Holy Week Activities for Families

http://www.childrensministry.com/articles/holy-week

Here's a preview of the Family Devotional section of the article:

• Palm Sunday -- Read aloud Mark 11:1-11.

Make palm -- leaf cookies. Cut frozen cookie dough into 2 X 1/2 -- inch strips. Place aluminum foil on a cookie sheet and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Roll the cookie strips and shape them into an outline of a palm leaf on the foil. Close all edges in the outline. Crush green candies in a bag with a hammer, and sprinkle to fill in the cookie center. Bake at 375 degrees for about eight minutes. Contrast the sweetness of the cookies with the harshness of breaking the candies with a hammer. Tell your children that this was a sweet day for Jesus, but he knew that soon he would be broken-or would die-for our sins.

• Monday -- Read aloud Mark 11:15-18.

Tell your children that this area of the temple was the place non -- Jews could come to pray, but it had become a dirty, noisy, unworshipful place. Together, decorate a worshipful space in your home for Easter Week. Include a Bible, candles, and an area to display the items you'll use this week. You can review these items at the beginning of each devotion. A small, bare tree branch laced with white Christmas lights makes a nice backdrop. Light the candles or turn on the lights only during devotions to keep it special and meaningful.

i pray because

"I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time--waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God--its changes me."

 - C.S. Lewis

(At least, his character says this

in a movie about his life, "Shadowlands."

 I can't find when/where else he says it.)