Eggs and more eggs

A few days before Easter I was listening to Christian family radio. They were interviewing Phil Vischer, the creator of VeggieTales. They asked him how parents can sift through the Easter bunny and Easter eggs in order to teach children the true meaning of the holiday- The Resurrection. He explained that many Chrstian parents can tend to throw out the "baby with the bathwater" so to speak, and refuse to have anything to do with the more materialized side of Easter. He went on to show how bunnies and eggs really can be connected to the Resurrection, and he gave a history of the early believers and why they used these symbols to teach their children about the Lord! I was so excited to hear about this. (And no, I'm not one of those people that insists you call it "Resurrection Sunday"... I think that's great if someone else wants to call it that, but I think it's rude to push it on other people.)

Why are these traditions so ingrained in Easter Sunday, you ask? And what do they have to do with the resurrection of Jesus?

Spring symbolized new life and rebirth; eggs and rabbits were an ancient symbol of fertility. When Christianity came to Europe, the new believers used these symbols to teach their families about the resurrection. In Spring time families used to "hunt" for eggs in real life, for protein! So that is where that tradition started. Then the believers took it a step farther and started painting eggs to symbolize different aspects of the resurrection for their children to understand (i.e. the red colored egg symbolized Jesus' blood). I explained all this to Sitora the day we colored eggs.

(Sitora was so excited to see the Easter bunny. I thought she would cry her eyes out, but she didn't!)

First of all I felt blessed this Easter season that Sitora was already able to watch our church's Easter play twice! She asked millions of questions both times. She clapped and laughed and sang along with the choir members. Tears filled my eyes when Jesus rose from the grave and ascended into heaven! How wonderful for Sitora to see this at such a young age! I prayed for her over and over that it would deepen her understanding and relationship with the Lord.

We also used the resurrection eggs before our candy hunt to teach Sitora and her 7 year old aunt the true meaning of Easter. Every egg had a small prop that symbolized something different with the resurrection. SuperDan read the story and explained each part.

Then it was time for the Easter egg hunt! We put jelly beans inside the eggs for the girls and also some small bags of candy were separately hidden. I think Daddy had more fun hiding the candy then the girls did finding it!

I wore a vintage outfit for Easter Sunday and loved it! I wish we could go back in time and wear the clothes my Grandmother used to wear when she was my age. The hats, the gloves... I'm in love.

Happy Easter from us :)