This Is for All the Parents Who Aren’t Ready for Easter, Either

It’s Good Friday which, yes, is the day Jesus died on the cross, but that’s not important right now**, because Good Friday is ALSO is the day well-intentioned mamas like me die a little inside when we realize we have done nothing — nothing — to prepare for Sunday’s Easter celebration.

No eggs.

No candy.

ID-100194758No dresses.

No suits.

No bonnets.

No hot cross buns.

No chocolate bunnies.

No ham.

No lamb. 

Nothing.

Just nada.

Zilch and zip.

And then we get a little stressed out and a tiny bit overwhelmed because we wonder how — how — we will resurrect this thing by Sunday.

We’re sure it’s not possible.

I mean, our expectations are just dead, man. Not to be dramatic, but we kind of tripped, and face-planted, and landed hard, and smashed our expectations all over the ground, and now they are DEAD-dead, and the skies darken.

It is BAD, friends. BAD NEWS. Rather hopeless. Just AWFUL.

We descend into Mama Expectations Hell.

……….

And I know you won’t believe me about this next part. That’s OK. I never believe me, either. What I’m about to tell us is, after all, unbelievable. 

But I have lived through Mama Expectations Hell, and here’s what I’ve discovered…

……….

We will rise again. 

SOMEHOW, unbelievably, we will rise again. 

BECAUSE WE HAVE MIRACLE POWERS, friends.

TRUE STORY.

We have miracle powers — all is not lost, after all — and WE WILL RISE from what we knew was certain death. WE WILL KEEP ON RISING, too, because this doesn’t apply just to the Easter Plan and the Eggs and the Baskets. 

No; we will keep rising on repeat. Over and over. Dying to Expectations. Dying to Ourselves. Dying to How We Thought This Life Would Be and WHO We Thought We’d Be in It. Descending into All Kinds of Hell. And Rising Again. 

You know why? 

Because we are a Resurrection People.

Because we believe in Unreasonable Hope.

Because we have learned what it is to Release Expectations and the Things That Tie Us to the Tomb. 

Because we have learned to look for the Things That Matter instead of the Shoulds and Ought Tos. 

We do something that matters — sometimes one thing — and we discover it’s enough. 

^^^^MIRACLE, I TELL YOU! ^^^^

So I have planned nothing for Easter, friends. Not one single thing. 

My kids are going to go to church on Sunday in — and I’m not kidding here — whatever they want to wear, which will undoubtedly include jeans with holes in the knees and shoes covered in duct tape. 

I will — almost certainly — boil some eggs over the next couple days, and we’ll dye them or we won’t, and Easter will come anyway.

We’ll dine on Sunday on… food. Whatever I find in the freezer and the cupboards that makes the least number kids say EW. 

We’ll hide Easter baskets for the kids to find, probably even with something in them. 

And we’ll talk about resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus, yes, and the resurrection of us, too, and we’ll celebrate the hell out of rising from the dead. 

That will be our One Thing That Matters. 

So, in case you, like me, are unprepared for Easter, know this: you are not alone. We can sit here together and wait for the dawn, which always comes after the dark. And we can celebrate the hell out of rising from the dead.

With love,

Signature 

 

 

**Sometimes I make Jesus feel sad. Sorry, Jesus. 

……….

Image credit “Part Of Eggshell Broken On White Floor” by Keerati via freedigitalimages.net

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9 responses to “This Is for All the Parents Who Aren’t Ready for Easter, Either”

  1. I’m a little late to this party, but thank you for this post! SO TRUE. I actually prepared for Easter, but on Saturday night had (what I found out later to be) a gallbladder attack and went to the ER on Easter morning. So my husband, the baby, and I were in the hospital on Easter, waiting for gallbladder surgery, and the other kids were with Grandma and Grandpa. What a crazy holiday! Sometimes there is just nothing we can do about it, but it’s okay. I just keep telling myself, IT’S OKAY.

