Attitude of Gratitude | March Passover
I'll admit it, I'm a complete newbie at celebrating Passover. We tried celebrating it last year just the three of us at home. It was a bit of a fiasco to say the least! So here's what I'm most grateful for on this take two of Passover.
Yeshua Our God King
I have not been shy about expressing my gratitude toward my God King and what he has done for my healing journey since our baby Julian died. A large part of my reason for celebrating Passover this year is not becuase of Julian, but out of my love and gratitute that I feel for Yeshua after Julian. It is a small offering of gratitude and love that I freely bring to his feet this Passover. Keeping his calendar and his holidays is the least I can do for the one who laid down his life for me and my family. It is interesting to me that Jesus at his last supper with his deciples desired only one thing, to keep the passover with his close followers and friends.
"With earnest desire I have desired to keep the passover with you. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." (Luke 22:15-16)
Joyously remembering and celebrating the gift of his death is what he called us to do. I am grateful that this year we could do that for him.
Crossing The Red Sea
Remember that three hour long Charlton Heston movie The Ten Commandments? I use to love watching that movie as a kid for some reason and Moses has always been my favorite story in the bible. Last year, our family joined a Torah bible study group and we have learned a treasure trove of meaning and application behind this classic bible story.
It reminds us of who God really is and how great he is in his own right. He is the Great I AM. There is none like him and who are we to question his requests?! This story, teaches us about a God who cares about the state and freedom of his people. It teaches us about a God who can do unimaginably wondrous things and provide sign after sign to establish trust with his people. This is the side of God we tend to forget about through our day to day life and exactly the kind of story we should be remembering every year.
For those of us who wait for his soon retun, this story provides a step by step tutorial of what we should expect as that day appraoches. It is a call to take the unwavering decision to follow the one true God over any other god and to 'cross over' out of the bondage of babylon and into covenant of freedom with HIM. It is a call to remember that we are 'sojourners' here on this sinful Earth. We don't belong here and Yeshua will soon return to take those who know and follow his word home.
Teaching the Children
"And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Exodus 12:26-27
For all the good reasons above, God instructed that we teach the children about Passover. This year as part of our dinner, we had our five year old son ask the four questions at the seder table. I made a small Yeshua centered Haggadah-esque booklet for the table to follow at the dinner (Download Free Printable Here!!). Vitor loved helping me string the booklet together as much as he loved practicing his questions. To our surprise he also was able to ask all four questions at the table in front of the whole family! He also helped me set the table and we watched part of the Ten Commandments together. I hope that every year we can build on teaching him about what the Passover is all about in beautful memorable ways.
To Next Year, In The New Jerusalem!
Attitude of Gratitude is my way of sharing what I'm currently grateful for and the things that have aided me in my own personal practice of Stoic Christianity. These two things have played a large role in my path to healing and spiritual recovery after baby loss. Each month I will do my best to post the top three things that I am currently grateful for.
