderful in-laws are coming in for the birthday celebration, as well as my sister's family. Hooray for celebrating my cutie pie 10-year-old!!!
In light of all of this running around (like a crazy woman) and celebrating our daughter's entrance into the double digits, I want to make sure my heart doesn't forget this holiest of weeks for Christians. I want to try to do that here...
In church today, our pastor sketched what each day this week held for Jesus before his crucifixion and after. I thought it would be a wonderful goal to focus just a little bit each day on those events for Jesus, and how they relate to me today, here in my own little world.
Day 1 (Monday)- The Triumphal Entry
Some scholars are coming to believe Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem was on a Monday, and not Palm Sunday (like we have celebrated by waving palm branches since I was a little girl in Sunday School). In Exodus 12:3, God told the Israelites to select a spotless lamb in preparation of the Passover Celebration on the 10th day of Nisan. According to the Hebrew calendar, that 10th day was on a Monday.
How perfect (of course!) that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the 10th--at the same time everyone in Jerusalem was selecting his family's own lamb.
I LOVE what I learned next! The Jewish families were to select that spotless lamb on the 10th, and bring it into their homes to care for it as a pet, until the 14th day (Friday)--when they were to slaughter it as a sacrifice. I love the picture of that metaphor--we're to draw Jesus, our lamb, into our homes and spend time "caring for Him" this week. He's to spend the week inside our homes, probably being petted and chased around by our children. Can you imagine your children's delight in having a pretty little lamb come to stay in your house this week?
What are you doing this week with your family to bring Jesus into your home?
What am I going to do this week to help my children learn to care for our Lamb, as He enters our home?
Another part about the Triumphal Entry that I have always loved, is that Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey. No white stallion or glittering chariot. Isn't it just like Him to choose the lowliest of animals for his grand entrance?
His choice of transportation just makes me feel good. I mean, I can identify with donkey. I feel like I drive the donkey of vehicles...a minivan...and not a cool kind, either! It might have seemed more intimidating to identify with a glittering chariot of gold--like He would deserve. But, what he chose was the lowly donkey.
I always love when I hear about--or see pictures of--someone famous doing something completely human and normal. Or when I get to know some woman in town that I have admired from afar as having it all together--wears pretty clothes, drives a pretty car (and a clean one!), has talented children who also wear pretty clothes--and realize that she is completely normal, and even makes some of the stupid mistakes I do.
The fact that Jesus entered the world in a lowly state, and ended his life on Earth the same way, just gives me hope. I have a small, unglamorous life. As a little girl my dreams were of a life of glamour and fame and excitement. As an adult, I just want my small life to matter. I want to rub off some love and faith in my little circle of influence. I want to raise daughters who love Jesus, have an unshakable faith, and who face life with a smile and a giggle. I want to love my husband well. I want to be obedient to the gifts God has given me. And I want to pour out Christ's love to the people around me.
It's a tall order for a small life like mine.
But, it's one I am trusting to the King of Kings...who enters on a donkey.
I'd love to hear your thoughts! What do you think about The Triumphal Entry? How does your family prepare your hearts for this Holy Week?
