Family Faith and Fun Friday: Happy Trees
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
-Hebrews 4:12
Welcome to Family Faith and Fun Fridays! As the week winds down and I anticipate more family time over the weekend, I often ask God for one good idea that will enable me to bring the Word to life and bring our family together. Usually, the activity overflows out of something the Lord has been teaching me through His Word during the week. I’d like to invite you to join me and my family in the adventure. Sometimes I’ll post things we’ve tried; other times I’ll post an idea in the works. If you’ve got thoughts to add or suggestions on how to adapt or improve the activity, please don’t hesitate to comment. Enjoy!
Happy Trees
Happy Trees
Yesterday marked a holiday on the Christian calendar that I’ve never celebrated before: Ascension Day. This final event of Christ’s earthly ministry touched me with a powerful poignancy this year since it fell just one day after my grandmother’s relocation to Heaven. I thought about my grandmother’s longing for glory and wondered if Christ had yearned for it since the day He’d arrived wrapped in flesh and amniotic fluid. Forty days after His resurrection from the grave, thirty-three years after entering our world as a hapless babe, He was finally ushered HOME.
Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting his hands to heaven, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. So they worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy…. Luke 22:50-53
Calvary was cast in a new light when the One who had been nailed to a tree soared away in the clouds. Heaven is no longer a mere hope and a prayer. It is not just a symbol of all that is good and true. Heaven is a real place, being prepared for us by a real Savior.
“There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.” John 14:2-3 Ascension day is the chapter in the grand story of salvation that twists what was and promises what is to come. Ascension day flips Calvary’s sadness into smiles. It transforms the old rugged tree from a picture of death to a picture of life. The cross becomes a beacon of hope and healing, of generosity and grace.
Just for the fun of it, I shared the brief account of Christ’s ascension with my kids and invited them to help me transform a few of our own trees. A pile of yellow plates, a black sharpie, and a handful of small nails were all we needed to turn our yard into a giggling grove of happy trees (Thanks to my amazing friend, Sherri for this great idea!). You don’t need to wait for next year’s holiday to add some smiles to your yard. Why not share the story of Christ’s ascension with your family this weekend and decorate some happy trees together to mark the momentous occasion?
I love it when I can “steal” a great idea from a “magnificent mom” :)Thanks for being my inspiration. Josh agreed to help because we got to use a hammer and nail those smiles to the trees.. Hannah only joined in b/c she’d made the mistake of saying she was bored and I handed her a sharpie. But I smiled through all of it.. sometimes the activity is REALLY just for Mom 🙂
Thank you for the shout !!!!
Love the happy trees! I’m smiling right now!
You have such a beautiful way of bringing CHRIST, to our daily lives! I love you!
I missed this weekend! I am going to use this idea for family night this week! 🙂