“Behold! I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43

I have a fig tree in my front yard, and for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been watching the bare branches, checking every day for the first signs of life. This morning when I left my house, still nothing. But this evening as I trudged home from work, I glanced over to see each spindly finger tipped with green. As I felt my breath rise in my chest, something broke within me, a river coursing through parched paths singing, “What fresh glory! What deep, holy wonder!”

This miracle got me thinking about new life and how we come to perceive it in the world. By the time the daffodils poke their heads above the soil and the buds form on the trees, it’s obvious. Spring has arrived (at least seasonally, if not officially on the calendar). But what about the months and weeks and even days before, when the bulbs are sending down the roots and unfurling from their casings? The plants are growing, preparing, and even changing on a cellular level, but most of us can’t tell the difference. There is life coursing through those xylem and phloem, but when I look out my window I can’t see it.

As the prophet Isaiah speaks to the people of God in exile – a people who have been watching and waiting and wondering  “how long, O Lord?” – he speaks of God’s love, protection, and care. And in the midst of the promises he proposes this question: “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?”  I suspect the answer to that question was “no” or at least “not yet.” If they could see this new thing, they wouldn’t need a prophet to point the way. But God is faithful in this way too, with poets and prophets, preachers and teachers, babies and blossoms ready to help us look beyond the barren framework of this life and into something more, just beyond our ability to see it.

I’m also aware that I’m musing on new life as my grandmother nears death. She’s always been someone with an artist’s vision, able to see beauty and potential, holy happenings in the most unlikely places. For most of her 97 years she’s been a paragon of prayer, speaking in words only she and God could understand. But now her language is only breath. Soon, that too will end. I wonder what is becoming inside of her? What new life is pulsing within her spiritual veins? Will her last breath here herald a budding in her eternal home? We can’t see it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening – and what a river she will be! Her prayer and praise rarely ceased in this life, and it will flow without bounds in the next, where she knows fully and is fully known. What we see as an end may in fact be a bursting through, a springing forth, into God’s glory.

So, as those left to peer through the mirror dimly, may our hearts always be full of awe and wonder. Let us approach the world with an attitude of curiosity and a deep sense of hope. Because God is always doing a new thing.
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Update: My grandmother died on the very day I wrote this piece, perhaps even the very minute the fig tree budded. May heaven be filled with her song, and the earth with her sweet fruit.

I was hosting a webinar recently and mentioned a Holy Week Fair we offered for our children and families last year. Our church traditionally hosts the Easter Egg Hunt on Palm Sunday, and I wanted to offer a little more faith formation around it.
​This fair is best for kids 3- 12 years old. It's written with multiple stations that are best set up in different rooms, but can be adapted for a single space or even outdoors. It really depends on your space. Be creative!
All page numbers refer to Growing in God’s Love: A Story Bible  
Click Here for a PDF of the Directions.

Pre-Event, Opening Set Up
In largest room, gym, fellowship hall, etc.

• I recommend you set up a few crafts that kids/families can do as they arrive. There are a myriad of pre-packaged crafts you can purchase from retailers.  You can also construct your own that tend to be better quality and less money.
  • Craft bags – always helpful to have something to carry your other crafts in. You can buy bags with Easter coloring pages printed on them, or you can offer various stickers and markers for decoration
  • Holy Week Passport – Here’s a free passport from Build Faith. You can put a stamp or sticker in each one as kids travel through the fair, or you can save it for the actual event/services at your church - https://buildfaith.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Holy-Week-Passport-Generic.pdf
• Game – Palm Branch Pick Up
  • Construction Paper with Palm printed on one side and numbers on the other. Or just Green paper with numbers 1-10 on one side.
  • Scatter Palms in the game area, number side down.
  • Divide kids into 2 teams and give each kid a number.
  • Call out a number and they have 5 second to gather as many squares as they can. Then they add up the numbers, and the team with the highest number wins and has to call out a reason to praise Jesus.
• We divided kids into smaller groups for 7-12 to travel through stations. It helped to have multiple crafts and games in the main room for those who were waiting or finished.

