Easter-Tide by Mary Lowe Dickinson

Easter-Tide

"Life for us is in His dying!"

So our humbled souls keep crying;

While the Lenten tears fall faster

At the grave that shrouds the Master,

Till within that gloomy garden

Shines His presence and His pardon -

Glimpse of Easter glory giving -

Then, "Our life is in His living!"

While He, patient, waits the voicing

Of our triumph and rejoicing;

Filled with our own hearts' devices,

Still we bring our burial spices.

Yet the Love whose taking hallows

Our poor gifts of myrrh and aloes,

Rainbows e'en our tears, and raises

Broken, trembling prayers to praises.

Watcher where His grave glooms darken,

Lift thy shadowed soul, and harken!

Hear the strong, triumphant singing

Of the risen Christ, loud ringing

In glad anthems from the portals

Of the home of the Immortals!

" Sealed no longer death's dark prison -

Christ, the Conqueror, is risen!"

Tarry not to place thy finger

In the wounds where nail-prints linger;

Leave the linen clothes that bound Him;

Sing, with Mary, "I have found Him!"

Be thy mighty love the token

That for thee His heart was broken.

Whom the living Christ hath shriven.

Knows, e'en here, the peace of Heaven.

Death in Christ is dawning gladness;

Life in Christ is robbed of sadness;

Faith in Christ that will not falter

Crowns with Easter bloom His altar,

Decks His shrine in sweetness vernal,

Lives with Christ the life eternal.

Tells in song and chime and story,

All a risen Savior's glory.

An Easter Song

An Easter Song

by Susan Coolidge

A song of sunshine through the rain,

Of spring across the snow,

A balm to heal the hurts of pain,

A peace surpassing woe.

Lift up your heads, ye sorrowing ones,

And be ye glad of heart.

For Calvary and Easter Day,

Earth's saddest day and gladdest day.

Were just one day apart!

With shudder of despair and loss

The world's deep heart was wrung.

As lifted high upon his cross

The Lord of Glory hung,

When rocks were rent, ghostly forms

Stole forth in street and mart;

But Calvary and Easter day.

Earth's blackest day and whitest day,

Were just one day apart!

No hint or whisper stirred the air

To tell what joy should be;

The sad disciples, grieving there.

Nor help nor hope could see.

Yet all the while the glad, near sun

Made ready its swift dart,

And Calvary and Easter Day,

The darkest day and brightest day,

Were just one day apart!

Oh, when the strife of tongues is loud,

And the heart of hope beats low.

When the prophets prophesy of ill.

And the mourners come and go,

In this sure thought let us abide.

And keep and stay our heart,

That Calvary and Easter Day

Earth's heaviest day and happiest day.

Were but one day apart!

While It Is Yet Still Dark...

       Amid the confusion of the early records which tell about the great event which Easter celebrates one thing stands out very clear. No human eye saw the resurrection of Jesus or watched the inscrutable process. The Christian witnesses bore testimony only to the accomplished fact. The change from death to life culminated in the obscurity of the tomb. " While it was yet dark," there came, according to the most philosophical of the Gospels, anxious watchers who found the transformation already complete and the tomb empty. The darkness which shrouded the event is paralleled by the confusion and uncertainty of the conflicting testimony that has reached us. In fact the whole course of Christian beginnings lies shrouded in the mystery of indefiniteness and the shadows of the unknown.

       But all great beginnings are thus conditioned and surrounded. Man becomes conscious of the result long after the causes have apparently ceased to operate. He sees the product after the early stages of the process have receded into the dim past. Only the scantiest remains mark the pathway of early developments, and the highest intelligence is necessary to descry the scraps of evidence and by comparison and imagination reconstruct the methods and movements of these living forces.

       Nestled in the darkness of mother earth the seed takes on the new life which is first observed springing in vigor from the soil. Out of the mothering womb of time has come forth the human race through its various stages, progressing through barbarism, primitive civilization, and the historic era.

"Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark..."
Empty Tomb drawing from Christian Clip Art Review.

       Since man began to think upon the past he has evolved unnumbered theories of his beginning, and still to the most instructed the early stages in each onward course of development must be approached through a twilight that ends in darkness. The rude beginnings of his culture are buried beneath the rubbish heaps of time. The institutions of religion, home and government we know only in their higher forms. Language, art and thought can be studied in their monuments alone. The keenest and most critical investigations have only partially revealed the successive steps of Hebraism and the founding of Christianity. Those centuries in which directive forces were forming the incipient movements which have culminated in what we call western civilization are often termed the Dark Ages. On the whole we must conclude that the great forces operating in society and in life conceal their most significant phases, those phases which carry the greatest import for the future, from the contemporary eyes of men. We cannot " look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not." While it is yet dark the great movements of the future are being planned and the first steps toward the realization of the plans are being taken.

