Beyond Egg Hunts and the Easter Bunny

Easter is my favorite holiday of the year. It signals the end of winter, warm weather begins to appear, and new life springs out everywhere! Not to mention it's the holiday that sets our beliefs apart from every other religion-Christ's death and resurrection. For us!

There are so many distractions during our holidays that take away from their true meanings. There's Santa Claus and gift giving during Christmas, and egg hunts and the Easter bunny during Easter. Sometimes I wonder how we have strayed so far from the truth of what these events are all about. Now don't get me wrong, I participate in egg hunts and love the holiday traditions as much as the next person. But I want to make sure my focus centers on the truth. For my kids and for myself! 

Go ahead and have an egg hunt. But make it a priority to share with your family the overwhelming reality of Jesus paying for our sins, rising from the dead, and sending His Spirit to live IN us! That's way cooler than the Easter bunny.

It can be as simple as reading and explaining the Bible story to your kids using the Bible or a book. Or you can get a little more complicated and try one of the ideas below. No matter what you do, as we approach Easter I challenge you to center your day around Jesus, not the holiday.

http://www.mommysideabook.com/kids-and-family/fun-ways-to-teach-kids-the-true-meaning-of-easter/

Resurrection Cookies

http://www.songofmyheart.org/2009/03/something-for-easter-resurrection-eggs.html

Resurrection Eggs-Make your own!

And here are a few other ideas taken from Focus on the Family:

Before you hide the eggs or put them in baskets, encircle each one with a colored strip of paper (or place the strip inside plastic eggs) that tells one small part of the Easter story. When the eggs have been found, the children must unscramble the story and put it in the right order.

Instead of decorating the eggs with dye, or in addition to dying them, write one attribute of Jesus on each egg. You can do this by writing on the egg with a crayon before you put it in the dye. If you are using plastic eggs, you can write with a permanent marker or paint pen.

Send kids on a hunt for the eggs that have Jesus' attributes written on them. Instead of just discovering eggs, they will be discovering the wonderful things that make Jesus so special. If the eggs are plastic, fill them with treats to remember how sweet the life of Jesus really is.