Lent with Claire 2016: Jesus was hurt...um...very badly

We've only added one new egg from our set of Resurrection Eggs since last week: egg 4, which is a small piece of twine, representing the whip(s) used to beat Jesus. Finding ways to explain to a newly-turned 3-year-old the concept of Jesus being flogged is sort of bizarre. Do we talk about it in terms of spankings? That doesn't seem that it would convey much to Claire, as she doesn't really get spankings. Occasionally a pop on the hand, but that's not going to give her a good idea of Jesus' whipping. Do we tell her Jesus got a lot of boo-boos? That doesn't seem very adequate either. We've talked about it by explaining that Jesus was hurt very badly and would have needed a lot of band-aid stickers (what she calls band-aids) because he was bleeding. So, our explanation feels a little faltering, as we try to give her an idea of what He experienced. Hopefully, we'll refine it over time, but until then, we'll keep trying to give her word pictures that she might understand. Anybody else have ideas?

Stretching the Resurrection Eggs out throughout the entirety of Lent is still working well for us, as we get to spend several days going over the meanings of each one. She still enjoys recounting the first few eggs every day:
1. The Palm Branch (ahem...leaf from yard). She likes to sing "Hosanna" and wave the palm branch she made. 
2. The Bread (oyster cracker). She explains that Jesus took the bread, broke it, and ate it.
3. The coins. She holds the coins and explains that Jesus had a friend "who wasn't very nice" (that's about as good as we've gotten with the Judas/30 pieces of silver egg).

She's still showing a lot of interest in the eggs that we haven't opened yet, and she asks every day if we can "talk about those eggs?" 

We're still enjoying the Wednesday night Lent services at church. Blacknall doesn't have regular Wednesday night services, and, compared to Sunday attendance, draws a fairly smallish crowd. We've really enjoyed sitting with different couples/individuals/families at dinner every time. This week, we sat by a young family who are in the final stages of completing their second international adoption. It was so interesting to hear their story of how they chose the agency they're working with, how they chose the country they're adopting from, and about their son that they are waiting on. They are literally waiting on one more signature before they can travel for a week of court dates in-country. It's exciting to start praying for them as they are waiting for and anticipating their son, much like we're all waiting for and anticipating Easter at the end of Lent. It's been so neat to see the folks that the Lord has brought into our Wednesday evening paths. 

After the meal each week, there is a short worship service, message, and communion. It's been very encouraging each week, and there's something really special about sharing a meal together before sharing the Lord's Supper together. Brad always says that there's just something about sharing a meal that draws people together (Baptists totally get this), so sharing a meal for sustenance followed by a meal of significance is a really great way to wrap up the day. And, thank goodness Claire has done a complete 180 on the staying-in-nursery-front. She's excited about going to church these days, and it's enabling us to participate in normal, church family activities. It is LIFE CHANGING, I tell you. 

We haven't done an Easter craft yet this week, and don't think for a second that Claire hasn't noticed. If I get my act together, I'll tell you about what we came up with.