       Around us at this Easter time the darkness and confusion of human affairs are almost beyond parallel. A crisis in history has, no doubt, been reached. We seem to see not only the disruption of international and national life, but the clashing ideals of races, the spread and deepening of hatred and strife, the failure of human capacity for organization to hold in check the elemental passions and aspirations of mankind, and even the breakdown of Christianity itself.

       Nevertheless, the seeds of a new and grander future have doubtless been already sown. The ways of nature and human development lead us to expect that this is so. Life is positive, death is negative. The breakup and sloughing off of the old and outworn may appear as the darkness of dissolution, but the stirrings of a new life to result in a higher order are scarcely to be apprehended until the growth directed by the Unseen Mind has brought some reorganization out of the old chaos." Out of the cradle endlessly rocking " come the strength and wisdom that shape and advance the world's destinies. The patient, brooding spirit of man, inspired by hope and faith in the Divine Order, will yet bring to power and dominion the living principles of international brotherhood and service now obscured in the bitterness and darkness of war and racial strife. Future generations will surely say: "While it was yet dark" we discerned the birth throes of a new world order. by Charles E. Hesselgrave

• From The Village Church -  Racial Reconciliation - Matt Chandler, Racial Reconciliation - Anthony Moore,  Racial Reconciliation - Beau Hughes

I loved them so,

That when the Elder Shepherd of the fold

Came, covered with the storm, and pale and cold,

And begged for one of my sweet lambs to hold.

I bad Him go.

He claimed the pet-

A little fondling thing, that to my breast

Clung always, either in quiet or unrest-

I thought of all my lambs I loved him best,

And yet- and yet-

I laid him down

In those white, shrouded arms, with bitter tears;

For some voice told me that, in after years,

He should know naught of passion, grief or fears,

As I had known.

The Boy and The Angel

The Boy and The Angel 

by Robert Browning

Morning, evening, noon, and night,
" Praise God ! " sang Theocrite.

Then to his poor trade he turned,
Whereby the daily meal was earned.

Hard he labored, long and well;
O'er his work the boy's curls fell.

But ever, at each period,
He stopped and sang, " Praise God!"

Then back again his curls he threw,
And cheerful turned to work anew.

Said Blaise, the listening monk, "Well done;"
I doubt not thou art heard my son :

" As well as if thy voice to-day
Were praising God, the Pope's great way.

" This Easter Day, the Pope at Rome
Praises God from Peter's dome."

Said Theocrite, " Would God that I
Might praise him that great way, and die!"

Night passed, day shone,
And Theocrite was gone.

With God a day endures alway,
A thousand years are but a day.

God said in heaven, " Nor day nor night
Now brings the voice of my delight."

Then Gabriel, like a rainbow's birth.
Spread his wings and sank to earth;

Entered, in flesh, the empty cell.
Lived there, and played the craftsman well;

And morning, evening, noon and night.
Praised God in place of Theocrite.

And from a boy to youth he grew:
The man put off the stripling's hue:

The man matured and fell away
Into the season of decay:

And ever o'er the trade he bent.
And ever lived on earth content.

(He did God's will; to him, all one
If on the earth or in the sun.)

God said, " A praise is in mine ear;
There is no doubt in it, no fear:

"So sing old worlds, and so
New worlds that from my footstool go.

"Clearer loves sound other ways:
I miss my little human praise."

Then forth sprang Gabriel's wings, off fell
The flesh disguise, remained the cell.

'Twas Easter Day: he flew to Rome,
And paused above Saint Peter's dome.

In the tiring-room close by
The greater outer gallery,

With his holy vestments, dight.
Stood the new Pope, Theocrite:

And all his past career
Came back upon him clear,

Since when, a boy, he plied his trade,
Till on his life the sickness weighed;

And in his cell, when death drew near,
An angel in a dream brought cheer:

And rising from the sickness drear,
He grew a priest, and now stood here.

To the East with praise he turned.
And on his sight the angel burned.

"I bore thee from thy craftsman's cell,
I set thee here; I did not well.

"Vainly I left my angel-sphere.
Vain was thy dream of many a year.

" Thy voice's praise seemed weak; it dropped,
Creation's chorus stopped!

" Go back and praise again
The early way while I remain. 

" With that weak voice of our disdain,
Take up creation's pausing strain.

Back to the cell and poor employ:
Resume the craftsman and the boy!"

Theocrite grew old at home;
Gabriel dwelt in Peter's dome.

One vanished as the other died:
They sought God side by side.

Egg Rolling In Washington Over 100 Years Ago...

       March and April in Washington spell for the adult the perfection of a climate which at its best no capital on earth can surpass. Color, fragrance, and an almost indefinable sense that the appropriate necessary mood is one of languid leisure are pervasive. The spring odors and flowers seem suddenly to flood the gardens and lawns. In the tiny six-by-two bed under a bay-window and in the stretches of living green by the river the daffodils have succeeded the crocus; hyacinths and flaring tulips fill the borders, and even the stems in the hedges are full of color. Over every tree there is a smoky veil where the swelling leaf-buds have blurred the winter tracery of bare twigs against the sky, but are not yet heavy enough to cast a shade.

