"Next year in Jerusalem!"

2012's Passover seder was quiet and just plain sweet. 2013's was a little rowdy and very joyful.   Any excuse to host a crowd in my new house!

This is turning into my favorite tradition. 

The rug was necessary. For corralling purposes. 

A couple of people have asked me why we do a seder every year. We're not Jewish. What's the point? 

I want to redeem our holidays - our holy days - and teach my kids that yes, candy and presents and decorations and special activities are good, even important things...but they're not the point.

Jesus is the point.

We celebrate Passover because Jesus celebrated Passover. In fact, the famous "last supper" of Christ before He was betrayed was a seder. The prophesies and symbolism woven throughout a traditional seder were made real by Jesus, our ultimate sacrificial Lamb. 

There would be no Easter without Good Friday. No resurrection without the crucifixion. I want to remember the betrayal, torture, and murder of Jesus - on my behalf - that makes His resurrection and eternal love so sweet. 

Our Passover celebrated being adopted into God's family and, I hope, showed our kids how amazing that gift is.

She's a natural. It was slightly disturbing. (At least it was grape juice.)

The kids were really focused. I was impressed.

Just as the middle piece of the bread of affliction is broken, Jesus, too, was afflicted and broken. One half of this matzah is called the afikomen - “that which comes after” -  the dessert. We wrap it in a white cloth just as Jesus’ body was wrapped for burial.

Just as I have hidden the afikomen, so Jesus was placed in a cave, hidden for a time.  And just as the afikomen will return later on to complete our Passover seder, so Jesus rose from the dead to appear unto many.

Katelyn found the afikomen after a lively post-lunch hunt.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

His love endures forever. 

I'm so thankful for that. 

Next year in Jerusalem!

Here are some links if you're interested in celebrating Passover next year:

The Best Easter Dinner from A Holy Experience by Ann Voskamp

This is a great starting place. Our seder is partially based on her free printable.

Messianic Haggadah: A Passover Seder by Jackson H. Snyder II

A more traditional seder, from which we also borrowed. 

gluten free matzo recipe

Not technically kosher. Which is ok for my family, because we're not technically Jewish.

traditional charoset recipe

I only put what we needed for the seder through the food processor. The rest we ate as a side dish at lunch. This stuff is delicious. 

My platter is from Dayspring's discontinued "I Am" line.

xo, Melissa

The Fresh Start

photo credit

The afternoon sunlight filtered through the blinds as I slid out of the wrong side of bed, trying not to disturb the little one snoozing on my pillow. She fell asleep quickly, after a morning of attitude and drama. Some days it seems like she has all the emotions of a grown woman in a three-year-old body.

I headed to the bathroom to wash the morning off and tried to decompress two months of stress in ten minutes (it didn't work). 


Motherhood is hard. Give of yourself, without feeding yourself, and eventually you'll have nothing left to give.


All my complaints hit the cold walls of the shower and bounced back, echoing until they multiplied into more than I could bear.


The tile obviously wasn't listening. So I lifted my pain to the One who always listens, even when what hurts is something under which only this foolish heart would buckle.


Good Friday. If I'm called to lay my self down and offer grace and peace to my children as a sacrifice to Him, how small is that gift compared to the Gift? The day that the Son was put to trial and executed, when His creation turned its back on Him is called good. Good for us. He loved us first, before there was time and before we realized that we are incomplete. 


I'm learning that my sacrifice of praise is good to His ears, and good to my soul.


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We celebrated the Resurrection yesterday. Today is a fresh start. He Is Risen. 


(I also got 7 hours of sleep last night, and made it to work out this morning at 5am. A fresh start indeed.)