  2. But here’s the thing: Jesus can see where we’re coming from. He can see the difficulties as well as the grace. He can feel our love – for him and our families and each other.

    If we choose to worship him by showing our love to our families in our homes, instead of at Church. If we choose to worship in Church in our best outfits or our most hard-loved clothing (duct tape included). If we choose to mark the sacrifice & miracle with boiled eggs, chocolate eggs, no eggs …. Jesus sees it all. He loves us anyway – mess, miracles, love, loss – the lot.

    I marked Easter with my 7-yo at home. We worked side by side and talked about how Jesus’ sacrifice changed all our lives. We connected with each other and with Jesus on a much deeper level than usual, a level we wouldn’t have reached if we’d been at church. We got the house clean.

    And we felt all the love of the Easter miracle.

  3. Some of us take care of all the Easter preparations by making one phonecall. I called my mother-in-law three weeks ago and asked if we could come and spend Easter with them. And my mother-in-law not only welcomed us with open arms but also happens to be the kinda woman who goes “Shoo! I got this!” if I try to go and help her in the kitchen. God bless her. She’s a real gem. 🙂

    Happy Easter, everyone!

  4. Due to a thorough round of colds over the past 2 weeks, I also find myself “unprepared” for Easter (as usual). The teens have been working on Sunrise Service for about 6 weeks now, but other than that – nada.

    So I may or may not boil some eggs today for my 3-yr-old to color. We will get up in the morning VERY EARLY for church, however church will provide a full breakfast after service. I have a ham thawing in the fridge I hope to cook tomorrow (we’ll see).

    And Monday after work my husband will stop by the store to pick up Easter candy on sale, which will be distributed among 6 kids (and a mama who needs chocolate) without any baskets being involved whatsoever!

  5. Oh YES.

    YES.

    And YES again.

    I actually proposed tonight, in all seriousness, that we dine on Chinese food Sunday. Because I am working tomorrow. And we just planned tonight to go to my dad’s on Sunday, after church and before bringing oldest child back to college. And since my stepmother’s death it is just my dad in a VERY SMALL kitchen. And even if we do cook a more traditional Easter dinner, the chances are that at least half of my four children will not eat it. So.

    So, like you, church without dress-up clothes. And dinner will be whatever it ends up being. And I will let go and let it be, because when it comes down to it, Easter isn’t about the food, or the clothes, or the candy.

  6. Yes, this. Last Saturday I hosted my mother in laws funeral, and on Sunday was rudely reminded that Easter was coming. I have four kids and I’m 5 months pregnant. Same boat. No clothes, no shoes, can’t find the baskets, and everything Easter appropriate is currently in the dry cleaning basket after being used last weekend for the funeral. As a mother I feel extreme pressure to instill traditions, especially ones of worship , into my children. But frankly just the idea of hauling all these kids to church right now down right terrifies me. It shouldn’t be this way. I literally want to crawl under a rock but I just keep freaking going.

    • Nicole that’s such a difficult season! Waving in the dark at you and praying for you. Hang in there sister. And for heaven’s sake don’t drag everyone to church so you can be too flustered and exhausted to even gain anything from being there! Does it help if I give you permission to stay home and have an Easter “brunch” of cold cereal and stale graham crackers seasoned with tears? Cuz there’s nothing at all wrong with that. 🙂

    • I’m waving to you as well. And joining with Tara to give you permission to handle this weekend however you can.

      Also, I want to remind you of this (and remind myself as well) – if you are celebrating Easter because you are a Christian, then the wonderful thing is that you can celebrate it each and every day because that is what we believe it is all about. And so if on this one particular day, you aren’t able to make it be this awesome amazing fantastic thing, it’s okay. Because Jesus already did that part.

      In the words of Glennon Doyle Melton of Momastery (if you haven’t read her blog, DO IT)….. Carry on, warrior sister. Lifting you in prayer this weekend.

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