       Only the children seem energetic, especially on Easter  Monday, the great day for Washington babies. Along Pennsylvania Avenue they stream‚ well dressed, nurse-attended darlings mingling with the raggedest little poor children that ever snatched an egg from a market-basket. The wide street looks as if baby-blossom time had come, for there are hundreds of children who on this special afternoon storm the grounds of the White House for their annual egg-rolling. Long ago the sport took place on the terraces below the Capitol, and a visitor to the city then wrote:

       "At first the children sit sedately in long rows; each has brought a basket of gay-colored hard-boiled eggs, and those on the upper terrace send them rolling to the line on the next below, and these pass on the ribbon-like streams to other hundreds at the foot, who scramble for the hopping eggs and hurry panting to the top to start them down again. And as the sport warms those on top who have rolled all the eggs they brought finally roll themselves, shrieking with laughter. Now comes a swirl of curls and ribbons and furbelows, somebody's dainty maid indifferent to bumps and grass stains. A set of boys who started in a line of six with joined hands are trying to come down in somersaults without breaking the chain. On all sides the older folk stand by to watch the games of this infant Carnival which comes to an end only when the children are forced away by fatigue to the point of exhaustion, or by parental order."

       When the games proved too hard a test for the grass on the Capitol terraces. Congress stopped the practice, and the President opened the slope back of the White House. No grown person is admitted unless accompanied by a child, but even under this restriction the annual crowd is great enough to threaten the survival of the event.

This film of babies tossing eggs for Easter was made 

by Thomas Edison, over 100 years ago!

To Violets

To Violets

by Robbert Herrick

Welcome, maids of honor,

You do bring

In the Spring,

And wait upon her.

She has virgins many.

Fresh and fair ;

Yet you are

More sweet than any.

Y' are the Maiden Posies,

And so graced.

To be placed,

'Fore damask roses.

Yet though thus respected.

By and by

Ye do lie,

Poor girls, neglected.

May

MAY

by James Gates Percival

I FEEL a newer life in every gale;

The winds, that fan the flowers,

And with their welcome breathings fill the

sail,

Tell of serener hours, --

Of hours that glide unfelt away

Beneath the sky of May.

The spirit of the gentle south- wind calls

From his blue throne of air,

And where his whispering voice in music falls,

Beauty is budding there;

The bright ones of the valley break

Their slumbers, and awake.

The waving verdure rolls along the plain,

And the wide forest weaves.

To welcome back its playful mates again,

A canopy of leaves;

And from its darkening shadow floats

A gush of trembling notes.

Return Of Spring

Return Of Spring

by Piere Ronsard

God shield ye, heralds of the spring.
Ye faithful swallows, fleet of wing,
Houps, cuckoos, nightingales.
Turtles, and every wilder bird,
That make your hundred chirpings heard
Through the green woods and dales.

God shield ye, Easter daisies all.
Fair roses, buds, and blossoms small,
And lie whom erst the gore
Of Ajax and Narciss did print,
Ye wild thyme, anise, balm, and mint,
I welcome ye once more.

God shield ye, bright embroider'd train
Of butterflies, that on the plain.
Of each sweet herblet sip;
And ye, new swarms of bees, that go 
Where the pink flowers and yellow grow.
To kiss them with your lip.

A hundred thousand times I call
A hearty welcome on ye all:
This season how I love--

This merry din on every shore--

For winds and storms, whose sullen roar
Forbade my steps to rove.

Color a Cross With Flowers

 

Description of Coloring Page: cross, lilies, rose, bluebells, flowers

 

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

The Valley of Life

THE VALLEY OF LIFE 

by Richard Watson Gilder

       When I was a child joyfully I ran, hand claspt in hand, now with my mother, now with my father, or with younger, blithe companions, now in sunlight, now in shadow and dread, through the strange new Valley of Life.

       Sometimes on the high-road, then over the fields and meadows, or through the solemn forests; sometimes along the happy brook-side, listening to its music or the clamor of the falls, as the pleasant waters hurried or grew still, in the winding way down the Valley of Life.

       And as we moved along, hand claspt in hand, sometimes the handclasp was broken, and I, a happy child, ran swiftly from the path to gather flower or fruit or get sight of a singing bird; or to lean down and pluck a pearly stone from under the lapping waves; or climbed a tree and swayed, shouting, on its waving boughs - then returning to the clasp of loving hands, and so passing on and on down the opening Valley of Life.

       In the bright morning I walked wondering, wondering I walked through the still twilight and many-colored sunset; watching the great stars gather, and lost in the mystery of worlds beyond number, and spaces beyond thought, till, side by side, we lay down to sleep under the stars in the Valley of Life and of Dreams.

       Then there came a time when the hands that held me, - the loving hands that guided my steps and drew me gently on, - turned cold, and slipt from my grasp; I waited, but they came not back, and slowly and alone I plodded on down the Valley of Life and of Death.

