Honor Both Sides of Easter

Thanks to all who joined us for today’s Easter services and the egg hunts that followed! During Sunday School, we reached the end of our ‘Faces of Easter’ stories, which are a journey through the life of Jesus from beginning to end – and then to beginning again. One of the most poignant parts of the final portion of this story is the idea that Easter is a mixture of sadness and celebration. Both are so important to the story that we can’t pull them apart and consider them separately – we need to hold both of those feelings at the same time in order to truly understand the mystery of Easter.

If your family would like to connect with this duality while honoring the focus on prayer that has been a part of Family Time throughout the Lenten season, consider making prayer butterflies. This idea was inspired by a post on umc.org, a great resource for information on deepening your spiritual life.

Butterflies symbolize transformation and new life. They’re also quite beautiful to look at, and (thankfully) easy to create out of paper, unlike the origami palm leaves we attempted to share with you last Sunday. You can find step by step instructions, including mini video loops of each step, on wikiHow.com. All you need is a square piece of paper, of whatever color or pattern you’d like, and, to do the second, simpler version described on the website, a pair of scissors and a piece of string or a pipe cleaner. First, write a prayer on each piece of paper. Include both sorrows and joys, and talk with the children in your family about how we need one to appreciate the other. Cut the paper in half and accordion fold one half while folding the other into a hexagonal shape, then accordion folding that half as well. Fold the two halves in half, attach them with the string, and fan out the folds, and you’ll have a beautiful paper butterfly.

You can turn your butterflies into a collage, or attach another loop of string and hang them from the trees around your home, or even glue on a small magnet (thanks for that idea, Pastor Jeanne!). And every time you see them, you’ll be reminded that every end is also a beginning.

We’d love to see pictures of your family’s prayer butterflies – along with any other special Easter activities you did today! Share with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.