“Cause Jesus died on the cross for our sins,” she sang happily.
Then she added, “He even died for bad people. He died for everybody cause He loves us all!”
This made me smile, and it makes me smile now as I lay in bed the night before Resurrection Sunday. My daughters will not have Easter Sunday dresses this year, but they will have a clear understanding of why the day is so very special to us. They will understand what is truly important about Easter. It’s not matching outfits for pretty pictures. It’s Jesus. And it’s not Easter baskets (which we also got rid of). It’s Jesus.
They get that it’s not about bunnies and chicks, but about The Lamb. And while we have egg hunts and chocolate candies (cause who doesn’t adore Cadbury eggs), they understand what the best gift of Easter truly is. In the morning they’ll find collapsible sand buckets (great for a traveling family like ours) filled with jelly beans and a special, unique treat from Mom and Dad. They’ll visit with family, hunt eggs, eat yummy food, and fall into a sugary coma from a chocolate rabbit. Those are all wonderful things! But they’ll also know those aren’t the best things. Those aren’t the most important things.
Many times in this life we are all guilty of placing a bit too much value on the “window dressing.” You know; the stuff that fills up our days and minds that really doesn’t matter. We fuss about these things when they’re not perfect. Our tempers get short over the little things, and we find ourselves on Sunday morning angry that our kids can’t look just right, get out the door on time, and look the part that we all play unaware. Next thing we know our focus is on all the wrong aspects of life, and we unknowingly pass along this skewed outlook to our children. Importance is placed on what others think, but not on what our Savior desires for our lives. I get it. It’s an easy trap to fall into, and it’s a slope I even have to pull myself out of still from time to time.
As always, and as you’ve heard me say a time or two, I’m a work in progress over here. I’m trying to keep myself reminded of what’s important in life. It’s all about keeping an eternal perspective, and saying to myself, “does this have a lasting impact from a Kingdom view?” So will people remember what I wore, or will they remember how I treated them? Will my children remember how much stuff we had, or will they remember the experiences we enjoyed together? Will they remember the dresses they wore on Easter Sunday, or will they remember the joy they felt over finally understanding the impact of Jesus’ Resurrection power? I know what I’ll remember.
