Monday, April 5, 2010

A Day to Celebrate

I love Resurrection Sunday a.k.a Easter, but this year felt different.
I missed Palm Sunday last week, and I also missed the Good Friday service at church. I usually have this great feeling of anticipation leading up to Easter Sunday. After hearing a sermon describing Christ's great sacrifice, His pain and suffering, and His death, I just can't wait for Sunday to celebrate the Son's victory over death. His resurrection!! Proving to the world that He is Savior!
Although I missed out on hearing the sermons leading up to Sunday, I know the story, and there is much to rejoice in on Easter Sunday (and every day). I cannot comprehend the love God has for us, and I don't understand why Christ would so willingly give up His life for us in such a horrific way for a sinner like me; but I am so thankful!
That being said, I don't know how I feel about the whole easter egg hunt/easter baskets/gifts thing. Now that we're parents we need to decide how we want to celebrate these holidays as a family. I get so annoyed how people obsess over getting new "easter clothes" and buying silly presents for their kids. I know it's all in good fun, but I want to make sure our little family always celebrates the resurrection - not the easter bunny and his loot. I guess it's all about finding the right balance. How do you celebrate??
Here are a few pictures from our day yesterday.
Our little family

I made some cupcakes per my mother in law's request!
Enjoying her very first easter bunny chocolate lollypop - she ate it all.
Mama and daughter....
....with matching hair flowers of course!
Trying to get a good picture with Isabella and her cousins
Please ignore my daughter's gang signs....
I hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating our risen savior!
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17 comments:

LeAnna said...

You guys look so cute! I grew up doing a lot of different traditions for Easter. We did easter baskets, and hunted easter eggs, but we also did resurrection eggs and cookies, and my parents always made a point to instill the importance behind all holidays relating to Christ (Christmas, Easter, etc.) so it was never a matter of thinking that Easter was about candy or eggs, we knew and celebrated the real reasons, and just did the other stuff for fun. My Mom always incorporated gift giving with life lessons, and it's really stuck.
I will say that this year was such an awkward year! Q isn't really old enough to start any traditions with, or understand the real meaning behind holidays. We let him hunt eggs, and got him an easter basket but I wanted to do something more. I guess the first year or two are a good time to figure out what you want to do later, because they don't really understand. That was slightly disappointing, and makes me so excited for the day when they can understand spiritual things!

Kelly Marie said...

What beautiful pictures!!

Beth Priest said...

aww yall are such a cute family! I know what you are saying about how you celebrate. I never with santa or easter talk the night before about waking up and santa or etc comes...I do "santa" and "easter bunny" but I don't talk a ton about it and most of what comes out of my mouth is about the real reasons for the holiday and I get excited about that with them. The gifts are just an added bonus ; )

Stacy's Snippets said...

So cute! And love the purple flowers of course. :)

I know a lot of people that do Easter Bunny stuff on either the Saturday before or the Monday after so as to keep it separate from the true meaning of Easter. The plus side to doing it on Monday is all the Easter Candy is marked down! :)

Bethany said...

Your family is beautiful =)

I understand what you mean. Christmas seems to be all about presents and Santa Claus and the religious reasoning seems to be forgotten.
As Caelyn gets older (she is only 2 months) we will do the easter bunny, but I like the idea of some of the gifts being religious based like bible coloring books and such. I think the religion needs to be brought back into our holidays!

Anonymous said...

We don't and haven't done any traditional Easter things like the egg hunts and stuff... We just preferred not having to separate the fact from the fiction for the little guys. Plus chocolate isn't good for my face :)

Nikosmommy said...

Growing up my parents always stressed the balance between celebrating the sacred and the secular at Easter. We NEVER lost sight of the real importance of Easter(Christ's death and resurrection) but that concept is very difficult for young children to understand. So I think that the Easter Bunny, chocolate, decorating eggs etc. are still all a very important part of Easter. (Eggs represent new life and all the non-religious parts of Easter can also represent spring's arrival and a fresh start after a long winter season.) With my own kids I've tried to find a balance between the importance of Easter (attending church, Lenten sacrifice and the fun of the Easter bunny!) They love the flowers, chocolate, egg hunts, family dinners and going to Church. You can celebrate Easter with a well-rounded approach!

Stephanie said...

What a beautiful family you have! I don't have any answers for you, as I am not a parent yet... but it is definitely something to think about as well as Santa Clause. I think I like the fairytellness (not a word) of Santa, Easter bunny, etc but want to make sure my kids know the real reason behind these celebrations. If we can instill that reason in them, I think some of these funs things are ok :)

carissa said...

bahaha! her gang signs make me laugh!!! so cute! love your family shots - you are such a gorgeous crew!!! i'm so with you on easter only being about Jesus. growing up, we'd have a "spring day" (it usually took place 1 or 2 weeks prior to easter) where we'd celebrate the new season with an egg hunt. my mom always kept the bunnies and eggs out of our easter celebrations. i want to do the same with our kids! praise the Lord for the cross and resurrection of our Savior!!!

♥ Noelle ♥ said...

Adorable!!! We had a nice but busy day... just glad no more holidays for a while;) Only 2 bday parties and a communion party for me to deal with!

Makai said...

Hi!! I found your blog through a friend and consider me your newest follower! You have such a cute family...and I was very encouraged by your thoughts on what Jesus did for us. It's amazing the price he took for wrecks like us! I look forward to reading your posts!!!

Countrygirl said...

We celebrated Jesus. We did eggs - new life in Christ, and the grandparents got them bunnies, etc. They always knew that Easter was Resurrection Sunday.

What beautiful pictures!

Q, La, and Gooner said...

Gooner had her first Easter basket this year. I think baskets are fun and we made resurrection rolls. Those are so tasty and a great visual to little ones. You all look so cute in the photos!

chelsea rebecca said...

aw you and your family are the cutest!!
this reminds me when i was a little girl and me and my sisters got all dressed up for easter sunday!!
love your hair! and the cupcakes!!

Natalie of TheBusyBudgetingMama.com said...

those cupcakes looks delicious!! and those easter outfits......so cutee!!! what an adorable family you have. love the hair accessory ;)

Cynthia said...

What beautiful family photos! I am just in love with the hair flowers you and your daughter wore ;^) As for Easter, with Isaac being so small, we haven't had to tackle 'finding the balance' quite yet...although it's on the horizon...as is explaining Santa Claus, etc. Growing up my mother always made the Easter bunny, dyed eggs, candy, etc fun...but it was always secondary to celebrating Jesus' Resurrection. I think that's how it should be.

Mrs. C said...

lol gang signs!

We always keep Christ first, but we have our Easter egg hunts and such. We don't get dolled up like the old days, though this is when i get the girls their spring/summer sandals, so they look forward to that. You said it correctly, balance but always keep Him first.