I came up with this idea with a little help after hiding little plastic eggs in our backyard Saturday night while the house was sleeping. It has never been warm or dry enough to do a little hunt in years past and since my “Littles” are getting older, I wanted them to have this experience.
I am one blessed Mama to have 3 young children to know and confess a relationship with Jesus. He being raised from the dead is right where our faith starts! I want them to understand so they can live in that relationship their whole lives. To have them know and understand early in life is AWESOME!
I’ll get back to Easter morning, my children are waking, the coffee pot is brewing, and I open the blinds to find our little “Dixieland” dog
carting around a yellow plastic Easter egg. The slider opens, I say “drop it,” ~ she does. The yard is covered with about 5-6 eggs and their contents. I manage to put back all but 3 emptied eggs.
The hunt begins, then it hit me. ~ Children don’t forget the empty eggs!”
In my mind they represent the empty tomb! There are 3, an opportunity for all 3 of my children. I hope and pray they will pick them up.
I hear “They aren’t valuable Mom,” “Nothing of value is in them Mom,” “We’ll get them later Mom.” I reminded them a few times and then said no more.
So I run inside and collect three $1 bills and wait. ~ “So did any of you get the empty eggs?” “No”, but then the light bulb goes on in one of our son’s face. He knows!!! Then our daughter~ she knows! And then the other son. He knows too! YES!
They acknowledged they all missed a “valuable” opportunityto collect something (an empty dog licked egg) that was the most valuable! That empty egg represented an opportunity to see the message of the Risen Christ; our best gift! The reason we believe. They also missed the $1 that each empty egg represented. They also understood that I asked a few times and then stopped asking.
No one got the dollars that glorious Easter morn, the empty eggs were picked up, yet they still got “it.” They got that the most valuable was maybe the least desired or not shiny. They got that the empty eggs could represent a narrow gate and only a few get them. ~ Remember they stood there with baskets filled with several intact eggs (the wide gate). They got it as they played hide the eggs and left 1 or 2 open so an opportunity missed could be found!
So if the dog ever gets your eggs have this idea for a teachable moment! It is exactly why there is an Easter to celebrate in the first place!
Happy Easter folks! Kathy
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