Holy Week

In thinking about Easter and what it really means, I came across this post from Mom Life about What's Wrong About Easter?  She discusses how Christmas is such a happy holiday...a healthy baby boy, a guiding star, wise men bringing gifts, and the visitation of angels.  Sounds beautiful, right?  But Easter is filled with gore, brutality and humility.  Stuff that great R rated movies are made of.  But we all know that movies aren't real and this story is.  It's hard to think about just how awful it must have been for Jesus and his friends and family at that time.  Watching my son be beaten and killed would have broken my heart beyond repair if I were Mary.

If it weren't for Easter, Christmas wouldn't mean too much would it?  So how are you going to celebrate Easter this year?  Will you keep it about bunnies, chicks, eggs and candy?  We hide baskets for our kids, participate in egg hunts, etc., but our family also discusses the entire Easter story (at an appropriate level for our young ones) but we don't sugar coat it.  They know Jesus died for our sins, that he was made fun of, that the soldiers beat him, but also of the miracle of him conquering the grave and giving us the opportunity to be forgiven.  If you missed my post about the Easter Story Countdown, check it out HERE.  It's a great way to explain the events to your children.  We also make Resurrection Cookies the night before Easter to help illustrate the Easter story.  If you've never made them, you can find more about them HERE.

Easter is about victory...Victory over sin and death.  Shouldn't we all stand up and cheer as if our team just won the Superbowl?  Easter is also about new life, about starting over, being reborn.  No wonder it's in the spring, when the earth is waking from the slumber of winter.

Hope you and your family find some time to think about what Easter means to you and take some time to celebrate it's true meaning.