At Christmas I wrote a review on a book by Emily Freeman called Celebrating A Christ-Centered Christmas. I loved it! It had so many great traditions to do with your family to help stay focused on the true meaning of Christmas while also doing the extra stuff.
And now Emily Freeman has a new book called Celebrating A Christ-Centered Easter and it’s just as good! It’s filled with 7 Easter traditions that help you stay focused on the true meaning of Easter.
What I love about this book is that it gives you a new perspective on Easter. Many people often think about the last week of Christ’s life and then his resurrection which, of course, is the main reason to celebrate. But Emily takes your through the eyes of other people who were there during these times and their experiences with the different events surrounding Christ’s death and resurrection.
She talks about Lazarus, Simon, Joseph and Nicodemus, the women, Thomas, two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and then finally Christ. Emily takes you through the scriptures to help you better understand these people, their experiences, and their feelings. She also shares great personal stories as well as cultural events. And then she shares a tradition to represent each person to help you remember them and what they experienced.
I also love that these traditions are for children of all ages. I love that I can implement these activities now while my children are still young and continue to do them as they grow up and better understand them. My favorite tradition that she shares is to grow wheat to represent Spring, Lazarus, and hope. What a fun visual aid to keep in your home to really get the point across to your children!
These traditions can be done the week before Easter, for Family night activities and lessons before Easter, or great devotionals to do with your family. It’s also a great way to introduce your family to other parts of the scriptures to help them know them better and the lessons that we can learn from them.
This book is a quick read with lots of great ideas! Emily is also very engaging and passionate which also makes for a great read. Easter is quickly approaching, but you have lots of time to implement these ideas as you celebrate with your family.
You can find Celebrating A Christ-Centered Easter at Deseret Book.
Jenny Evans says
Thanks for the tip. I often think about how it's weird that to us Christians, Easter should be the biggest and most significant holiday (even more than Christmas!) but for some reason it's harder than Christmas to make it that way.
ATanner110 says
So true! I totally agree.