Sunday, April 5, 2009

It's a Beautiful Palm Sunday

The kids and I went to church this morning for the first time in a couple weeks. The sun was shining and it was such a BEAUTIFUL day. Our church has lots of flowers on the grounds, Baby Daughter absolutely LOVED walking around smelling all the bright new flowers. I was a little worried we would discover what has been causing her recent runny nose, however, flowers seem to agree with her.

Today is Palm Sunday. The service started outside with everyone holding strips of palm leaf. We had a procession around the outside perimeter of the church and then inside to our pews. The choir lead the procession with the acolytes following close behind.

Baby Daughter did amazingly well, considering I forgot to bring any bribes. I found a coloring packet with some crayons for her & that kept her happy for quite a while. At the Peace, we went and picked up the 3 yr old from the nursery and then came back for communion. Our church allows anyone who is a baptized Christian to participate in Communion, so I have allowed my children to all decide for themselves when they are ready to participate. We've talked about what a special gift from Jesus Communion is and they have heard the story of the last supper many many times. Today, because it was Palm Sunday, the church was serving actual bread. At the Altar rail, the 3 yr old and I held our bread and dipped it into the chalice, Baby Daughter had already popped her bread in her mouth & quickly fished it out when she realized she had missed a step. The look on the poor Chalice Bearer's face was priceless. She looked at me & then back at Baby Daughter and then got a look of relief on her face when I told her that Baby Daughter could just skip the wine. The Chalice Bearer kissed Baby Daughter on her head and moved on. After Communion we returned to our pew for a quick prayer and then headed outside to the playground to wait for the 8 yr old and 10 yr old. Not a totally stress free day, but not a disaster either.

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