Easter Basket Turnover

I’ve loved Easter for as long as I can remember.  Our traditional Easter Sunday involved several things.  A new outfit for me- complete with white gloves, white patent Mary Janes, and a hat.  There were lilies for my mom, new suits for the guys, and a BIG lunch at my grandmother’s house after church. 

After eating our fill of the most delicious food ever assembled, we headed outside for the egg hunt. All the men were in charge of hiding the eggs- real, never plastic, along with some special treasures.  The cousins, my brother, and I would grab our baskets and start the search. 

“On your mark, get set, go!”  Off we’d go alright- racing around trying to be the first to find one, to gather the most for bragging rights, and to find the biggest prize- the golden egg.  My grandfather would hide one golden egg, the finder of which won a monetary prize of $1.

After corralling the younger cousins, repositioning the boys’ ties, and fluffing all the girls’ dresses, we’d sit on my grandparents’ front steps for the annual cousin photo.  After several tries at having everyone facing the camera at the same time were found to be futile, our parents set us loose to enjoy our newly acquired treasures.  Easter baskets were turned over and the trading began.  Once the dust had settled, we went about the business of playing, laughing, and eating again. 

Those Easter Sundays were something special for our family- for me.  The memories of the activities we enjoyed are only heightened by the memory of sitting beside my family at church.  Our baskets were full, but more than that – our hearts were full. 

As you and your family continue through this season of Lent and prepare for Easter, I encourage you to think about your lives- your hearts- as Easter baskets.  What has God placed in your basket this year?  What treasures has God allowed you to find individually and as a family?  If you turned over those baskets, what would fall out and bless you all over again? 

This Week’s Announcements:
Easter Services: We will have three services on Easter Sunday- 7am, 9am, and 11am.  Please note that there is no children’s ministry at the 7am service.  We will serve all children birth-5th grade during the 9am and 11am services.

What God is Teaching Us:
This section will have links to the previous Sunday’s lessons.  Feel free (I encourage it!) to open, read, and review with your children.  Click on the links below to view March lessons.
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*Please note that there are no lessons listed for March 22nd as we participated in an outreach project for our Partners in Education- Park Street Elementary.

Amazing Things Kids Do and Say…
During this past Sunday’s outreach project, I asked the kids about what they considered to be hard about school.  I then asked how they thought a teacher would answer the same question.  There were some pretty clever answers.  One of my favorites… “The hardest part for a teacher is making the crazy kids behave. My teacher puts her hands on her head, shakes it, and says, ‘Oh, my word!’”  (The funniest part of this story…the child is homeschooled!)