Easter egg hunt; God's greatest gift to all

I had spent weeks organizing an Easter potluck/pool party/egghunt for church families who had no relatives in the Houston area where we lived. Dave was away coaching baseball, but the invited group included several of our sons' friends, so the three of them were actually cooperating by just hiding the colored eggs instead of smashing them on each others' heads or throwing them at passing cars. This was considered excellent behavior in our home.

Once our guests arrived, we offered a prayer of thanks before devouring enough food to destroy whatever diet I was on at that time. It sounded so harmless when Adam asked if he and his friends could go "hunting" in the woods behind our house. It was where he spent most of his spare time, and so I had no concerns that they would get lost or get into trouble. What WAS I thinking?

When Adam and his buddies came out of his bedroom about an hour later, they were dressed in his surplus camo gear and their faces were painted accordingly. All the parents were oohing and aahing over their sons' get-up, so off they went, Adam leading his platoon, miniature bow and arrow in hand.

Returning shortly, Adam was sulking. When a parent innocently asked why he was upset, my son responded that he had shot a bunny which "ran off with his arrow." You get the picture. The bunny was NOT transporting the arrow with its paws or bucked teeth. More questions followed until one of the older boys thought it would be funny to announce that Adam had "shot the Easter bunny." Immediately one of the youngsters began crying. Soon, all the toddlers were upset, while Adam and his friends tried to convince them it wasn't the Easter bunny...it didn't have any basket or eggs. The little ones bought none of it.

You would think the Texas fiasco would make me lay down my baskets and eggs once and for all. No chance. I still enjoy Easter egg hunts. And so do our sons. Even in their late teens, they would tackle each other and roll in the dirt to nab that plastic gadget holding a whopping quarter, and I was right beside them, video camera in hand, delighting in every minute of it. If it weren't for their baseball schedule, I'd probably still be organizing a hunt this Sunday.

As I look back on our Easter experiences with our children, I am so disappointed in how much I stressed the whole "bunny, colored eggs" traditions. I put far too much emphasis on the lie and far too little on the truth of that holiday. Going to Sunday church service and then thanking God for giving us His Son -- the token prayer before our Easter dinner-feast--seemed to be enough.

But the older I get...and the more time I have to reflect on what I did wrong as a mother...I realize the resurrection of Jesus Christ should be the most important event we celebrate. The actual death of Jesus did nothing for us -- He died and was buried. But then the extraordinary miracle happened: He conquered death and rose again, and that is why we have an opportunity to go to Heaven. It is the primary difference between Christianity and other religions, and it truly is God's greatest gift to us, His children.

Is there something wrong with hiding Easter eggs? Not at all. But my hope for you readers is that you use that tradition to teach your children of New Life, and I don't know of anyone who offers that more readily than the One who died and was resurrected so that we could one day share in that New Life with Him.