       "Where went they?" I asked my heart and the whispering waters and the sighing trees. "Where went my loving and well-beloved guides? Did they climb the hills and tarry; did they, tired, lie down to sleep and forget me forever; leaving me to journey on without their dear care down the Long Valley of Life?"

       I could not know, for I heard no answer except my own heart's beating. But other comrades came, -  one dearer than all, -  and as time went on I felt the little hands of my own children clasping mine while, once more happy and elate, with them I traveled down the miraculous Valley of Life.

       But, as on we wander, hearing their bright voices, and seeing their joy upon the way, - their happy chasings here and there, their eager run to hold again our hands, - how soon, I think, shall I feel the slipping away of the clasping fingers while I fall asleep by the wayside, or climb the cloud-enveloped hills, and leave those I love to journey on down the lonely Valley of Life!

       And I say: "Surely the day and the hour hasten; grief will be theirs for a season: then will they, as did I, with brave hearts journey on the appointed way." 

 Oya sings, "Peace In The Valley"

Dr. Lowell Mason.

       That sweet singer and musical composer, who has done so much for popular American church music, Dr. Lowell Mason, died but a short time since, at an advanced age. Long years ago he had buried his first-born, a lovely boy, named Daniel. About his dying bed friends gathered to watch the ebbing out of life. He had taken his final farewell of the loved ones he was leaving behind. The spirit was still hovering on the confines of the body. Suddenly he opened his eyes. He looked upward with an earnest, intent look. "Daniel, may I come?" he said. And then with a smile of recognition, he added: "Let me come!" And he went. Father and son were once more together. Bishop Fallows

Language of The Heart

       Flowers speak the language of the heart. They convey the most personal and individual sentiment, while appealing to common universal taste and imagination. This characteristic of flowers, fits them especially for uses of religion and of church service, since they both express private affections of the giver and enrich symbolism of the altar. A basket or cross of flowers can say all the heart wishes to say, and say it without obtruding personal feeling. In medieval times flowers spoke a definite language, the interpretation of which has seemed almost lost. The palm--the ancient classical symbol of victory--was early assumed by Christians as a symbol of martyrdom. It was placed into hands of those who suffered in the cause of truth, as expressing their final victory over powers of sin and death. It also figured on tombs of early martyrs.

Singer, Debbie King.

Easter Animal Napkin Rings

Above are the finished versions of the simple fabric napkin rings for Easter dinner.

This simple sewing project may be ac-
complished in one or two afternoons prior
to a party by a child as young as 10
or 11 years old.

       It's important for parents involve their children in both the presentation of a family party and also in the execution of a party, especially if they are old enough to help out. Young people can easily decorate a table setting for a holiday event with things like: floral displays, name place tags and napkin rings.

        I've included here a sewing project that would be simple enough for a preteen to put together for their family Easter table. The felt bunnies and chicks came from a Hobby Lobby and the fabric from a local Joanne's store. Both items together did not cost me more than five dollars.
       The craft takes a little advanced planning. You will need to probably color coordinate your fabric selection with the dishes you plan to use. Let your child take a sample plate to the fabric store and hold it up next to the fabrics in order to choose something appropriate. Give him or her several days to complete this sewing project, if they have never attempted to sew before. Their stitching doesn't need to be perfect but you should give them time to practice if they are to attempt it to completion without parental help.
       Cut the fabric into strips measuring approximately 3 inches wide and 5 inches long. Allow for a seam of about half an inch. With the right sides together, sew around the perimeter of the strips after folding these in half and leave one end open in order to turn the finished tube inside out. Whip stitch the ends shut and then stitch both finished edges together with a blanket stitch. Iron or glue the felt animals onto the napkin rings. Insert pastel colored napkins (fabric or paper) and set the Easter table for company.
       If your youngsters enjoy this kind of project, why not assign the responsibility to them every year?

More Easter Crafts for the Family Dinner:

• Easter Flower Arrangements - by Patty Roller Designs
• Easter Bunny Vase - by Rittners Floral School
• Kids can design an Easter garden for the table
• How to make Easter bunny folded napkins
• A folded rose napkin tutorial 
• Folding swans from napkins 
• Easter Table Setting by Christy Rost Cooks 
• Fast and Fun Easter Centerpieces from the Supermarket

Easter a Day of Spiritual Joy

      Easter should be a day of spiritual joy, a day for celebration of the resurrection of spirit, a day in which spiritual considerations should be more prominent. Any secular or civil activities that interfere with pure spiritual observance of that day should be discouraged. Jesus Christ announced the important truth that the glory of his resurrection was the fruit of his Passion--I mean the accidental glory incident to his humanity, not the essential glory inherent in his divinity. While two of his disciples were going from Jerusalem to Emmaus, discoursing in the crucifixion, Jesus, in the guise of a stranger, joined them, and they said to him: "We had hoped that Christ would redeem Israel from gentile bondage and would reestablish the kingdom of a grander scale and rule as a conqueror. But our hopes are shaken, for he died a shameful death on the cross." And Jesus said to them: "Foolish and slow of heart to believe in all things which the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and so enter into his glory?" If he had not trod the path of suffering and humiliation he would not be the Messiah foretold by the prophets. Cardinal Gibbons

"The Emmaus Road" by Steve Green

Heaven - Not Far Away.

