Normally, I know just what to put in my children's Easter baskets. They always have gotten a chocolate bunny for each of them to bite the ears off of. I would throw some toys or a stuffed bunny in there along with some jelly beans. My kids have gotten bunny ears in their baskets, because lets face it, they're just adorable. However, this year I have been struggling quite a bit. Of course the stores are packed with items I could purchase, then in about a day or so it will be eaten, broken, lost or forgotten.
Starting this blog made me dig deeper with Christ and it made me focus on fact checking. This is all for His glory and my intention is to never stray from that. Each week that goes by on this new journey there are new challenges, new revelations and a lot more intentionality. That's were these silly Easter baskets have tripped me up. This day is about Christ conquering death. What am I choosing to teach my kids on this holy of holy days, or rather what am I choosing to focus on most.
I was running out of time, frankly I still am. But, I did need a basket or bag no matter what I decided to put inside.
I was given a Cricut for Christmas this past year and it has already paid for itself due to my obsession with personalizing everything. Being able to monogram, label and create myself has proven to be beneficial. So, I picked a font, printed out names and a cute bunny, then simply ironed them on. Adding a bow and some cotton tales and I had the kiddos bags already to go hunting. However, I still wasn't so sure if that Easter bunny was going to show up or not.
I finally started getting some ideas based on the thought, "what do we spend the most time doing, what would they really use that points back to Christ?" Well then it was a no brainer, the car! It seems as if we are always in the car. We are fortunate enough to have a minivan with the DVD player so the first item to go in their new bag, a DVD. Now, I frequent Goodwill and happen to know ahead of time that the one in my neighborhood always seems to have Veggie Tales or Hermie and Friends on their shelves, that helped keep me on a budget.
Once I got started stuffing the baskets the ideas were flowing. Next, to buy some eggs so that we could "egg our neighbors". We live in a great neighbor and have wonderful relationships with several of our neighbors. We also live in a community that is growing rapidly and changing with that growth. What a better way to show our neighbors we love them and to welcome the new ones than to "egg them"? And by egg them, I mean surprise them with a stuffed egg on Easter morning. I have stuffed two eggs for each kid, that makes a total of eight eggs in this house. Which in turn will be eight homes my children will disciple to. The eggs have been stuffed with a simple note, "Jesus Loves You" along with little treat. On Easter morning before heading out to church, each kid will take their two eggs and set them at two different door steps. My children love to knock our neighbors door and they love being sneaky so I am pretty confident they are going to love this.
I enjoy watching my kids hunt for eggs. The toddlers get so excited and proud of themselves. While the older two ask for hints or if they are "getting warmer" as they look for their eggs that are a little trickier to find. This is a tradition I want to keep alive.
However, my kids get too much candy as it is. Money, change, we all have it laying around. In the cup holder of our car, in our junk drawer or under the couch cushions. This called for a scavenger hunt. Once I found what I thought was enough, I stuffed the eggs with the coins. I chose to pick one color for each kid to find, that way I could divide up the money equally and it would avoid any arguments later. This way they each had a certain number of eggs to find and we wouldn't be discovering them months down the road.
However, my kids get too much candy as it is. Money, change, we all have it laying around. In the cup holder of our car, in our junk drawer or under the couch cushions. This called for a scavenger hunt. Once I found what I thought was enough, I stuffed the eggs with the coins. I chose to pick one color for each kid to find, that way I could divide up the money equally and it would avoid any arguments later. This way they each had a certain number of eggs to find and we wouldn't be discovering them months down the road.
There is a lesson to why I chose to put the coins into the eggs. There are two actually, first, it's a conversation starter. Shake the egg and let the kids do the same. This can easily lead you into " did you know that the soldiers cast lots for Jesus' clothes while He was hanging on the cross?"
The second lesson it this, a tithe. The tithe is something that we as adults can struggle with. Why not teach our children while they are young that it holds importance and help them to make it a habit in their youth. We do not have allowance in our home. I saw this as an opportunity to show our children that with any increase we get, we give ten percent to our church. My hope is that this will also bring up more conversation about church, money or Christ.
I want my kids to know that Easter is a celebration. Friday is they day to focus on the cross and Sunday is they day to focus on the resurrection. I mean Christ conquered death! He rose from the dead! When I saw these confetti eggs it was an easy buy. I found them at Walgreens for only a couple of bucks. Sunday morning you will find us blasting some praise and worship while throwing confetti!
The second lesson it this, a tithe. The tithe is something that we as adults can struggle with. Why not teach our children while they are young that it holds importance and help them to make it a habit in their youth. We do not have allowance in our home. I saw this as an opportunity to show our children that with any increase we get, we give ten percent to our church. My hope is that this will also bring up more conversation about church, money or Christ.
I want my kids to know that Easter is a celebration. Friday is they day to focus on the cross and Sunday is they day to focus on the resurrection. I mean Christ conquered death! He rose from the dead! When I saw these confetti eggs it was an easy buy. I found them at Walgreens for only a couple of bucks. Sunday morning you will find us blasting some praise and worship while throwing confetti!
Now that I have the gospel pretty well covered and the focus starts on the true reason we will be celebrating all day with friends and family. A little treat may have snuck its way into my shopping cart. I picked out one toy that each child is intrigued by currently and a chocolate bunny to eat the ears off, it is tradition after all. Plus Mom gets to eat the left over bunny bodies!
If you have been struggling with what to put in your baskets this year or have just simply been procrastinating, I hope this helps.
Have a wonderful Holy week and check back with us Friday for a special Good Friday word!
Rachel Batey
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