It’s spring and my garden is in full swing!!! These little sugar snap peas are my new favorite. They smell wonderful and taste even better! And they’re purple which is my favorite color!!
We are also in the middle of Lent, a time of spiritual preparation. As Lent comes to a close, we will enter the Triduum, which is a series of Holy Days when my family (and many others) will go to church on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and then Easter Sunday. The actual Triduum concludes with the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday night – a beautiful service that runs late into the night. We will instead go to Mass on Easter morning, which will also be beautiful and during daylight hours which is always easier when you’re two – or should I say the parents of a two-year-old.
Since we try to keep Easter focused on what it is actually about, we will hide a few Easter Eggs for our little one that have small trinkets inside pertaining to the Passion and Resurrection (Resurrection eggs). The Easter baskets will have sweets (for the big boys) but also religious items of some sort. I have found that books are a fairly easy way to incorporate the faith. My kids (even the two-year-old) love books (I can’t imagine where they get that from 😉). For my two-year-old I will be ordering from Thy Olive Tree. They have the cutest stuff. My daughter received two sets of the Little Saint Stories from Thy Olive Tree for Christmas and they are our favorites!!!
I will admit that now that my boys are teenagers it is more challenging to find books that both point to the faith and are fun for them to read. I would love to hear your suggestions on books for teenage boys! Email me and if I get enough suggestions, I’ll make a list on my blog. Thanks in advance!!
For older kids and adults of any age, I suggest my own books. They are written for those of deep faith and none at all. My hope is that my characters and stories might help move—me the writer and you the reader—further along the path of faith a tiny bit. You can order all of my books directly from me and I will sign them for your loved one(s) or you can order them from Amazon or your favorite online (Thy Olive Tree) or in person bookstore.
Some other good contemporary books for elementary and younger middle grade readers are The Green Ember books by SD Smith and The Harwood Mystery books by Antony Kolenc. My boys really enjoyed both of those authors!
Enjoy this beautiful time of year when all of nature seems to be resurrecting!