Oh, heaven is nearer than mortal's think,

When they look with trembling dread,

At the misty future that stretches on,

From the silent home of the dead.

The eye that shuts in a dying hour,

Will open the next in bliss,

The welcome will sound in the heavenly world

Ere the farewell is hushed in this.

We pass from the clasp of mourning friends,

To the arms of the loved and lost;

And those smiling faces will greet us there,

Which on earth we have valued most.

Yet oft in the hours of holy thought,

To the thirsting soul is given,

That power to pierce through the mist of sense,

To the beauteous scenes of heaven.

I know when the silver cord is loosed,

When the vail is rent away,

Not long and dark shall the passage be,

To the realm of endless day.

The Savior Rose Today

Savior Rose Today

by Margherita Arlina Hamm

The lilies whisper to the bees;

The palm-leaves murmur to the breeze;

And birds in roundelay

Repeat the message high in air,

Until it echoes everywhere,

"The Savior rose to-day."

Full well the swaying blossom knows

How loving spring dispels the snows;

And songsters half behold

A truer life within the breast,

When newer life invades the nest

And mingles with the old;

It may be that a hidden sense

Reveals to their intelligence

The presence and the sway

Of Him who notes the sparrow's fall,

So that in gratitude they call,

"The Savior rose to-day."

Who, looking over time's long scroll

Cannot but see a master soul,

Behind the dross and clay

And realize that in the good

Which brought the world beatitude

"The Savior rose to-day."

The earth brings forth both bud and flower

By some unfailing subtle power

Which baffles all decay;

When into being sprang the world.

The flowering of mankind occurred,

"The Savior rose that day."

From ugliness new beauty springs;

From death life soars aloft on wings;

And evil dies away.

A splendor dissipates the gloom

And fear lies dead within the tomb,

"The Savior rose to-day."

An old hymn with a new chorus. "Christ the Lord is Risen Today"

"The risen saints exultant cry" coloring page

 

Description of Coloring Page: An angel sends prayerful thanks to God for sparing the souls of the faithful in Christ, wings, crosses, patterns, choir robe, halo and verse:

 

"The Angel' Welcome sounds on high

The risen saints exultant cry.

In holy strain

With glad refrain

Alleluia! Victory!"

 

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

Shine On, Most Glorious Light

Shine On, Most Glorious Light 

by Kenyon West.

Shine on! Shine ever on, most glorious Light!

Reveal Thy majesty and splendor bright.

This Easter morning as of old arise!

Make glad the earth as with a glad surprise.

By magic power, as of old, change night

Into the benediction of the dawn,--

With promise to us of the darkness gone!

Shine on! Shine ever on, most glorious Light!

This Easter morn arise! arise!

Give saner vision to our sin-dimmed eyes;

To hearts that wait and watch for Thee, come near!

Thy miracle of wondrous love make clear.

Make cold hearts glow; make weak hearts strong.

Dispel our grim despairs, our sense of wrong.

From doubt's stern thraldom grant us Lord, release!

Give freedom, faith and Thy surpassing peace!

Thus only can we hope to live:--

Health, healing, blessing, --give! oh give!

Song "God's Glorious Light" - Michael O'Brien and Thomas Miller

How to craft paper doily butterflies

      These little butterflies are easy to craft. All you will need are a few pom-poms, wiggly eyes and paper doilies. I hand-colored my doilies for the blue butterfly and left another set white for the second version of this craft.

      You will need to accordion fold two paper dollies and glue four pom-poms on top of each other and let these dry over night before assembling the butterfly. Use a very tacky white glue for this project and it will prove far less frustrating to complete. You could use a hot glue if you'd like, but this glue is not safe for little ones to handle.

Vintage Velveteen Book End Paper

These bunnies are perfect for an Easter greeting card or two.

Description of Printable Paper: restored bookend paper, from an old copy of "The Velveteen Rabbit" for your personal crafts only, field of drawn rabbits, colors: peach, blue and lime green, very vintage, Read Terms of Use folks

Lenten Thoughts by Elisabeth R. Scovil

Lenten Thoughts 

"Come apart and rest awhile."
'Tis thy Saviour's call to thee.
" From thy pleasures and thy cares
Turn aside awhile with Me."

And the Church, His Bride on earth,
Echoes still His voice to-day,
In this holy Lenten tide,
"Turn aside," she says, "and pray."

Thou did' St keep the Christmas Feast
With a glad and willing heart.
Joining in the angels' song;
In the Fast now bear thy part.

