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Beginning on Tuesday, March 31 build anticipation for Easter with a fun quarantine friendly activity for your kids each day! The week before Easter you'll walk your family through each day as Jesus experienced it and build some fun memories along the way!  Tuesday (March 31) – Cross Craft Day
Today we will make a stain glasses window cross craft to put on our windows to remember Easter is about Jesus dying on the cross and rising from the dead for our sins! Craft Link: https://www.momontimeout.com/stained-glass-cross-easter-craft/ Evening Family Devotions John 3:16 – Discuss and Memorize Wednesday (April 1) – Jell-O Egg Day Today we will make and eat Jell-O Eggs (or Rice Krispies Eggs if you don’t have Jell-O egg molds)! Evening Family Devotions Quote John 3:16 Open 1st Resurrection Egg & Color/Fill Out Activity Sheet Resurrection Eggs Activity Sheets Link (pages 37-52) FREE Download: https://s3.amazonaws.com/shopfl-assets/downloads/ResEggsActivityBk-English.pdf Thursday (April 2) – Bunny Day Today we will hop like bunnies while we go on an Easter scavenger hunt and watch the Veggie Tales movie An Easter Carol! Scanvenger Hunt FREE Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jx3279ql5qo6ejv/Easter%20Scavenger%20Hunt.docx?dl=0 Evening Family Devotions Quote John 3:16 Open 2nd Resurrection Egg& Color/Fill Out Activity Sheet Friday (April 3) – Jellybean Game Day Today we will play the Jellybean Game. We have trivia cards about the Easter story and each time you get a question correct you earn three jelly beans! We will read The Berenstain Bears and the Easter Story. Easter Trivia Cards FREE Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/g448rhv5vkrx22l/Jelly%20Bean%20Game%20Cards.docx?dl=0 Evening Family Devotions Quote John 3:16 Open 3rd Resurrection Egg & Color/Fill Out Activity Sheet Saturday (April 4) - Easter Egg Day Today we will dye Easter eggs. As we dye eggs RED reminds us that Jesus’ shed blood was shed. ORANGE reminds us that as the sun rose on Easter morning the grave was empty! YELLOW reminds us that Jesus is the light of God. GREEN reminds us of the new life and growth we have when we believe in Jesus. BLUE reminds us that Jesus’ blood cleanses us of our sin. PURPLE reminds us that Jesus is the King of kings. PINK reminds us of Jesus love for us. Evening Family Devotions Quote John 3:16 Open 4th Resurrection Egg & Color/Fill Out Activity Sheet Palm Sunday (April 5) – Triumphal Entry Today we will wave palm branches and have a "Hosanna" songs dance party. We will watch the movie Greatest Bible Adventures - Easter Story. Evening Family Devotions Matthew 21:1-11
Monday (April 6) – Cleansing of the Temple We will watch the movie Easter Promise. Evening Family Devotions Read Matthew 21:12-17
Tuesday (April 7) – Teaching in the Temple Today we will make carrot cake cupcakes for our neighbors to practice the greatest commandment which Jesus taught on this day – love your neighbor as yourself. Evening Family Devotions Read Matthew 21:23-32; 22:34-40
Wednesday (April 8) – Jesus Anointed at Bethany & Plot Against Jesus Today Dad will purchase new spring flowers to remember the sweet smelling perfume of Mary who prepared Jesus’ body for burial. We’ll read The Parable of the Lily. *Note: Mary anointed Jesus before the Passover (John 12), but Matthew placed it later in his story to highlight it was preparing Jesus’s body of crucifixion. Evening Family Devotions Read Matthew 26:6-13
Thursday (April 9) – Last Supper & Jesus’ Arrest Today we will read Festival of Freedom: The Story of Passover. Tonight we will celebrate the Passover meal and beginning of the Lord’s Supper. First, Dad and Mom will wash the children's feet. Second, we will eat a Passover meal of roast lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs, and as we eat each item we will talk about what the meal meant for the Israelites. We will then eat bread and drink grape juice, and as we eat each item we will talk about how Jesus transformed the symbolic Passover meal into the symbolic Lord’s Supper. Afterwards we’ll watch the movie The Prince of Egypt. Christian Passover Booklet FREE Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/295qcxgfttdqkk5/Christian%20Passover%20Booklet.docx?dl=0 Evening Family Devotions Read John 13:1-17
Good Friday (April 10) - Crucifixion Today we will make a crucifixion and resurrection set, and tell the Easter story with it. We will read The Garden, the Curtain, and the Cross. Resurrection Set FREE Download: https://www.catholicicing.com/religious-easter-craft-for-kids-make/ Evening Family Devotions Read Matthew 27:1-2 & 11-61
Saturday (April 11) - Tomb We will make cross and Easter sugar cookies. We will read God Gave Us Easter and watch the Veggie Tales movie Twas the Night Before Easter. Evening Family Devotions Read Matthew 27:62-66
Easter Sunday (April 12) - Resurrection Today we will receive Easter baskets, watch our church service online, and go on an Easter egg hunt! We will read Jesus Is Risen! Evening Family Devotions Read Matthew 28:1-20
 Below is the audio and text of a 4 minute Keys for Kids devotional to help children (and parents) understand the Loy Krathong festival in Thailand and how as Christians we should be lights glowing in the darkness. As we experience this annual festival in mid-November it makes us feel not only sad as we know many Thai people feel they're releasing their sins as they launch their lanterns into the sky but also hopeful as we are reminded that we are just plain paper but Jesus lights us up from the inside so we can shine for Him. Anong and Nin leaned against the Nawarat Bridge in Chiang Mai and stared up at the night sky. The normally dark sky was lit up with hundreds of glowing lanterns slowly floating upward like dancing stars.
