We hosted our annual Passover Seder here on Tuesday night. Since our church has a service on Maundy Thursday, we've been preparing our Seder meal earlier in the week for the past few years. This year, Passover fell on Tuesday, so we opted for that day.
We had a smaller crowd than usual (we only invited four guests) as Matt has had a very hectic work and travel schedule and my energy is at pregnancy level right now. We still had a very nice time. Isaac thoroughly enjoyed every bite of the ceremonial foods (yes, he even tried the parsley dipped in salt water and a bit of horseradish) as well as the actual dinner. He was covered in grape juice, matzah and chocolate by the end of the evening.
One of our guests had never attended a Seder before and was very pleased to be a part of the evening. During dinner, Paul played his favorite game with that particular guest. The game is called "Name That Knife" and any man in any place at any time might be asked to play. It starts when Paul says, "Do you have a knife in your pocket?" When the man produces the knife and shows it to Paul, Paul proceeds to tell the name of the knife, it's manufacturer, it's length, the materials it was made with, whether it's a full tang or not and any unusual features it may possess. In this case, Paul also knew the price and announced it to the entire table. It was a very expensive knife. An only slightly embarrassing revelation for his parents. However, our guest was not offended, rather he was impressed with Paul's knowledge. Now if we could get Paul to memorize his multiplication and division facts with such accuracy.
One of my friends passed on a good idea to me this year. She said that after her Seder, she planned to strip the table of the white table cloth, flowers, china, etc. and then put a black table cloth on the table. She had her Seder on Maundy Thursday, so the symbolism would have been very rich. She plans to put the white table cloth back on her table tomorrow morning. I opted to put the black table cloth on our dining room table with the help of the kids on the morning of Maundy Thursday. We then read the appropriate devotions from
Ann Voskamp's Easter Tree and placed the ornaments on the tree.
Last night, when Matt and I got home from Good Friday service, we gathered the kids in the living room and put the remaining ornaments concerning the Lord's death on the tree as Matt read the devotions. Tonight we'll go to Macduff's for an Easter feast and a time of fellowship with family and friends. Tomorrow, after church, we'll head to my aunt and uncle's farm for more of the same, plus the annual Easter clay pigeon shoot. My guys can hardly wait.
We normally eat a nice Easter breakfast on Resurrection Day morning before we head to church. We always sit at our kitchen table and I don't make much of an effort to make things pretty before we sit down. This year though, I plan to put the white table cloth and the centerpiece of white flowers I used for the Seder on the dining room table and we will eat there. After all, it's a celebration. We are free from the bondage of our sins and death because of Jesus' death and resurrection! The Lord be praised!
Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” Matt. 28:1-10
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