As I was thinking about what kind of traditions I would like to start with my own family, I pondered this idea of an Easter egg hunt with a twist. Like many of you, I found Easter customs fun and special. I specifically remember being excited every year to get that new dress for church, and like many kids, finding my Easter basket wherever the Bunny may have hidden it. (My parents will still tell you that my sister and I were at times more excited on Easter than Christmas.) That would be because we usually had a boat-load of goodies hand-picked by our mom, neatly arranged in our wicker baskets.
Now that I am a mom, I am putting out there a new idea. I thought that instead of making it ALL about the chocolate, sidewalk chalk, and bubbles, I would like to really impress upon my son the important story that IS Easter. (Forgive my very Charlie Brown-like aversion to commercialism. It is the way I am made.) Perhaps once my little one can understand pictures, and the written word a little better, I will put more than candy into the plastic eggs. By placing tidbits of scripture from the Easter story, I would have my son & family piece together the entire sequence once all of the eggs have been collected.....Eureka! I found a meaningful way to make the egg hunt more Christ-centered! Now for smaller kiddos, it is a difficult story to understand. There are a few sites out there that offer the story in pictures. One that I found is: http://www.sparklebox.co.uk. Another excellent site for Bible verses is www.biblegateway.com, which offers many translations of the Bible and side by side comparisons.
Whatever your family chooses to do for this Easter Sunday, I hope it isn't ALL Cadbury eggs and glazed ham. Our children, more than ever, need to hear that amazing story of a man dying on a cross to bear our wrongdoings. As I attempt this with my son in the coming years, I hope this will be a stand-out memory to him. After all, the message will last longer than any of the basket fillers. Happy Easter!
