resurrection sunday

There is no testimony like that of a child, whose innocence and sincerity cannot be argued with.

This year, Annike (my oldest), created a set of Resurrection Eggs with her class as a craft. Prior to this year I was only vaguely familiar with the concept of Resurrection eggs. To briefly explain, they offer a visual and hands-on way to tell the story of Jesus' death and resurrection using a dozen plastic eggs. Each plastic egg contains an object that represents one piece of the story, beginning with Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a donkey and ending with the empty tomb. A perfect way to engage children in the story and make a connection between plastic eggs and Jesus Christ.

After Easter dinner, 12 of my family members and welcome friends lounged around our dining table, scraping at our plates and searching for room to stuff down more food. Annike was dying to share her craft and present the Jesus story to our table of guests. Eventually plates were cleared, and eyes turned to my 7-year-old.

She passed the Resurrection eggs around hot potato style, one at a time. In turn each egg was opened, revealing a palm leaf, a communion cup, 30 pieces of money, a cross fashioned from nails, a crown of thorns... all the pieces that tell the story.

Sommer (age 4) was in on the story having previously practiced with her sister. Giggling with glee at each new reveal, she wanted to give away the secrets contained in the eggs. Delighted squeals escaped saying, "The next egg is my favorite!" Her jubilant laughter was contagious.

The final egg was passed, and opened. Wait - is it EMPTY?

A four-years-old's excitement burst into the room as the joyful innocence of my most animated child could no longer be contained. Sommer squealed with conviction, "It's empty because Jesus isn't there anymore! He escaped from the tomb!! He's ALIVE!!!"

There were a few teary eyes at the table. No one can argue with a four-year-old who knows that she knows that she knows the truth about the greatest act of love shown to the world. She is loved. She believes.

He is risen, indeed.

Mine with new baby cousin!

My side of the family together for Easter.

eggs and bunnies {repost}

The following is an Easter re-post from way back in 2010, when my first baby was one and half, and my other babies didn't exist. The connection between eggs and the resurrection story is still a little fuzzy in my head. I went hunting for this post in the archives to remember what I once knew:

The challenge as a mother is to make our holiday traditions meaningful to little children. I find that much easier at Christmas then at Easter. At least Santa was originally a saint who gave unselfishly of himself to others. What did the Easter bunny ever do for humanity, aside from gorging them with chocolate? Where do eggs fit into the Resurrection story? 

It is well-known that bunnies and eggs are a result of the merge of our Christian holiday and the pagan celebration of spring and fertility. All new life was believed to come from the egg. And rabbits, apparently, were prolific egg-layers.

I was skeptical that any legitimate link could be made between eggs and Christ. Upon researching this, however, it seems that the church made a valiant attempt at making the connection: 

• The hard shell of the egg represents the sealed Tomb of Christ.
• Cracking the eggs symbolizes Christ breaking open the Tomb, being resurrected from the dead.
• The hard-boiled egg inside of the shell is perfect, just like Christ was perfect when He exited the Tomb. (He did have scars from His piercings, so I think we can forgive ourselves if we knick the egg while trying to crack it open.)
• The egg, as mentioned above, represents new life. This life is truly found in Christ.
• The egg was a symbol of the rebirth of the earth in celebrations of spring. In the Biblical world, this translates easily as a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus.
• Traditionally, Easter eggs were dyed red to represent the blood of Christ. 

I have to say that I was surprised to realize all of the connections, because I have never been able to come up with any on my own. I find nothing wrong with the historical church attempting to be culturally relevant by using familiar symbols to teach people about what Jesus Christ did for us on the first Easter so long ago. 

My one-and-a-half year old won't understand any of this yet, so we made the connection between eggs and Jesus a different way:

Our eggs were decorated with secret messages (in white crayon) about God's love for us... things like:   

            "Jesus loves you!"   

                          "He rose again!" 

                                       "God loves Annike!"

We even got a cracked egg to say "the curtain of the temple tore in two."

Ultimately, I have decided that traditions are what we make of them. As for bunnies, I think they just come with the territory, kind of like Santa's reindeer.

