Rethinking Easter

We have never been big fans of the Easter bunny. Growing up we were both raised with a focus on Christ and thats how we want our children to celebrate the special day to believers as well. I even cringe at calling it a holiday, because it is so much more than memorial day or thanksgiving-- its the day we celebrate the fact that our Saviour conquered the grave-- He paid the ultimate price and came out victorious. However, our facebook feeds were both overloaded with pictures of the Easter bunny visiting, visiting the Easter bunny at malls, and egg hunts. It seemed like Easter had become a combination of Halloween (all of the candy) and Santa. There was little about how parents were using this special day to turn their child's eyes towards Christ or to use it as a way to further their training and young relationships with Christ. I couldn't tell the difference between families who know Christ and those who don't. And thats kind of scary. I dont mean to judge, but I want to offer some ideas on how to put the focus back on Ressurection Sunday and less on the Easter Bunny. I have everything against the Easter bunny-- its basically a bold face lie that you're telling children if you say someone came to your house, left candy and eggs, and "brought" easter. The Bible and ten commandments are pretty clear when it comes to deceit and even in the name of fun and what can it hurt, the fact remains, its still a deception. So, back to the point, ways to put the focus back on Christ: 1. Have some special family devotional times and read the story of Christ's coming back from the dead. Go beyond the sunday school basics and have some time as a family discussing this special event. 2. We did do an egg hunt, BUT we filled 30 eggs with only "silver" coins. Jesus was sold out by his friend Judas for 30 pieces of silver. We wanted the kids to have an understanding that money is fun to find, but guess what? Its not everything as Judas learned. 3. We didn't give the kids Easter baskets, but rather picked out some things for the family to enjoy that would deepen all of our walks with the Lord. This year we did a vegie tales DVD, Jonathan Park CD set, and some Mooody Family books. Other ideas could be Odyssey CDs, Bibles, devotional books-- anything that you can do together as a family is a wonderful start. These are just some general and foundational ideas, but ask yourself, do you spend more time talking about a bunny or Christ around this celebration? What do your kids talk about the most? What is the real focus of your family's celebrations?