Egg art has been a passion of mine for roughly a decade. It is so symbolic. From Christ coming down from heaven to Earth to the empty tomb, the egg is a beautiful tool and story teller. One of my favorite traditions about this art is the incorporation of prayer.
Traditionally, the artist will pray for the entire time they are decorating the egg. In this case, over ten hours were spent in prayer for WorldVenture missionaries and partners, and the church.
The story is told in the egg. This is how we prayed.
- Starting from the top is the star of Bethlehem and symbolism for Christ coming to Earth. I prayed for the gospel to reach the four corners of the Earth.
- As I prayed over each of us, I prayed that we would each be the branches as described in John 15:5 (I am the vine; you are the branches).
- I prayed the church would be fishers of men as described in Matthew 4:19 (“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men”).
- I prayed for an abundance of harvest (new followers) as described in Matthew 9:35-38 (The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few), but I also prayed for there to be plenty of leaders for the church and for the leaders to be ready to help the new followers in their walk with Christ.
- I prayed for peace, love, strength.
- I prayed for people to come together in the difficult times and show the world what we can do as one body of Christ.
- In the end, I prayed for Christ to be glorified through each day of our lives. Amen.
Materials:
- Ostrich Egg
- Beeswax
- Crayons
Direction:
- Prepare Ostrich egg. Make sure it is hollowed out and cleaned.
- I draw a cross on the top. This is symbolic for Christ and the cross.
- I draw a circle around the egg (dividing the top from the bottom).
- Draw lines down the egg from each corner of the cross to the bottom of the egg (dividing the top and bottom into quarters). This symbolizes Christ coming down from heaven to earth. The empty egg symbolizes the tomb that was empty.
- While going through each step of the egg art, one traditionally prays and uses the symbols and colors showing what they prayed for.
- The egg does not need to be “sealed”. Instructions below share how the process seals the egg.
- Other insructions…
- Mix the bees wax with crayon color for the design.
- Melt the wax using a “kistka” (a sort of pen that you heat up using the flame of a candle; then, you put the wax inside the “kistka”; melt the wax by heating the “kistka”; and drawing on the egg).
- If the egg had been a true pysanky-style egg, I would have used different egg dyes to color the egg. Doing that, the dye would have gotten into the pores of the egg and sealed in the color once the wax is drawn over the color.
Outside the Nativity scene and the Wise Men traveling, there is a river/divider. I used the river to symbolize Christ as the living water. The vine and the branches under the river are taken from John 15:5. The border that contains the overlapping circles are for the days and the nights, particularly for the days and nights leading up to the birth of Jesus. There is a church on the side of the egg. The netting behind it is calling the church fishers of men. Each color has to be interpreted as well.
- Orange means strength.
- Yellow is for happiness and hospitality.
- Blue is to pray for health and to be life giving.
- Purple is used for faith, patience, and trust.
I used the wheat (or harvest) to point to Matthew 9:37 (The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…). I wanted to pray for the laborers and the harvest. That the laborers would grow in many numbers and the harvest would be ready. The fish in the water is for Jesus feeding the large crowds that would gather to meet Him. On the top of the egg, I drew the star of Bethlehem. The four angels are meant to mean the four corners of the earth. The arrows are to point to the four corners of the earth as well.
If you have created this egg, share a picture with us on social media!
Thoughts?
- Copy the link and share that with your comments to social media.
- Don’t forget to tag us @WorldVenture. We like to share your comments if we know about it. You can use the hashtag #WVSimpleChristmas.
- Do you have questions about Jesus? Click here and message us.
- Do you need prayer? Click here to add a prayer or to pray for others.
We are exploring a #WVSimpleChristmas together. You can download resources and the devotional here.