"I love the Loy Krathong festival," said Anong. "It's so beautiful!" "It really is amazing," agreed Anong's older sister, Nin. "But it's sad that people think they're releasing their sins as they launch their lanterns into the sky," Anong added. "I wish they had the hope of Jesus." "Yes," said Nin thoughtfully. "It is sad, but I think that's part of the reason why God placed us in Thailand." "What do you mean?" Anong asked. "Come with me." Nin handed a few baht coins to a street vendor and purchased what appeared to be some neatly folded pieces of white paper. "We are like this lantern," Nin said as she began to unfold the paper and fluff it out to reveal a paper lantern. "How are we like a lantern?" Anong asked skeptically. "We're just plain paper," Nin explained, "but when Jesus comes into our lives He gives us His light." Nin lit the small wick inside the paper lantern. "Wow! Look at that!" said Anong. "The lantern is glowing so brightly now. It's beautiful!" "Will you help me release it?" Nin asked. Together the sisters launched the glowing lantern into the night sky. As they watched it float upwards, Nin said, "We are just like the lantern because Jesus lights us up on the inside so we can shine for Him." "Just like the lanterns glowing in the dark sky!" Anong exclaimed. "Exactly," said Nin. "I think God placed us in Thailand so we can shine as lights in the darkness and tell people about the forgiveness Jesus offers because He died for our sins on the cross." "Wow!" said Anong. "Thinking about us being lights in the world makes the Loy Krathong festival even more special!" "I agree," said Nin as she hugged her little sister and they gazed up at the glowing lanterns. Rachel Vruggink HOW ABOUT YOU? How can you shine as a light in the country, neighborhood, and school where God has placed you? What are some ways you can point others to the hope of Jesus? The Bible says we point others to Jesus when we do good deeds that honor Him. When we show kindness, forgiveness, and generosity, we are shining the light of Jesus to others. TODAY'S KEY VERSE: Matthew 5:16 (KJV) Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (NIV) Here's a short video of the choir singing at the Mae La refugee camp for the church service: To help my 3-year-old learn her shapes I made these everyday life shape cards so we can play games to learn squares, triangles, circles, diamonds, ovals and rectangles. Free download below! 
Over the past year I did a great Bible study on the book of James with a small group of ladies in my church! At the same time Greg and I felt it was time for our evening family devotions time to move away from children's Bibles, and that we should start having our kids read and dig into the actual word of God. Our 10 and 9 year old are completely able to read a passage, answer basic questions about it, and then apply that passage to their lives. So from that desire I wrote 33 lessons on the book of James for older children (ages 7 - 13). Each family devotional lesson takes around 10 minutes and walks through the entire book of James. I began with 3 lessons on who the man James was - looking at him as Jesus's half-brother who was an unbeliever, believer, and then church leader, and then the lessons go through a few verses each night from 1:1 to 5:20. The final day the entire book is read to get the feel for it as an actual letter. I followed the ARTS acronym: A - Ask a hook question to draw the kids into the lesson. R - Read the passage. T - Think about the passage by asking the kids questions. S - Self-reflect on how the passage applies to your life. Children who will benefit from this study most are 2nd-8th graders who are able to easily read and understand a Bible passage. Younger children can learn from it too, but it's definitely geared for older elementary or middle school kids. So I hope you'll check it out and consider using this with your older kids during your family devotional times. Our family has completed 25 of 33 lessons and it's been awesome! We will definitely be continuing this method of Bible study for family devotions. The kids have requested that we study Ecclesiastes next and Greg's agreed, so you can pray for my seminary professor as he brings that book down to a child's level - haha! :) I hope this James Children's Bible Study is a blessing to some of your families too!
Our kids love to sing the Thai version of "Deep and Wide." Watch them sing!
This month we participated in the most loved Thai holiday, Songkran! Songkran is a three day water festival that rings in the Thai New Year. Everyone flocks to the streets with squirt guns and buckets to douse one another with water. (Click the video above to get a feel for its craziness!) The average high temperature each day right now is around 102 F (38 C), so getting wet is a treat!
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