Fix Our Eyes...

Every afternoon and every night I rock my sweet Tyson in the rocking chair in his room before putting him the crib for nap or bedtime. And every afternoon and every night, Tyson does the same thing. He stares at the cross that hangs on the wall above the rocking chair. He just cannot take his eyes off of that cross. I love watching him as his eyes focus on the cross and then fix upon it. As I watch my baby, I am reminded that I too should have my eyes fixed upon the cross. 

Since we have been preparing for Easter all week long, I have been thinking a lot about fixing our eyes, hearts, and minds on the cross. What Jesus did for us there, well, there is nothing more deserving of our gratitude! My prayer for myself, and for my family, is that we would truly see the sacrifice that Jesus made. That we would honestly understand how desperately we need Him as our Savior and that we would never forget how much He loves us.

My boys and I have spent some time making crosses, discussing the crucifixion, and getting excited because we know that death doesn't win! We know that Jesus is alive!! We know that Sunday's comin'! I think it's good for people of all ages to realize that what Jesus went through wasn't "easy-peasy." It wasn't clean and appropriate. It wasn't quiet and peaceful. It was horrible. It was painful. It was bloody. It was gruesome. One thing that I really wanted my boys to learn this Easter season, is that Jesus willingly went through all of this for you and for me. I wanted them to see that it was painful and cruel. I didn't want to scare them so I simply focused on the crown of thorns. We made a crown of thorns from our rose bushes and took turns touching it and wearing it. If it had been pushed into our heads, it would have hurt badly. It did hurt our fingers as we held it. I think Dylan and Evan were both shocked at how painful just that one part of the story probably was for Jesus, which helps them to see that everything Jesus went through was dreadful and agonizing. And He willingly stayed there because He loves us so much.

Dylan and Evan enjoyed making cross sun catchers. Evan
cut lots and lots of tissue paper. Cutting is his favorite thing right now!

These sun catchers are helping us
keep our eyes fixed on the cross!

Our Crown of Thorns

He was intrigued by the crown...I think the visual was good for him!

We've learned so much about Jesus and His sacrifice this week.
I love having the opportunity to teach my children
about God's amazing gift to us!

 Today I am thankful for the Cross. What Jesus did there for us is something that most of us can't even truly comprehend. We grow up seeing clean, pretty pictures of the cross so we don't really understand how awful and gruesome this type of exacution was. As I type this, Bryan and I are watching the Passion of the Christ. If you haven't seen it, please consider watching it. It has helped me to have a better picture of what Jesus endured for me and for you. He could have called 10,000 angels but He didn't. He was willing to go through all of it because we mean so much to Him. Thank you Jesus. Thank you. I am also grateful for the ability to teach my children of Jesus' great love. There is not one thing that I could teach them that would be more important than this. Oh, how I long for them to truly grasp what a gift salvation is. I pray that they will always keep their eyes fixed upon the cross!