Preparing for Pentecost!

I ended up caving and making my kids that yummy jello treat when we celebrated the Ascension last Thursday.  My grocery store didn't have any blue jello, so we fudged and I made juice sweetened jello (with white grape juice and blue food dye).  It was a hit and something we'll definitely do again next year!

In addition to celebrating the Ascension, it is now tradition in our family to celebrate Pentecost.  Pentecost falls 10 days after Jesus ascended up into heaven, making it 50 days after the Resurrection.  It was so much fun to talk about the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church last year that we knew we wanted to do it again this year!   Oh the anticipation...  We get to start our Sunday morning worshipping with other believers and then following that up with a celebration!

Here is a peak at what we did last year:

We started by reading some great books, and talking about the 'gift' of the Holy Spirit.  We also went shopping for our 'party' supplies for the Pentecost party!

Next up, we made our tongues of fire crowns for each person to wear at our party! (tutorial included!)

And finally the big day.  Xander sang his little song about the church that we had been practicing, we all sang 'Happy Birthday' to the church and were thankful afresh that God sent a helper, the Holy Spirit to help us walk out our faith.  Red is historically worn and used to decorate to represent the coming of the Holy Spirit. 

Julie over at Faith-Filled Days has also blogged about her family's Pentecost celebrations! 

Whether simple or involved, taking a little bit of time to talk to our kids about the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church can be a special opportunity to share in the anticipation and gratitude for this wonderful event!

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