Easter is always hard for us because we are 600 miles from our family and don't have people here to celebrate with. Easter seems like a let down because we rush around on Sunday mornings anyway preparing for church. Adding special Easter things is a challenge. Making it meaningful in a special way is even harder. Then we come home from church and have no family, no huge meal (hard to justify it when it is just two of you that will eat it).
This week, several things happened that reminded me that my kids may have forgotten the real meaning of Easter. They thought our egg hunt at church last week was Easter and were concerned when I didn't have their new clothes ready that morning. Andrew was concerned about what the Easter Bunny would be bringing him.
Anyway, this morning, I tried to make it meaningful. We had a great Sunday School lesson about the resurrection. Then I went into church and noticed the missing people...the missing family members. Some ended up coming in late, some left early, and some just didn't show up. The reason wasn't that they overslept or were sick. It was that they had to get ready for the family gathering coming up at their homes right after church. They needed to cook or clean.
I admit, it was frustrating. How could these people put the celebration ahead of the reason for the celebration? Why would someone make celebrating Easter in worship of the Risen King be less important than celebrating Easter with family? It seemed a lot like putting the cart before the horse.
Then I started thinking. When I hosted my private pity party about the day being a let down and my kids missing out on family traditions, I realized that I was doing the same thing. Instead of celebrating Christ on one of the biggest Christian holidays of the year, I was moping. I was frustrated instead of joyful. I was just as guilty of missing the point of Easter.