 
First Station - Palm Sunday Obstacle Course
this works best in a hallway leading to a room or gathering area at the end
Set up

• Hobby horse
• Rubber discs about one hop apart going down the hallways
• Green streamers taped at various angles to create a “laser maze” in the hallway like this
• Plastic eggs, rice, and tape in gathering area/room at the end

 Obstacle Course

• Read P. 270 “Jesus Visits Jerusalem” (based on Luke 19:29-40). Stop at “they expected great things from this teacher from Galilee.”
• Explain the obstacle course and send kids down one at a time
  • First, get the “Donkey” (hobby horse) (you may choose to hold the donkey and not straddle or “ride” it)
  • Then ride it, stepping only on the “cloaks” (rubber discs, carpet squares, tape marks, etc) put on the floor.
  • Dodge the Palm Fronds maze.
  • You may decide to have them come back or stop at the end.
  • Once all the kids have completed the obstacle course, read the rest of the story on P. 270, beginning with “some teachers of the law (called the Pharisees) were in the crowd.

• Make an egg shaker because “Even the Stones will Shout”
  • Fill a plastic Easter egg with dried rice or beans. 
  • Tape it closed.
  • Read the final line on p. 271 again, and have all kids shout and shake their eggs “I tell you the truth, if they were silent and did not sing praises, the very stone on the earth beneath us would shout out!”

  
Second Station - Maundy Thursday
could be kitchen or classroom near the palm Sunday obstacle course hallway
Set -up

• Grape Juice
• Hawaiian rolls, or bread
• Cups, plates
• Soap, paper towels

 Snack Time

• You may start out by reading selections from p. 272 “A Passover Meal” or tell the story in your own words.
• First – Everyone Washes hands – Remember that Jesus washed his disciples feet and said, “whoever would be first among you must be the servant of all.” (If there is not a sink in the room, you can use hand sanitizer or wipes)
• Ask a child to say a prayer to bless the meal – “Jesus started by blessing the food, can one of you offer a blessing for our snack?”
• Read from p. 326 “seeing Jesus” from “I want you to remember four things:
  • The first
  • The second
  • The third
  • The fourth
  • Use the “see” activity to create a circle of love.

 
Third Station – Gethsemane and Good Friday
Classroom, garden, tent, sanctuary
Set up

• Places for the children to sit and hear a story, carpet, carpet squares, chairs, blanket, etc.

 Garden of Gethsemane

• Have children get comfy, sit, lie down, be ready for a story.
• Talk about Jesus going to the Garden of Gethsemane to Pray with his friends.
• Then, hard things started to happen. (you can tell in your own words, using this outline, or you can use p. 274 starting at the end of the second paragraph “The temple guards grabbed Jesus and arrested him”)
• Jesus was arrested.
• He was taken to court and tried, first before Pilate like a judge, and then before the people, like a jury. Even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, he was found guilty and sentence to death.

 Good Friday

• Then, the very worst thing happened. The soldiers led Jesus up a hill to a cross. And Jesus died.
• Have another adult turn off the light in the room at this point. If you’re outdoors, you might drape yourself in a black cloth, or hold the cloth over the children to create shade. (this would need four adults and some coordination.)
• His followers were so sad. They couldn’t imagine living without Jesus. They went home to cry.

Fourth Station – Easter
classroom (can be the same classroom as good Friday), tent outside, garden
Set-up

• Video and speakers (optional)
• Resurrections Cross Craft / Sun Catcher

 Easter

• Jesus’ followers were very scared and sad, but we know that’s not the end of the story.
• We showed a video we created of our Church folks telling the Easter Story from Mark. You are welcome to use our video, or create your own.
• OR read P. 276 “Women at the Tomb”
• Resurrection Crosses Craft
  • Have the kids turn something that is about death (the cross) into something beautiful and full of life – stained glass.
  • You can buy kits to make cross sun catchers using paint or stained glass.
  • You can print or draw your own crosses on transparency paper and let kids use permanent markers to fill them in like stained glass.

 
Closing, Egg Hunt

• Gather back in main room. Kids can do other crafts or play the palm game while waiting for all to finish.
• Have the kids help you review the key parts of the story.
• Close with shouts of praise telling the good news OR egg hunt.
• You can say something like,
  • “Jesus’s disciples were really surprised that he was alive. We aren’t surprised because we know the story, but they were so shocked and happy. We search for eggs because it’s a happy surprise to see what’s inside.” OR
  • “we search for eggs because we are always looking for Jesus. He’s not on the cross. He’s alive!” 

