Resurrection Sunday Recap

It’s seems almost too late to be doing this, but I thought I’d share a little of our Easter with you on this Fresh Friday. 

Let me just say up front that I am not anti eggs, bunnies, and candy when it comes Easter.  I’ve had several people over the last month ask (very respectfully) if we “do” those sorts of things in our family.  The answer is yes… sort of.  Yes, I have window clings on our deck sliders that have bunnies, flowers, and eggs all over.  Yes, at Easter dinner each person had a little treat bag full of Easter candy.  Yes, Jadon did have an Easter basket (ever since his first Easter at 10 days old!).  We did all that. 

Some of you reading this may be from the perspective that there’s no harm in placing an emphasis on the Easter bunny.  (We don’t.)  Others of you may be from the perspective that if it’s not directly related to Christ and the cross then it shouldn’t be celebrated with Easter.  The bottom line for my husband and me is this: Above all else, the emphasis of Easter must be the cross and nothing should else should distract from that truth.  Our desire is to see our son anticipate celebrating the resurrection of our Savior more than what the Easter bunny brought him.

This is ideal for us, but it isn’t easy; and to be honest I had a very difficult time with this leading up to Easter.  How do I get my two year old to understand that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the price for his sins and then conquered death by rising again on the third day?  How do I get him to understand that this was significant because Christ made the way possible for us to have a relationship with God, to be called a child of God, to be declared righteous in God’s eyes?  Part of me wondered how worthwhile it would even be at this point.  Maybe I should just worry about this next year… Or the year after?  It was then that I realized a couple of things. 

The first thing that I realized was that God is in ultimately in control of my son’s heart and mind.  There’s no magic age at which my husband and I should make a more conscience effort to share the gospel with our son.  In Matthew 19, when Jesus called the children unto him, Scripture doesn’t give any indication as to how old these children were.  Their age was apparently insignificant.  Their knowing Christ was extremely significant.  So, I’ll do my best to share Christ with my son, even at his young age.

The second thing I realized was that God can (and did) use these family moments of celebrating all that Christ accomplished through his death and resurrection (and the hope of his return!) to edify Mom and Dad.  We all need be reminded of and relish in the work of the cross.  It’s so amazing that we should never be too grown up to think, talk, or thank God for it!

That said, I don’t have an incredible list of amazingly creative things that we did to celebrate Easter as a family.  In fact… I really only have one thing.  Yup.  That’s it.  On Saturday evening (the day before Easter), the three of us gathered up a recipe, baking ingredients, and a Bible and made Resurrection Cookies together.  If you’ve never made these before you’re not missing out on the best cookie you’ve ever had, but you are missing out on a cross-centered family moment.  With each ingredient we placed in the bowl, we read Scripture and discussed the significance of Christ's resurrection.  Once the cookies are placed in the oven, the door is closed and the oven is turned off.  The “tomb” is sealed with tape and we wait until morning to open the door to see the surprise that we have in store for us.  As fun as all this was, the best part was waking up on Resurrection Sunday to hear my son saying “tomb” (and of course “cookies”).  Upon going downstairs, he immediately ran to the oven.  I know he mostly wanted the cookies, but to me it was evidence of his beginning to understand something deeper.  We weren’t just talking about cookies.  We were talking about Christ. 

Eater morning... waiting for our Resurrection cookies

The finished product!

What a great way to start our Resurrection Sunday!

The rest of our Resurrection Sunday was spent with our church family in the morning, and friends and family throughout the rest of the day.  It was a wonderful day of rejoicing in Christ’s act of redemption on the cross.  I’m amazed by the love of my great Savior and all that he has given me.  

~ Carrie ~