The sun stops shining (day 54)

The re-telling of the crucifixion, from Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19,begins on page 302 of the JSB. The kiddos gathered sticks from outside to make a cross (one long and one short one.) We used yarn to criss-cross the sticks together. Alyse made a small one for her bear, Von wanted a large cross. Then, we acted out the story. One person was Jesus carrying Von's large cross. We all walked into the closet and pretended to nail "Jesus" on the cross. After Jesus asked his father to forgive the people, and said "it is finished," we turned out the lights. I wiggled the kids and told them it was the earthquake. After the lights came back on we took "Jesus" off the cross and carried him to the tomb, covering him with pillows.

A dark night in the garden (day 53)

Sally Lloyd-Jones shares the story of the garden of Gethsemane, from Luke 22, Mark 14, and John 18 on page 294 of her Jesus Storybook Bible. Wow, lots of tears. Anyway, after such an emotional reading it was hard to think about playing a fun game. But of course the kids don't really want to do a "not fun" thing. So, we played chase where the person tagged gets put in jail. I periodically asked them questions such as, "but did Jesus run away when they came to put him in jail?" "If Jesus had run, would they have caught him?" Amazing.

the point? THANK YOU Jesus for coming, planning to die in our place