He rode in on a donkey as foretold

Palm branches the people joyfully waved

A conquering King they longed to behold

But it was a bloody road ahead for souls to be saved.

~

He prayed the Father would take the cup,

As scarlet drops drenched His anguished face

But in humble submission His life He’d give up

Because of endless love and amazing grace.

~

They spit on Him for they didn’t see

He was the promised Messiah come to set man free

Joyful melodies no more would be

Only angry faces screaming let death be.

~

A King indeed is His rightful name,

But no royal crown, only piercing thorns

To bear God’s wrath for our sins He came

On the hill of Golgotha our redemption was born.

~

His body bruised beyond recognition

He hung on a cross asking why He was forsaken

Surrendering His last breath in perfect submission

The temple veil was split and the earth was shaken.

~

Wrapped in linen cloth and laid in a tomb

It seemed death had won that afternoon

A somber tune would for awhile loom—

But glorious Sunday was surely coming soon.

~

In that sealed up tomb He did not stay

For on the third day a victory chorus did ring

Faithful God mercifully made a miraculous way

O death where is your sting?

~

The grave couldn’t hold Him

He is Risen indeed

The cross meant to kill Him,

Is why souls live eternally free.

~

On a donkey Hope humbly came

On a white horse Hope will return in glory

Jesus, the Lamb of God who was slain

Victorious King and Redeemer, the Hope of the story.

I thought I'd also share a few Easter crafts you can do with your kids to remember the hope of Easter.

We’ve been going through the events of Holy Week as we always do this time of year, and we enjoyed making two new crafts this week that are a meaningful way to remember Resurrection Sunday. They require a few supplies, and can be displayed in the home as reminders of the hope we have because of Jesus. And it’s not too late to make these with your family!

Nature-Inspired Easter Cross

I came across this idea from Masterpiece Studio, and knew I wanted to try it because we have piles of sticks right in our backyard.

Supplies

• a set of long sticks and a set of shorter sticks
• craft paint in spring colors
• paint brush
• hot glue
• twine

Directions

1. Gather sticks: You will need one set of long sticks about 1 foot long, and one set of shorter sticks about 8 inches long. The straighter they are, the easier they are to work with when gluing. We used 3 long sticks and 3 short sticks per cross.
2. Paint the sticks with acrylic craft paint. Apple Barrel, Anita’s, and Craftsmart are brands I like and can be found at your local craft store. Paint one side, let them dry, and then paint the other side. We have wonderful art trays from Lakeshore that we use all the time for projects like this to protect the surface.
3. Once the sticks are fully dry, heat up your hot glue gun. You can also use Tacky glue, but this option didn’t work very well for us. Align the long sticks together vertically and glue them together. Once dry, add the short sticks horizontally and glue them down to form a cross.
4. Use your finger to secure twine to the back of the cross and then wrap the twine around the middle in one direction a few times, and then in the other directions are few times to form an x. Repeat if needed to secure the cross. Add a dab of glue to secure the twine to the back of the cross. You can also add a loop secured with a dab of glue to the back of the cross for hanging.

Salt Dough Tomb

I came across this idea from Almost Unschoolers and knew it would take time, but I’m so glad we made this one. It sits in the middle of our homeschool room as a reminder of the empty tomb. We currently have our tomb sealed with the stone, but we will gladly roll back the stone on Resurrection Sunday! My littlest who loves helping in the kitchen, enjoyed mixing up the dough for this one.

supplies

• 4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups salt
• 2 cups water
• 1 Tablespoon oil
• 2 craft sticks
• empty and unwrapped, clean can

directions

1. Mix together the flour, salt, water, and oil in a mixing bowl to form the dough.
2. Remove about 1/4 of the dough for the ground. Add a few drops of green food coloring and knead until well blended.
3. The remaining dough will be the tomb, stone, and stepping stones. Add a few drops of red and green coloring to make a grayish color; knead until well blended.
4. Now that your dough is prepared, you’re ready to assemble everything. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil.
5. Pat down the green salt dough onto the baking sheet to form the ground. You want it to be big enough to fit the tomb and also have some open space.
6. Position the empty can close to the back portion of the ground. Tear off a small portion from the gray dough to make a large, circular stone to cover the tomb; then make 3 small stepping stones. Cover the can with the remaining gray dough to form the tomb. Position the stepping stones at the opening of the tomb, and lay the large stone off to the side on the baking sheet.
7. Press a craft stick into the top of the tomb near the back, and then remove it. This will be the placeholder for the cross later.
8. Place the tomb in the oven and let it bake for approximately 2-3 hours. It’s ready when it’s dry and firm. Assemble the cross during this time by adding a dab of glue between two popsicle sticks, preferably of slightly different lengths.
9. Let the tomb cool for a few hours to overnight. Add the cross. Then transfer it onto a piece of felt and display where desired.

It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming.

Rejoicing in Hope,

Hannah