Happy Eas..I mean Resurrection Sunday!

Spring is in the air. I mean, we have a slight breeze and it hasn't hit 90 yet. April rain really only happens in February here, and of course, as we all know that is winter...so I think we can safely say it is spring. Anxiety usually sets in for me now...the countdown to suffer, I mean summer begins even on the news. It is ridiculous really, I mean they have counted the number of days and different degrees for hundreds of years. Why do we have to know that we are cooler than we were 7 years ago, but hotter than we were in 1898? That was before the Titanic sunk, for crying out loud. That is way before blogs and oh yeah, I DON'T CARE!

So like I said, panic begins. I start thinking of all of the must-dos for spring. Some more urgent and apparent than others. I need to spring clean...we all know what that means...move the couch to vacuum and actually wipe the peanut butter off of the walls with a wet rag instead of my shirt. I need to shop for the kids for a summer wardrobe. What goes good with hot? Ummm...can we just buy 7 bathing suits and rubber flip flops? Isn't that appropriate attire in this state? Oh, and spring is "last call" for garage sales too. As horrible as they are to have, (I mean who doesn't have a great yard sale story) I am motivated by money and cheap people inspire me...so I have them. (Okay, one quick funny story...at one yard sale a person who barely spoke English asked my stepdad how much for the dress shirts...he said "A dollar a piece or four for five." He just wasn't thinking straight...but apparently neither was the customer...he bought four. LOL)

Another reason I need Xanax for spring, white. YES...white. I don't do white. I don't like pastel. I cannot stand to dress in light colors...there is no camouflaging with pastels. Since I have not stuck to my new years resolutions, there will be no pastel for me. (Face it, me in white pants would be like hoisting a sail on a sailboat...people would duck out of the way and marvel at all of the white fabric.) So my spring dilemma, try to eke out a wardrobe of black, navy and brown from the spring department store selections...can't do it. So how do I fake it? Black and white polka dots thrown in somewhere and maybe some fresh white shoes...that is the extent of my spring wardrobe. :(

So that brings us to what is usually my favorite part of spring, Easter. I typically love the girly dresses, the boys dressed in something fresh, and maybe even baskets, chocolate, and a few eggs. Heck, we have even done the resurrection eggs before...so we are not total heathens. I have always called it Easter, I have always celebrated the little nuances that are Easter traditions, bunnies who hide eggs and chicks, peeps...marshmallow heaven...and coloring eggs. But what I have never done is gone to the mall to worship the bunny on Easter Sunday. No, we go to church. We marvel at what was done on the cross. We sing of the glory of the stone being rolled away and how "Up from the grave he arose..." and more. My kids and I all know what the resurrection of Jesus means for us (as much as we can humanly know, I suppose) and we all know the verse..."He is not here, for He has risen, just as he said!" Hallelujah and Amen!

Here is my dilemma...I have been under the tutelage of my pastor for some time (18 years!) and have heard the origins of Easter and the pagan foundations...I understand what the enemy has done to redirect our focus from Christ with chicks and bunnies and such, I know about Ishtar and the whole fertility-egg connection, but I have not been convicted to redirect our family's holiday to not include any of those things. I mean, many valley churches do egg hunts, reach out to their neighbors, and don't hesitate to call it Easter. We are encouraged to call it "Resurrection Sunday" thus debunking the plan of the enemy and going from paganism to purity. I have a hard time with that...but I respect our pastor and his opinions and so I agree to expose my family to his teaching on this and we go to church knowing full well that we won't share eggs or bunnies or chicks or do egg hunts. It sometimes motivates me to hear how well my children learn and love Jesus from the very things they celebrate at my church. I mean when your 3 and a half year old recites this scripture "We wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ" well...you can't argue with that. I didn't even know that verse, but because of her, now I do.

I sit here, puzzled, frustrated, and not sure how to feel...because some sweet soul from that same wonderful church vandalized my child's artwork. Yes, vandalized it. My sweet daughter wrote an Easter card for her little 7 year old friend. It was average, like most child-like art, but beautiful because it was thoughtful. Reading boldly across the top was "Happy Easter, to my Friend Gracie." Written even larger next to that in RED sharpie marker was RESURRECTION SUNDAY...as if to correct her art, to change her words. I was miffed. I felt a little violated FOR her. I mean, this is not school and it is not subject to "grading." How dare they write that in big, ugly, adult handwriting all over her precious, thoughtful EASTER art? Is that the legalism that we have come to? So every time my child says Easter in class, do they smugly say to her, "We call it resurrection Sunday, honey?" My kids get corrected on enough things, and this instance, to me, was like telling a child in Sunday school that there is no such thing as Santa Claus (That should be the parents choice to give that talk, right?). Can't we just let kids be kids and save the correcting and the legalism for adulthood?

Childhood wonder, egg hunts in beautiful spring breezes, tales of chocolate leaving bunnies, bountiful baskets and baby chicks will soon enough be replaced by spring cleaning, spring shopping, garage sales, and being too fat for white. So anyway, Happy Easter! I think I will go medicate with food, pass me a peep.