Resurrection Sunday, AKA "Easter"

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In advance please forgive my rambling thoughts and questions. Just go with the flow --

I thought I would post on this topic since it is coming up in about a week.

Since my children were born I have not done the Easter Bunny thing (just like at Christmas my children see Santa Claus on TV but they know that he has nothing to do with the real reason behind Christmas and that he is make-believe. We decided from the beginning not to lie to our children-Strong feelings here: Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Halloween, etc. are all lies and if I don't want my children to lie then I will not lie to them about these).

So anywhoo--last year we started really focusing more on it being Resurrection Sunday instead of Easter. This is due to a strong conviction once I found out the history surrounding "Easter". My children are almost 5, 3, and 2. Now as they are getting older I want to start incorporating more of the traditional Biblical festivals/feasts associated with and around the time of Christ crucifixion and His resurrection. I will start this next year.

WHAT WE DO:

--We say: Happy Resurrection Day and if someone says Happy Easter we say back Happy Resurrection Day.

--We meet with our family (usually my mom and dad inlaw-my parents live in Oklahoma or they would be with us also) and have a "traditional" dinner with the ham and trimmins'. Next year according to how we decide to incorporate new ways of celebrating I would like to try to make lamb (does anyone have any good recipes they would like to share?)

--I usually will give my children something special on this day but it is usually Bible related. This year I purchased from http://www.cbd.com/ for my girls and me the neon green t-shirts with bright pink lettering that say "Yes, I am a Princess My Father is the King of Kings" and for my 2 yr old son a little t-shirt that says "Do not Underestimate Me in big letters and in little letters -with God all things are possible" and for Daddy he is getting an Army green t-shirt that has the "crown of thorns looking cross" that has "FORGIVEN" weaved into the thorns and the "i" is dotted with a little drop of red blood. For DS and Daddy's shirt they are already sold out so can't show you what they look like. Anywhoo-DD's shirts I want to (if I have time) sew onto the bottom some material to make it a play dress.

--We do give the children baskets but it is usually not done on Resurrection Sunday. My Hubby's b-day is March 20 (first day of Spring) and we give them what we call, "Spring Baskets" to celebrate Spring and Daddy's birthday. This is to give them some fun things and candy that they don't get often but we (especially me) do NOT say it is an Easter basket. Hubby was out of town for his birthday this year and we have yet to celebrate it. So when we have our "traditional" Resurrection Sunday dinner I will also throw in a special time to celbrate his b-day and give the children their "Spring Baskets" and Resurrection Sunday gifts.

QUESTIONS:

--Can anyone give a breakdown of the festivals/feasts during this time and what are some ways to celebrate each one? If you have a link to share please leave me a comment with the link.

--How do you deal with egg hunts at church? My Pastor allows them as they have been done for years before he came (he came to our church about 10 years ago) but he doesn't really agree with it. We have had a lot of people leave the church over the years for one reason or another but a lot has to do with the fact that he preaches the Bible Truth and doesn't sugar-coat-it. He doesn't mind stepping on toes when he preaches. He is a traditional Holiness Pentecostal Missionary Evangelist Pastor (he still evangelizes on Missionary trips-as a matter of fact he is in Belize right now on one). He never follows a book with pre-planned sermons. He follows the leading of the Holy Spirit and has been known to have notes all ready but have the Holy Spirit change the sermon literally at the last moment during Praise & Worship.

So anywhoo-He allows the hunts so as to not "rock-the-boat" anymore than it has been in the past but it is clear to those in charge of the hunt that we do NOT say the eggs came from the Easter bunny or anything like that which would take away from Christ's resurrection. I have mixed feelings about my children participating in the egg hunt but my husband thinks there is nothing wrong with it. So for the past couple of years I have went along with it. What are your thoughts?

Okay enough rambling - who would like to comment?

Comments

Noel said…
We also do not celebrate the easter bunny, santa clause and especially halloween, but these are times that draw families together. My husband's family has an easter egg hunt every year, but I'm finding as the kids get older they don't really look forward to the easter stuff as much as getting to be with family again. We use the good parts of holidays to bring family together and witness of Jesus. The kids understand and grow up able to handle the world with a good attitude while knowing what the true meaning of these holidays are.

Your pastor/minister is right... it's not worth offending people over a hunt as long as the true meaning is taught.
April 03, 2009
busymomof10 said…
Thought I'd leave my 2 cents worth . . .

We don't celebrate Easter Bunny, Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy, etc. Over the years, I was very strict about not letting my children participate in such things as Easter Egg Hunts, etc. Now, we are living in a new area and attending a very small country SBC church, where they do have egg hunts. It is all in fun, and there it would be very obvious and cause hurt feelings if our children didn't attend. So, we let them join in with the fun. I tell them it has nothing to do with real meaning of Easter/Resurrection Day, but just a fun tradition people have. They don't associate it with any Easter bunny myth and they don't get an Easter basket or gift and I think they think it is something only "rich families" do -- think how much it would cost for me to do up ten Easter baskets every year?? :) I do try to get new "Easter dresses" and white shoes for the girls -- something they will wear all summer anyway. Boys don't care so much . . .

What I really want to communicate is that through the years I have sometimes been offensive to others trying to stick to my convictions or to make a point about observing/not observing certain holidays. However, as I get older, I guess I'm more mellow, but I see that relationships are the most important thing. We can teach our children in our home what we believe, but very often we go to church with folks who haven't received the same teaching and we want to do all we can to promote unity and love among the brethren, not disunity and a spirit of pride or division over how we observe various holidays.

Just my 2cents worth . . .

Blessings,
Elizabeth
April 17, 2009
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