Tip of the Day 4/7/12

As we prepare to celebrate Resurrection Sunday it is easy to vet caught up in the eggs, and bunnies, and candy, and new clothes and forget the real meaning of the day. This year try adding an activity to the celebration that will remind you and teach others. This is a delicious recipe that will do just that.

Easter Story Cookies
(to be made the evening before Easter)

1 cup whole pecans
1 tsp. Vinegar
3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
Pinch salt
Zipper baggie
Wooden spoon
Masking tape
Bible

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. (do not wait to do this)

Place pecans in zipper baggie and beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. After Jesus was arrested He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. John 19: 1-3.

Smell the vinegar. Put into mixing bowl. When Jesus was thirsty on the cross He was given vinegar to drink. John 19: 28-30.

Add egg whites to the vinegar. Eggs represent life. Jesus gave His life to give us eternal life. John 10: 10-11.

Taste the salt and then place a pinch into the mixing bowl. This represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Luke 23: 27.

So far the ingredients have not been very appetizing. Now add the sugar and see that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know Him and belong to Him. Psalm 34: 8 and John 3: 16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 - 15 minutes until stiff peaks form. The color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Isaiah 1: 18 and John 3: 1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons full onto waxed paper covered cookie sheet. Each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Matthew 27: 57-60.

Place cookie sheet in oven, close the door, and turn the oven OFF.

Take a piece of tape and seal the door closed. Jesus' tomb was sealed. Matthew 27: 65-66.

Go to bed and explain to children that we may feel sad not getting to finish the cookies and having to wait for them is like Jesus' followers being sad when the tomb was sealed and they has to leave Jesus behind. John 16: 20 and 22.

On Easter morning open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and then take a bite. The cookies are hollow. The disciples were amazed to find the tomb open and empty on the first Easter morning. Matthew 28: 1-9.

Word for Today, Rejoice: Throughout our lives we experience times of rejoicing and times of sorrow. It is always amazing that in the midst of sorrow we can find ourselves laughing. When we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death as when a loved one passes and we laugh over times we remember it seems strange and yet it is so right. As we experience the emotions of this weekend of remembrance of our Savior, beaten to the point of being unrecognizable, then hung on a cross to suffer the most hideous of deaths, we rejoice in the knowledge that He triumphed over death. We rejoice in the knowledge of who He is and all He did and is still doing for us. I don't know if there is a name for this day between Christ's death and His resurrection, but I rejoice in what He was doing on this day, ushering those that had died before into Heaven which was now open for all that had looked for His coming and for all that would trust in Him from that point on. Even in death Jesus was working on our behalf. "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. In a great trial of affliction. The abundance of their joy abounded. Believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible."