The Death of the Easter Bunny

We have never been big on the whole Easter Bunny, egg hunt, fake grass-filled basket phenomenon that occurs around this time each year.  Not because we had any particular moral aversion to yet another Christian holiday being over-commercialized, but, to be perfectly honest, we are terrible planners and always waiting until the last minute when all there is left is the pre-packaged, brightly-colored, plastic baskets full of crappy toys that break 12 minutes after you manage to free them from their packaging.

However, this year, we are purposely putting to death the myth of the Easter Bunny and all of the plastic trappings that go along with that myth.

For the past few months our family has been on journey to understand God's plan for our future and embrace the path He has laid before us, no matter the cost, no matter the risk.  Truthfully, we have probably been on this journey for several years as God has refined our lives through loss, gain, moving, leaving, growing together and falling apart.  It has just been in the past few months that we have joyfully let go of our illusion of control and wholly committed our lives and futures to Him...but that is a story for another time.

Back to the death of the Easter Bunny.....

This year there will be no new frilly dresses and patent white shoes and pretty hats for the girls.  No new khaki pants and light blue striped or gingham shirt for the boy (who is swiftly becoming a man).  No pictures with the man in the bunny costume at the mall (which I have always found a little creepy).  No baskets filled with plastic grass and plastic eggs that are filled with candy and treats.  No dying hard-boiled eggs in food coloring mixed with vinegar.  No hunting for brightly-colored plastic eggs in wet, knee-high grass.

Right now you may be thinking we are the meanest parents on earth, sucking all of the fun out of what has become a benign, commercialized American holiday.  But, be that as it may, this is where we stand.  This is the change that is happening in our family.

This year we will focus on the death of our Savior.  We will read the passages in the gospel that intimately describe His last meal with His closest friends, the men with whom he had shared life and ministry with for 3 years.  The men who laid down their lives and walked away from family, jobs, homes and followed Him to live a life scorned by society and sometimes even endangering their own lives to spread the gospel of Christ.  We will talk about Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  We will learn about how the same people who welcomed him on that beautiful day, scorned, scoffed and even spit at him just days later.  We will learn about the trial and study not only the role of the Romans and Jewish leaders, but the disciples, the supporters of Christ and the mob that so quickly turned on our Redeemer.  We will discuss what Jesus must have felt when he begged his Heavenly Father for a reprieve as he prayed in the garden of Gethsemane.  We will despair at the pain and suffering Jesus experienced on the cross.  We will rejoice that 3 days later he conquered death!

Easter is not about bunnies, chicks, eggs, candy, gifts, plastic baskets, plastic grass, and GETTING gifts.  Easter is about the SACRIFICE of our Savior.  Easter is about VICTORY over DEATH.  And ultimately Easter is about God's gift of His son to take our place so that we may have everlasting life.

Please don't misunderstand, I am not judging any of the American traditions that your family may partake in this Easter.  I am simply sharing what our family has decided to do this Easter and every Easter going forward.

Love & Prayers,
Meri