If you feel like adapting even more, I patterned this off of an event I did with my amazing colleague Katie Kinnison in Columbus, Ohio. We offered a three hour VBS-style event on Good Friday for kids and families that was a lot of fun.  We called it "Thank God It's Good Friday." It could be great to add more of the stories from Jesus' last week, like the anointing at Bethany (John 12: 1-8), Jesus cursing the fig tree and/or cleansing the temple (Mark 11:12-25).

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Children in a sacred space can be distracting, but worship is not about our experience – be it beautiful or broken. Worship is about God. 

It is not always easy to welcome these wiggly wanderers into our sanctuaries, but when we do, kids transform our worship of the Living God with their unique gifts:

1. Their glee - Whether they channel their inner rhythmic gymnast with ribbon sticks during a hymn, pass the peace with high fives, or offer heartfelt prayers for a lost teddy bear, kids season our sensible service with surprising depth and mirth. Kids fidget and interject. They dance and sing. They color and clap. They listen and ask questions – and they do some of these things at unfortunate moments. 
   But no matter how crazy or loud or messy the kids get, God arrives anyway. On the wings of glory and giggles, the Spirit calls children to interrupt our worship routine, to help us take ourselves less seriously and to embrace the holiness of spontaneity.
   
   
2. Their glitter - Children are rarely empty-handed in worship. They may scoot in with stuffed animals and snacks or grab for the pencils and hymnals in the pews, but kids tend to keep busy. This is how they learn and process their surroundings, but it’s also how they praise God, and you can join them! Look for what the kids are holding.
   With fists full of goldfish, glue, glitter, or grace - once children bring the sparkles into the sanctuary you can never get them out. Ever. Every week, someone leaves baptized with a little disco-Jesus-love, marked with the cross of fabulous grace. Don’t be afraid to get a little messy.
   
   
3. Their greed - Children arrive at the communion table eyes wide with holy anticipation, hands outstretched for a great big hunk of Jesus the Bread of Life. And then they come back - like little Oliver Twist - “Please, may I have some more?” 
   Kids hunger for God. How might our church be transformed if we all approached the throne of grace with that soul-rumbling hunger?
   
   
4. Their generosity-  Kids pass the sacred bread around God’s table just as they do the hallowed markers, the venerable scissors, and the revered glue-sticks - because there is always enough to share. This is one of the great lessons of childhood that we tend to neglect as we mature.
   We teach our children to share even when - especially when - they don’t want to. Whether it is a special toy, a new box of crayons, or bag of halloween candy, children learn to take turns and give of what they have. In a culture that screams “more! more! more!” kids remind us that when we share, we all get enough.
   
   
5. Their grace - This October for World Communion Sunday, I planned a solemn and moving liturgy recognizing the brokenness in our church and our world, calling on Jesus to make us one through the bread and cup. But God and my two year old son had other plans. As I began the prayer, he grabbed a rainbow ribbon stick and began running down the aisles, big sister on his heals, both of them laughing with wild abandon. I could have been frustrated and grumpy that the kids ruined my liturgy, but I chose to smile and laugh. We cannot control the actions of children (or anyone for that matter), but we can choose how we respond.
   Instead of looking down at the words of my well-crafted prayer, the children shifted my focus up and out to this fearfully and wonderfully made Body of Christ - old and young, middle-class and working poor, black and white, native-born and immigrant - relishing the in-breaking of Holy Spirit, united in God’s Holy Presence, freed to worship Christ in grace and truth.
   
   

When we move the children out of the sanctuary, we worship blindfolded. It might be easier to hear the Word but it’s harder to see holiness of the whole Body of Christ worshipping together. 

So the next time kids ruin your worship, will you sigh and start crafting an email to their parents or the pastor in your head, or will you chuckle and start looking for the Spirit in the midst of the mess?

Choose freedom over frustration. Choose grace. Allow the little ones to transform you into something bigger, more beautiful and more powerful than you ever imagined - the Church.