Adventures in Parenting

Commercialism has reduced Easter to candies and bunnies. Now, I am not against having some Peeps, I love those marshmallow treats once a year. But I think we should teach our children that Easter, just like Christmas, has a greater meaning besides the presents and food.

It is traditional for Christians to fast around Easter time. In the act of fasting, it helps us to remember the true meaning of Easter.

In a Sunday School lesson to the children a couple weeks ago, I taught the children about fasting. Fasting does not have to be about food. I have low blood sugar, so I do not fast from food. However, there are other ways to “fast” – we can abstain from something, such as an activity, that allows our attention to turn to Jesus instead.

I asked the children what they want to fast from in order to think about Jesus.

One boy said he’ll fast from broccoli. Hmmm, nice try, but I told him he had to choose something else to fast.

One girl said she’ll fast from chips – I’m proud of her, and another boy said he will fast from using the computer on the weekends – Good job!

I told the kids that whenever they stop themselves from eating the delicious chips or playing games on the computer, the little bit of pain they feel from that deprivation would remind them about  Jesus’ suffering on the cross. Take a moment to say, “Thank you, Jesus, for dying for me.”

That’s what Easter means.

How can you encourage your children to fast from something this Passion Week?