Friends and neighbors round thee press.
Thronging duties claim thy care;
Little time to thee seems left
To be spent in quiet prayer. 

Our Lord trod this busy earth,

Lived its life of toil and haste;

Knows how much thou hast to do;

Would He bid thee time to waste?

Yet He says, " Come rest awhile."

From the outward, look within,

Learn to know thyself, and find

How to conquer secret sin.

In the desert, with thy Lord,

Tell Him all thy troubles sore,

Weariness, and pain, and grief,

He has borne them too - and more.

He will pity, help, and heal,

Aid thee in the mortal strife;

Send thee back with strength renewed

For the warfare of thy life.

When His Easter morning dawns,

Having kept the fast with Him,

Joyful to His holy feast

He will bid thee enter in.

Color a Vintage Easter Basket

Click to enlarge and download.

Description of Coloring Page: basket, bows and Easter eggs stacked inside

More Easter Basket Coloring:

• Color this Easter basket full of eggs

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

Color a vintage bunny, chicks, eggs and wheelbarrow

Click to enlarge.

Description of Coloring Page: a cracked egg shell makes a wheelbarrow, chicks as passengers, rabbit pushing the wheelbarrow

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

Decorating The Old Welsh Family Cupboard for Easter

       This year I decided to decorate my Welsh cupboard in whites and pastel colors. Because Easter is so early this year, these decorations actually went up during a birthday celebration in our home. Since then the lilies have gone and the hydrangeas have dried nicely.

This old cupboard was my mother-in-laws.

The old china is from a relative whom, sadly, moved away.

I picked up this egg candy dish for five dollars at a flee market this year.

Hydrangeas are some of my most favorite flowers.

The woven, porcelain basket was acquired
 several years ago at another flee market.

One of my happy finds at a local antique mall, a covered
 porcelain dish covered with three dimensional daisies.

White Easter lilies are now gone but I
have this lovely photo to remember them.

More China Patterns for Easter Dinner:

• Spring and Easter Table Setting Ideas
• Two Easter Tables - I love the yellow table cloths
• Love this yellow bumble bee tablescape

Tulip Table Settings for Easter/Spring

       Decorated crepe paper tulip cup cake holders and tulip favors may be happily arranged on this spring table trimmed for Easter. Yellow tulips are cut out and appliqued on the circular paper cover; the tulip border is combined with plain yellow paper for the runner and again appears in the hanging dome decoration. Fringe cut and then scalloped hangs between the border pieces on the chandelier decoration, and narrow streamers extend from it to the sides of the room.

A flower pot covered with two different colors of crepe, (stripes)
 and filled with paper tulips in which favors are attached,
makes this little display unique. These little coordinating
 accessories: potted tulip place holder and cup cake holders
complete the theme.

A sophisticated tulip arrangement for

 your Easter table from Bloomtube DIY.

More Ideas for A Tulip Themed Easter Table:

• The Easter Table...Tulips! 
• 33 Creative Easter Table Arrangements 
• Tulips at the Easter Table

Color Where Easter Eggs Grow

Click to enlarge for download.

Where Easter Eggs Grow

I've hunted all around about among the garden rows;
I've looked in every corner but what do you suppose?
Though I‚'ve asked everybody, not anybody knows
In what part of the garden the Easter egg-plant grows.
Little hen, speckled hen, Eastertide has come again;
Do me a favor, now I beg, lay me a pretty Easter egg.
The little white rabbits, so they say, lay bright-colored eggs
on Easter day;
Green and purple and red and blue, I've seen the eggs, so I
know 'tis true! 

by Harriet B. Sterling

Description of Coloring Page: two coloring pages of "where Easter eggs grow" in the arms of children of course!, Children in Germany used to receive Easter surprises inside really big, decorated, paper mache eggs! It is not so common any longer.

Click to get a larger version.

