Our first project is a family trouble tree that starts with a bare tree branch mounted in a tin can full of plaster or sand and placed near the kitchen table. We talk about the dark experiences of winter, like waiting in the cold for a school bus, or shoveling heavy snow out of a parking space. Each day we use our tree as a place to acknowledge our troubles in prayer. We keep a supply of long, thin (1" by 5") strips of paper near the trouble tree, to write the names of people experiencing difficulties like illnesses, tests, or unemployment. We "curl" each strip with a pair of scissors and put it around one of the braches on our tree. Our daily prayer begins with the Sign of the Cross and continues with:
The second project involves a cross made from a yardstick. One long piece is cut to 21", keeping the hole at the top for hanging. The shorter 15" piece is joined to the first one with a glue gun, or by crisscrossing sturdy tape over the area where the two pieces come together. The next step is to paint the yardstick cross and let it dry. You might paint it purple for lent or red for Jesus lifeblood on the cross. Then use sticky address labels for adding petitions. The important thing is using the cross to help us pray for the needs of those around us.
Choose one prayer intention each day and concentrate on that one person or situaltion for the whole day. I like to challenge myself by thanking God for all the details of a difficult situation throughout the day. This helps me see things from God's point of view. Also, when someone adds a petition to our cross, he or she is encouraged to share about the petition. One year, Ellen prayed for her teacher who was eight months pregnant and unable to stand in the classroom. Ellen wanted to pray and to help. We talked about things she could do, and settled upon buying a gift for the new baby. Family members might also take turns adding a new petition each day, or the whole family (and each family member) could add new petitions twice a week.
On Good Friday, using either of these projects, we talk about the importance of the cross of Jesus. When Jesus rose from the dead, his cross became the "tree of life," and his love became available to us. If we are using the trouble tree, we place all the curled up prayers around the base of the tree and spray them green. If we are using the yardstick cross, we paint the whole thing white or yellow and write across the arms, "He is not here. He is risen!" Then we thank Jesus for hearing our prayers, and imagine Jesus with his arms around each person we remembered during Lent. Sometimes we add butterflies and flowers to our new "tree of life."
This is an excerpt from "Embracing the Cross with Little Ones" in the WORD among us, Lent 2009 (page 83)
Jesus, we know you came to love us, to forgive us and to make us new.
We give you all of our troubles, large and small. Help us as we walk with you now on your way of the cross. Amen
