Easter...is not about the bunny

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With a little one at home, I feel like there is pressure to make this Easter super memorable for him. Not just family, friends or co-workers, but PINTEREST! Please don't get me wrong...I have a special and very close relationship with Pinterest. But I feel like there's so much on there about enriching your kids lives and making holidays AMAZING by way of crafts, cookies, etc. that often times I feel like I fall extremely short of being an "on top of it" mama.

But I digress...

Throughout my day at work, I have been asked no less than 5 times if we had any big plans for Easter. Or if J-man was ready and getting excited for Easter. (First of all...he is 19 months and at this point, he has no idea that Easter is any different than any other Sunday) My response to all have been the same. We are just planning on spending time with family and going to church. No big Easter Bunny charade this year. Now, when I was a kid, I LOVED Easter. I loved waking up super early on Easter Sunday to search for the special place MY basket was hidden, then begin the hunt for Peeps, Cadbury Eggs and the like. So, yes...I plan on passing on those "fun" traditions with my own kids. The thing I refuse to do, however, is make this entire holiday solely about that. I feel like my parents did a pretty amazing job raising me to know the true meaning of the Christian holidays...and Easter is definitely no exception.

I want to teach my children about Jesus and what He did on that cross...just for them.

Just imagining what He went through...for me. For my family - makes me tear up. How unworthy we are to have deserved such mercy, such an outpouring of love from Jesus. Our Savior. I want my children to know that God loved them so much, he sent His son to die on that cross for our sins...so that one day we may spend eternity with Him in Heaven!

This is how I think of Jesus. My Redeemer. My Savior. My Friend.

Darrell Evans
Redeemer Savior Friend

I know You had me on Your mind
When You climbed up on that hill
For You saw me with eternal eyes
While I was yet in sin
Redeemer Savior Friend

Every stripe upon Your battered back
And every thorn that pierced Your brow
Every nail drawn deep through guiltless hands
Said that Your love knows no end
Redeemer Savior Friend

Redeemer redeem my heart again
Savior come and shelter me from sin
You're familiar with my weakness
Devoted to the end
Redeemer Savior Friend

So the grace You poured upon my life
Will return to You in praise
And I'll gladly lay down all my crowns
For the name by which I am saved

So as much fun as it will be to watch our children run around the house on Easter Sunday, searching for candy that the "Easter Bunny" left for them...it will be so much more fun to see them come to an understanding of the true meaning of Easter. To grow up to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and to call him Redeemer, Savior, and Friend.

Happy Easter! The Lord is Risen indeed!