Ash Wednesday

I love Easter. I love that it brings my family all to the same place. I love the pastel colors. I love that my mom always gives my granma (yes, that's how she spells it) a bouttenire (really, spellcheck? You can't help me out with that one?). I love the baby animals. I love the symbolism it has for me as a Christian. I even love the smell of vinegar when making Easter eggs. This love affair with Easter then leads to my love for Lent and Ash Wednesday.
I hear the Gospel all the time. I'm active in multiple Christian organizations. I study my Bible. The belief that Christ suffered on the cross for my sins, died, and then rose again three days later, giving me eternal life is an omnipresent idea in my world. In fact, it gets a little old hearing about it all the time. But somehow, every spring, Easter comes around and I am so excited to hear the message again.
One thing that I really loved as a youth member was an "activity" we participated in when I was in 8th grade that made the message even more powerful. This year, I decided to pass on the practice to my Phi Lamb Phamily.

I brought three different materials to make black bracelets out of. The one that's triangular in the above picture is some braided leather cord. The lacy-looking strip is just some trim I picked up in the ribbon section. The last one is a strip of bandanna. I remember making bracelets out of bandannas all the time when I was younger. You cut a strip on the bias, get it damp, twist it until it curls itself together, then let it dry. I used this same concept to make them again. 

I told the girls that the black bracelets they were wearing represented sin. Every time they looked down and saw the black, or took a shower and noticed that their wrist wasn't getting dry because the bandanna was still wet, or felt the bracelets as they took notes in class, to remember their sin.

The leather one didn't stay tied. This picture is after the leather on came off and was added instead to my...

Keys! Now I'll remember my sin and why I am celebrating observing Lent when I drive, too.

More to come on what to do next. Not until Good Friday, though. Until then, share your experiences with Easter! Also, what are you giving up (or taking on) for Lent? I've gotten pretty lax about taking the Lord's name in vain, so I'm working on taking that out of my vocabulary. I already messed up once today, so I'm definitely going to need to find a rubber band to snap on my wrist when I catch myself doing it.

Short tutorial coming up soon!

Happy (?) Ash Wednesday! Have a great rest of the week! If you need a reason to smile, you should head over to see Clara Rose, Dana's newest addition :] Such a precious bundle!

Leave your tips for giving up something over the next 40 days to help me out!

♥L