When I was first pregnant, and I thought about Easter, I pictured this photo of me and my dad.
I envisioned adorable Easter outfits and bonnets and church and all sorts of other stuff.
Then I had kids and reality set in.
Yesterday I saw a friend post pictures of her kids’ Easter baskets on Facebook in which she had grown her own Easter grass.
Yes. She grew it herself.
[Insert feelings of inferiority.]
I have seen pictures of beautiful sisters in super cute, matching Easter dresses, and brothers and sisters and even entire families in coordinating ensembles.
[Insert more feelings of inferiority.]
I have seen a lot of stuff that has, at first, made me feel a little bit like I am failing on the Easter front.
Because we didn’t go to church.
We didn’t have a fancy brunch.
We didn’t have magazine-worthy Easter baskets.
I let my kids eat as much chocolate as they wanted for breakfast.
While Number 5 wore her “fancy” outfit, Number 6 has worn his pajamas for the entire day.
My first thought was, “It’s Easter. You can’t wear pajamas.”
And then I thought, well, why the hell not?
Jesus wouldn’t care.
He might be annoyed that we didn’t go to church, but that’s on my list for next year.
It has been a nice Easter.
The kids were happy with the free, hand-me-down toy they each got in their homemade basket.
And each kid got a bulb plant in their basket.
That is a new tradition I’m trying to start.
Rather than give the kids a bunch of crap for Easter, I want to start giving them plants.
Each year we will plant Easter bulbs… maybe I will get really ambitious and each kid will have their own little garden.
And each Easter, we will add to them.
And each spring, the kids can be excited to see the plants they have planted come back to life.
Just like Jesus.
We still came down to my parents’ house and had a great Easter egg hunt, some of us in pajamas, some of us in dresses, and some of us in jeans.
It’s been a perfect Easter.
Not picture perfect or magazine perfect or Facebook perfect.
But perfect for us.
Just like your Easter has been perfect for you.
However you choose to celebrate it.
Happy Easter Everyone!
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I know it seems counterintuitive, but sometimes when life is really hard, church can be the hardest place to go. When life has been difficult for me, I have sat in church feeling like I am surrounded by perfect people who peacefully left for church from houses that are perfectly clean, and also have their ovens on time bake so that they will return home to a lovely Sunday dinner. Not how God wanted me to feel in church, I’m sure.
I don’t think Jesus is annoyed you didn’t go to church. I think He understands, and I also think He wants you to connect with Him in some way so you feel His love. Silent prayer time always works for me. I hope life gets easier for you soon.
Long time follower, first time commentor. I applaud you for not giving into the materialism. Your kids will have priceless memories and I LOVE the plant idea and the homemade baskets. LOVE LOVE LOVE! So you didn’t make it to Easter services, forgive yourself. But I encourage you to go to church as often as you can. It will make a difference for you and your children. If you aren’t comfortable in the church you visit (assuming you don’t have a church home), then move on to the next one. When you find one that feels like home, you will know. Much love from the internet!
I was feeling bad that I didn’t get my girls matching dresses & have an elaborate meal planned, but it turned out to be a great day. They wore dresses from their closets. I put a few things together in baskets much of which I had here waiting for when they were needed like crayons& colored pencils. We hid eggs for them in the yard & they had a great time finding them & I enjoyed just watching them have fun & working together to find eggs. Glad you had a perfect for you day! Often the days that just unfold are more perfect than the planned days.
We didn’t have a family get together for the first time in years. Instead we grilled hot dogs and hid eggs in the yard for our 7 yr old after church. I felt guilty about not having family over and my son even commented on us not doing the usual. We had a great day with just us and I got my side of the closet cleaned out and organized.
I did manage to make it to church with my girls (no matching outfits). We arrived on time and only once did my little make a mad dash out of the cry room. Afterwards, we went to see the Cinderella movie. A very relaxing afternoon. Non-traditional, but who cares.
I love the idea of giving plants! I think I’m stealing it for next year.
My daughter asked me if we could have a “hiking Easter” and go to our favorite park and walk the trails and look for deer and chipmunks. But I felt the weight of expectations, so we went to church and Easter lunch and Easter dinner instead and all day all I could think was, “I wish we would have gone hiking.”
I agree with you. I didn’t do anything great with my kids the way others do with theirs.
Jesus is not annoyed. You have been making so much more progression in your spiritual growth than you realize. You have a kind of “ministry” of your own; giving your testimony, talking about your growth, your flaws, failings, etc. But you have accomplished so much toward being what God wants us to be as Christians: philanthropy (Boston Marathon) benevolence and outreach (Patty), fellowship (Not your average weekend), patience (not yelling), thankfulness (not complaining) teaching your children values, honoring your husband (what you learn in couples therapy), etc. It’s not a replacement for church or growing your faith, but it’s imperfect progress toward what God wants us to be. God wants us all to take our messy selves to church, however we are, however we’re dressed and wherever it may be. It will be like the library….painful at first, but easier each time. Thank you for enriching my life. I still say F@$!…..ALOT.
I love the idea of the live plants in their baskets. our Easter was different this year mostly because we live in a foreign country right now and they don’t celebrate Easter here….but we did our best and that is all that matters.