If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll know how much I love celebrating the Reformation and last year my posts dealt with the fun ways we've tried to celebrate in the past. There really are lots of great resources out there, so be sure to click the links from my previous Reformation Day posts.
But, you can only swim upstream for so long.
This year I have a ninja, a race car driver, and a butterfly.
We'll go to the neighboring church's harvest festival, drive to some church member's houses to get candy, take some pictures.
*sigh*
Quick update: Monday begins the official checking to see if I'm dialating or not and marks 37 weeks, which is when I delivered baby #3. I'm as big as a house, can hardly put on my socks, and not sleeping so much. This is our last day of homeschooling for a while and we'll focus on playing games, reading books, hanging out...So if I disappear again, you'll know why. :)
The very first year we did this, we just watched a portion of the old black and white Martin Luther movie and read about him in a biography we have.
The second year we had a few families over to watch the movie God's Outlaw, about William Tyndale, who was burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English.
Last year, we watched a kids' version of the William Tyndale story created by the folks at Vision Video and part of their Torchlighters series (which also includes Jim Elliot, John Bunyan, and Eric Liddell, which is one we still need to get, it's the newest). Then, the grown ups watched the newest Luther movie.
This year, since we haven't gotten much interest from church folk about participating in something like this, we're going to keep it just our family and watch The Radicals, a movie about the Anabaptists in Switzerland. There is a kids minimovie on the DVD that doesn't go into as much graphic detail about what they went through just to practice believer's baptism. We'll still dress up and eat some soup and bread and turn down the lights. I wish that people here were more interested in all this, but maybe I can at least inspire my kiddos to see the value in remembering these great men and women of our faith.
If you want to check out any of these movies (and lots, lots more!) go to www.visionvideo.com
Even though Caroline over at living in a fishbowl (see the link in my blog roll-remember how weird my browser is about hyperlinks) thinks I'm a closet Lutheran (Missouri Synod-anyway), as a Baptist I have lots of reasons to remember what all those brave men and women endured so that I could worship freely and have an English Bible in my hands!
So while I'm most definitely not a theologian like my husband, I'll briefly give you some reasons why we should celebrate the Reformation, which started on October 31, 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany:
1. Martin Luther's passion to be reconciled to God and his boldness in proclaiming the TRUE GOSPEL of justification by faith alone has yielded fruit for centuries. Thanks, Martin!
2. Just like the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, there are men and women who have been tortured and killed for the name of Christ and OUR faith is strengthened when we remember their example.
3. We are passing along our Christian heritage to our children.
4. It gives us a greater understanding of our own faith and what it means to suffer for the name of Christ.
5. It's a fascinating period of history.
6. It's fun to dress up!
7. It can be its own homeschool unit study.
8. It's a fantastic excuse to throw a party that has a purpose behind it.
That's all I can think of for now...
So where to begin?
You can check out a resource that I love from www.doorposts.net called A Night of Reformation. It's designed to be used in a church or homeschool group setting that requires a bit of manpower and planning, but there are still ideas you can implement at home.
Doing a quick google search can direct you to a number of historical sites that explain what happened. Once you feel like you have a basic understanding of the history and purpose, then begin to search out ideas for medieval foods and costumes.
I've made a kind of honey nut candy before. We've had cider and dark bread. A beef barley stew. Some fruit, maybe grapes. Some cheese cubes. Once, I made these fig thingies (I don't even remember what they're called!) they were gooey and weird, anyway, no one liked them but it was fun to try. I found it on some food from the middle ages website.
As for costumes, the first year we did it my boys were little and we just read the story of Martin Luther and watched the scene in the old black and white movie about him where he says his famous line, "I cannot. I will not recant." The next year, I made them knight costumes. I tried a pattern from doorposts. net but I AM NOT A SEAMSTRESS and it was very stressful. Looking back I would have started sooner and not followed a pattern! I would have bought the metallic material and glued it to some batting and just left the edges unfinished. I found some knight helmets at the mormon thrift store (sorry-it was my only choice : ). We made and painted wooden swords and tied thick cord around their shins like boots or high laced shoes. You can also purchase the full of armor of God sets at www.christianbook.com. I got my boys these for Christmas last year and they still play with them.
The second year, I talked my mom and grandma into making them dragon costumes from a McCalls pattern. I felt terrible that it was so involved and took them FOREVER. Sorry...but boy did they look cute!
This year, my mom made them some monk costumes, we'll use a rope belt and some sandals. They made some cross necklaces out of clay and maybe I'll make them take a vow of silence for the day! HA!
So maybe that will get you thinking. The internet is a WEALTH of information. We did more than this at our celebrations, but that will just have to wait for next Saturday!
A quick note to let you know I'll be beginning a series on celebrating the Reformation with your family as an alternative to Halloween. We've done this for 3 years now and it's always a lot of fun. I'll share a few ideas that might inspire YOU to take a more positive spin on the holiday.
Remember: October 31 is the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses (or complaints) against the Catholic Church on the church door (or bulletin board-that's up for debate!) of Wittenberg!