Doesn't she look just like Karsten does at this age? Same shaggy white hair and blue eyes. All except for the fact that she is wearing pink. And I distinctly remember that she sat on the floor and peeled hard-boiled eggs with me for an hour. I can picture this day going very differently with Karsten: in a 60 second span my son would throw the eggs around the room and then pitch a tantrum when I took them away.

Happy Easter! He is Risen, indeed!

i saw the light

It is tradition on Easter for our entire church to come together for one service at the Civic Center in heart of downtown Santa Cruz. In the heart of a city full of people that seem unreachable, desperate, unwholesome, and dark. Yet, even in the heart of this city, there is Light.

As the band started up on this reverent Resurrection Sunday, I glanced around the room at the thousands of believers surrounding me, singing "This Little Light of Mine." Tears welled in my eyes as I had the distinct sense that I was a tiny part of something so much bigger than myself. Sometimes tears are the only language of the spirit within us. When our mind can't find the words, our heart can.

It happened, too, about a month ago. It was one of those Sunday mornings when I had been wondering why we had bothered coming to church because we arrived late with three cranky kids and I spent most of the service shushing them and passing out snacks or crayons. At the end of the service was an extended period of singing and I was finally able to engage. Despite my familial chaos, in those last minutes of church God laid a heavy burden on me for the lady sitting next to our family, listening but not singing. I felt an urgency to meet her before she rolled out with the masses. We connected instantly as if she had been my friend for a long time. As it turns out, it was her first experience in church ever. The next week I saw her again, we prayed together, and I had the privilege of giving her her first Bible. I will remember that moment my whole life.

I don't think for a minute that the experience had anything to do with me. God had been working in this woman's life for a LONG time and I happened to cross her path at one particular place in her spiritual journey. I was so wrapped up in my own garbage I don't think I would have noticed this gal if the Spirit of God hadn't laid it heavily upon my heart. Both Sundays meeting with her left me humbled with the realization that life is so much bigger than me and my little myopic life. I can't help but wonder if all of that garbage with my cranky kids was an effort to distract me from being a part of the bigger picture.

On a cross, two thousand years ago, a man died leaving his family and friends distraught in their loss. The picture was small and personal, affecting a crowd in a city in a land far away. Then the resurrection. A tragic event suddenly became so much bigger than the emotions of the people involved. It affected all people across all generations for the rest of time. The bigger story changed the world.

We are a part of that bigger story and the Light that changed the world.

Happy Easter from my family to yours!

eggs and bunnies

The challenge as a mother is to make our holiday traditions meaningful to little children. I find that much easier at Christmas then at Easter. At least Santa was originally a saint who gave unselfishly of himself to others. What did the Easter bunny ever do for humanity, aside from gorging them with chocolate? Where do eggs fit into the Resurrection story?

It is well-known that bunnies and eggs are a result of the merge of our Christian holiday and the pagan celebration of spring and fertility. All new life was believed to come from the egg. And rabbits, apparently, were prolific egg-layers.



I was skeptical that any legitimate link could be made between eggs and Christ. Upon researching this, however, it seems that the church made a valient attempt at making the connection:

- The hard shell of the egg represents the sealed Tomb of Christ.
- Cracking the eggs symbolizes Christ breaking open the Tomb, being resurrected from the dead.
- The hard-boiled egg inside of the shell is perfect, just like Christ was perfect when He exited the Tomb. (He did have scars from His piercings, so I think we can forgive ourselves if we knick the egg while trying to crack it open.)
- The egg, as mentioned above, represents new life. This life is truly found in Christ.
- The egg was a symbol of the rebirth of the earth in celebrations of spring. In the Biblical world, this translates easily as a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus.
- Traditionally, Easter eggs were dyed red to represent the blood of Christ.

I have to say that I was surprised to realize all of the connections, because I have never been able to come up with any on my own. I find nothing wrong with the historical church attempting to be culturally relevant by using familiar symbols to teach people about what Jesus Christ did for us on the first Easter so long ago.

My one-and-a-half year old won't understand any of this yet, so we made the connection between eggs and Jesus a different way:



Our eggs were decorated with secret messages (in white crayon) about God's love for us... things like: Jesus loves you! He rose again! & God loves Annike!

We even got a cracked egg to say "the curtain of the temple tore in two."





Ultimately, I have decided that traditions are what we make of them. As for bunnies, I think they just come with the territory, kind of like Santa's reindeer.