Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

Holy Friday

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The Three C's

Today is the half-way mark! We have spent the past three nights singing "Behold, the Bridegroom Cometh at Midnight!" (I, myself, have been mostly singing it from the narthex or comfort room with "Little Miss almost-two") The older two have done quite well during the services, and I think our daily lessons from The Children's Garden of the Theotokos have really helped my Kindergartner connect with the services. She has been working on her "Lent to Pentecost" book for several weeks, and it has been a blessing for all of us.

The next several days, and especially nights, are wonderful and yet so hard!

Today my oldest two are at an all-day enrichment class. I always try to make Holy Wednesday
"Three C's Day". The C's are for cooking, cleaning, and clothes! Have you noticed that your home seems to explode between Holy Thursday night and Agape Vespers? I know that in our house we're barely here, and when we are we're either sleeping, or getting ready for the next service! I really do not enjoy spending Bright Monday sifting through the rubble! So today I tried to do some extra chores that I won't have time for this weekend. I also put away all the laundry and set aside the children's church clothing for the next several days. (Tonight's are already laid out). Now that the little one is napping, I'm going to do my preliminary cooking preparations. My husband is the gourmet cook of the family, and he usually takes care of most of our Pascha basket food (at least, he cooks all of the meat!). This year however, I'm trying to make a few of the traditional items. I'm trying kulich, the Paska cheese, and tsoureki.

I also finally got a lamb mold for the butter. Hopefully, everything except the tsoureki will be done by tomorrow afternoon. (Let's pray!)

Holy Week Burn-Out

I sat down this morning to write a wonderful post about all the things that I am planning on doing with the kids this week, Holy Week. I was going to write about the food we're going to make, the lessons I plan on teaching on the various services, the egg decorating...(you get the idea).

I've decided, however, to not write about any of that! Why? To be perfectly honest, it will probably just make me frustrated at the amount of things we will truthfully NOT do, and it will frustrate you because you will feel like you're not doing enough.

I'm starting to see too much Martha in me, and not enough Mary! I am quickly losing my focus on the one thing needful!

Last night was my first lesson in not making too many plans this week. I spent the ENTIRE Bridegroom Matins service in either our church's baby comfort room or outside (my toddler was actually screaming so loud that I had to leave the building).

So, just to mix things up, here are some things we will NOT do this week:
We will not beat ourselves up if we are exhausted by Tuesday night.
We will not expect our children to make it through every service quietly.
We will not see the end of every service.
We will not stress out over what food doesn't make it into our Pascha basket.
I will not worry too much about what my children or I will wear to the Pascha service.
We will not try to force understanding into our children about what each service means.
Most of all, we will not make this week about eggs, gifts, food, etc.

So my new goal this week, is to just live this week to the best of my ability, to be at the services, and to make it through. The light at the end of the tunnel this week is the brightest of all!

I wish you a blessed Holy Week.