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

In Jesus's Grave Lie Man's Sins

       The story of Peter is not the most beautiful of the tales that gather about the Man of Galilee, but it is the most precious, for it is a story of a man who fell, but rose again.
       Those three nights and two days glared in Peter's mind through his after years as one hideous dream; that calm Figure, majestic, in spite of the bonds; the rabble crew about the fire; and then that girl's face, Hashing out the challenge that struck him with terror, so that ere he knew, he had stammered out his denial. But clearer than all remained that look of pain and love that pierced him to the heart and drove him forth into the night.
       But neither shame nor fear could hold him in his hiding while his Lord was being done to death; so through the day he followed the crowd, safe hidden, and watched for that display of power that would set him free; watched in vain.
       He followed to Calvary. From behind the rocks he watched the horrid scene. In his own hands he felt the drive of the nails, upon his own brow the tearing thorns, and in his own side the spear thrust to the heart- felt, but dared not utter his cry.
       Then, what place in all the world was left for the man who has dishonored his name, broken his faith, denied his Lord? The city? It is overflowing with the jubilant slayers of his Master. The upper room? There is no place for a traitor in that band. Outside the city wall where they cast their refuse, out to Gehenna, on that rugged ridge, illumined by the baleful fires that never sleep, Peter spends his weary night. Suddenly through the grey light he sees a figure flying as if pursued by demons. The hunted man flings a rope round over the bough of a tree, trembling hands adjust it about his neck, then hurls himself headlong, down upon the rocks below. "Poor Judas! You waited for no look of piercing love when you went forth into the night."A new terror shakes Peter's soul, and drives him to the upper room. With relentless self-abasement, he told them his sin and shame, ending, "And on me cursing he cast a look as if he loved me still." With humble compassion they took him to their hearts, too conscious of the coward in themselves to be hard with the man who had denied and suffered. And then through the morning light sounded the sacred trumpets from the temple announcing that the Great Feast Day was upon them, while their Lord, the Son of God, lay dead in Joseph's tomb.
       Night falls. The last glad trumpet note has ceased, the sounds of the street die down. The men doze off into horrid dreams, but the women do not sleep, they steal down the stairs. It is for them to anoint and garb that precious body for its final rest. Peter waits behind, and over the sad hours of the past days and nights his heart makes weary pilgrimage.
       But hark! There is a sound of running feet! The door bursts open, and the women fling forth their news, their glorious, unbelievable news. The tomb is empty! He is alive!
       "God of Abraham! God of the living, can it be?"
       Peter is down the stairs and up the street, running hard, after him, John.
       But they may save their breath. The tomb is empty, rifled of its dead. Greatly wondering, they return to their company. It is after all only a silly woman's tale.
       But upon them, the door opens again. It is the Magdalene, calm and controlled, but with eyes and face aglow with exultant glory. "He is alive! I have seen him with these eyes! I have held him by the feet! He knew me! He called me by my name! And he gave me a message to you, Peter."
       "No, no, not to me. Not to me."
       "Yes, he said distinctly, 'Tell Peter'‚" and she gives her message. 

       But Peter is gone to find his Lord. With one swift leap, his heart has passed from despair to faith.

        Out of the city gate, but not to Calvary, not to the tomb. Out to the old trysting spot on Olivet, up to the garden where they were wont to meet.

      "Oh, to see him once again, to tell him of my love." His sobs grow quiet, and he becomes aware of a Presence.
       Was it a moment, or was it an hour? Peter never knew; but when he came to himself he was on his way back to the city. They who met him wondered at his face. "I have seen him," he said, "and HE IS JUST THE SAME!"
       Tell the world that Jesus is the same.
       Tell the sick of the world he is the same; his sympathy as quick, his help as ready as of old.
       Tell the outcast he is the same; his fine chivalry making him their champion as before. 

       Tell those who mourn their dead he is just the same; his word as
mighty to revive.
       Tell the whole world, burdened with sin and sorrow, that Jesus, through the glorious risen Lord, is the same; as much a man as ever, as strong and tender as when he walked with the joyous crowds by the sunny waters of Galilee. JESUS IS THE SAME. 

       "He is the same" mused Peter to his friend, "and yet, he is not the same."
       "Said he nought to you of your ------?"
       "Of my sin? Nay, one word only, as I poured it forth, 'Speak no longer of your sin; it lies buried in my tomb' Then it was he spake most like a King, as if he had won the right to bestow his pardon where he would."
       Came a day when they led Peter forth to meet his doom. And when they would have laid him on his Cross, he spoke, "Suffer my head to lie where lay his feet." And so they crucified him, unafraid, for he knew that through Jesus's grave lay the path to life and that in Jesus's grave lie man's sins. by Ralph Connor

"Praise You Just The Same" 

"I recorded this song for my first album ' He Hears Me'. Kevin Hunt on piano. It always lifts me after a tough day or if I'm going thru a hard season. The pictures are dedicated to the raw beauty of Scotland." Deborah Dicembre

Threescore and ten, by common calculation,

The years of man amount to-but we'll say

He turns forescore; yet in my estimation,

In all those years he has not lived a day,

                                                                   J. R. Planche.

Ring Loud, O Easter Bells!

Ringloud, O bells of Easter, your peals through spaces ring;
With joy the fair earth greets you through all the notes of spring.
Ring in all peace and gladness, ring out all strife and tears,
As downward through the ages you've rung the passing years.

Ring clear, O bells, your message throughout all nature thrills;
It all things living touches, as when from Judah's hills
There rose the light triumphant o'er death and mortal fears,
And dawned that first great Easter-the Easter of the years.

Ring sweet, O bells, your lesson unto each heart to-day;
That all before the Master may but life's lilies lay;
Ring soft-ring low; your chiming may bridge some past- its tears,
For those, perchance, who mourneth some Easter in the years.

