The many sides of Susanna...and playing "Jesus"

Princess Susi
I put on make-up by myself!
God's soldier
Lil artist
My wild indians

My kids love to play pretend. Above are a few shots of Susanna in some of her favorite roles.

Two of their favorite things to pretend are being Laura and her family (from the My First Little House books...all of which Luke pretty much has memorized) and "being Jesus."

Let me explain. Our kids have always been fascinated with the Easter story from the time we started using the Resurrection Eggs last year. We got a video from church called The Easter Promise....it became such a huge favorite that after checking it out about ten times, we finally got our own copy. They cry when Jesus is beaten and put on the cross, they cheer when the empty tomb is found, they get so excited when they realize that JESUS IS ALIVE!

A couple weeks ago, Tony and I watched, amused but even more fascinated, as they acted out the story of Christ's death and resurection. First, Luke started by bending Susanna over and "beating" her back with his favorite blankie, just like Christ was bruised for our transgressions. He then "crucified" her by putting her on the ground, spreading her hands, and carefully threading some shiny red pipe cleaners between her fingers so it would appear that blood was falling from her hands. He then repeated his actions with a silver pipe cleaner at her feet, "nailing" her feet to the cross. Meanwhile, she was quietly moaning and whimpering (acting, honestly!) while Luke called her "King of the Jews" and said "Crucify Him!" After "nailing" her to the "cross," he then lead her to the "tomb," some chairs that were side by side," laid his blankie over her (linen clothes), and place a "stone" (his toy storage bin) in front of the grave. A few moments later, she popped out shouting "I'm alive!" as Luke happily joined her in shouting, "Jesus is alive! He isn't dead!"

I was frustrated that the video camera isn't recording right now and we couldn't get it on tape...but they've acted out this little scene several times. They also take turns in the different roles.

My heart sings when I see them portraying in such depth and with such accuracy their favorite stories of the Bible (there are others they act out, too)...and I am thankful they are ingraining these images into their minds. I am also very thankful that both are careful not to hurt the other while "whipping" them with the blanket, "nailing" the other to the cross, or "laying" each other in the tomb!

Susanna also loves to be "Mary" and has a doll that is "Jesus." I've wrote about this earlier...and there are still many times when she gets bored that "Jesus" goes flying across the room. She, however, keeps on her "Mary" garb while going about her every day business.