Again, O bells of Easter, ring out in thrilling peal,
That we, through all our pulses the newborn glory feel;
God's living, loving presence, as each new spring appears
In all that breathes around us, throughout the march of years.
by Beatrice Harlowe

"He is Risen" by Keith Green

On The Day of Preparation

 From The Gospel of St. Luke

       It was the day of the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. And the women, who had come with him out of Galilee, followed after, and beheld the tomb, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.
       On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came unto the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb; and they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, while they were perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel: and as they were affrighted and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them: ‚"Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."
       They remembered his words, and returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; and the other women with them told these things unto the apostles. And these words appeared in their sight as idle talk; and they disbelieved them. But Peter arose and ran unto the tomb; and stooping and looking in, he seeth the linen cloths by themselves; and he departed to his home, wondering at that which was come to pass.
       And behold, two- of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was threescore furlongs from Jerusalem. And they communed with each other of all these things which had happened.
       And it came to pass, while they communed and questioned together, that Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. And he said unto them: "What communications are these that ye have one with another, as ye walk?"
       And they stood still, looking sad. And one of them named Cleopas, answering said unto him: "Dost thou alone sojourn in Jerusalem and not know the things which are come to pass there in these days?"And he said unto them: "What things?" And they said unto him: "The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we hoped that it was he who should redeem Israel. Yea, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things came to pass. Moreover certain women of our company amazed us, having been early at the tomb; and when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. And certain of them that were with us went to the tomb, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not."
       And he said unto them: "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Behooved it not the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory?" And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

James 1:5 from Christian Clip Art Review
Enhance your Christian web pages for free
with graphics like this one. Just click on the
link above to find this collection.

       They drew nigh unto the village, whither they were going: and he made as though he would go further. And they constrained him, saying: "Abide with us; for it is toward evening, and the day is now far spent." And he went in to abide with them. And it came to pass, when he had sat down with them to meat, he took the bread and blessed; and breaking it he gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another: "Was not our heart burning within us, while he spake to us in the way, while he opened to us the scriptures?"
       They rose up that very hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, saying: "The Lord is risen, indeed, and hath appeared to Simon." And they rehearsed the things that happened in the way, and how he was known of them in the breaking of the bread.
       As they spake these things, he himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them: "Peace be unto you." But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they beheld a spirit. And he said unto them: "Why are ye troubled? and wherefore do questionings arise in your heart? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, he said unto them: "Have ye here anything to eat?" And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish. And he took it and ate before them.
       He said unto them: "These are my words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me." 

       Then opened he their mind, that they might understand the scriptures; and he said unto them: "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Ye are witnesses of these things. Behold I send forth the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high."
      He led them out until they were over against Bethany: and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: and were continually in the temple, blessing God.

• Easter Prophecies and the Road to Emmaus 
• The Gospel of Luke - The Road to Emmaus
• The Way to Emmaus
• Walking with Luke on the Road to Emmaus

"He Is Risen!" Coloring Page

Click on the image to download the largest size.

Description of Coloring Page: An angel waits at Christ's empty tomb, wings, Easter lilies, rocks, pointing to Heaven

 

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

• He is Risen Indeed Butterfly
• He is Risen stained glass coloring page here

An Egg-cellent Day for A Workout At The Gym!

 

Description of Coloring Page: eggy men working out in the gym, muscles, weight-lifting, punching bag, funny egg coloring page

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

Decorate Your Easter Table With a Zoo!

Mrs Marchand puts the finishing touches on a porcupine. 
On the table stand a finished ostrich and deer.

      Berthe Marchand used her ingenuity. Needing something original for the Easter table—something for the children to admire—she hit on the idea of making an entire zoo of animals, using colored Easter eggs and other odd bits of material easily obtained for a few cents at any stationer’s.

      Why don’t you do the same? It just takes patience, nimble fingers, and extreme care in handling the eggs— which can be dropped only once!

More Animal Shaped Easter Eggs:

• Birds from Russia
• Easter critters by Lia Griffith
• Owl painted Easter eggs
• Octopus Easter Eggs
• Four little bird egg ideas
• Eggs painted like farm animals: cow, pig, chicken and bunny 

More Fun Egg Video:

• Screaming Eggs and Scared Eggs 

Far left, Making a porcupine. A paper-shell nut is inserted into a clay neck on an egg. Next, the peanut legs are being carefully affixed to the roughed-out figure. Head feet, and all parts of the body not covered by clay are painted. And last, after he's got his paper eyes and comb, "Porky" receives his quills.

The finished porcupine with toothpicks for quills.

Left, Mr. Penguin. Egg, peanuts, clay, felt toothpicks. Center, The giraffe
has neck and legs of red soda straws, of course. Right, The kangaroo,
above, has a yellow-painted-egg body, a cotton pouch, and peanut legs.

The swan, just above, is made of egg, cotton,
paper fringing, and colored pipe-cleaners.

Left, The ostrich--with egg body, pipe-cleaner legs and nick, ad a
ball -with-a-hole head. Right, The most fee-ro-cious lion ever made.
Walnut head and peanut feet.