Easter Then...Easter Now
At a very early age I knew Easter was a big deal! Easter then meant the bunny was coming...if I’d been good.
It meant we would be making our once a year (unless there was a wedding or funeral) appearance at church, which also meant I’d get to dress in my Easter best! A fancy new dress paired with silky white gloves, squeaky clean new shoes, a patent leather purse, and of course my Easter Bonnet!
I’ve always been a bit hot natured, so when I look back at old photos of Easter past, I get sweaty just looking at me wearing those gloves. I’m guessing my Grandmother (Nanny) was in charge of my outfit, because the gloves have Nanny written all over them. Nanny was also famous for her annual Easter egg hunt. My grandparents lived on a large piece of property and their front yard extended out into a very large green field.
Some of you ladies will remember L’eggs pantyhose. They came in an egg of all things. Well, Nanny wore L’eggs pantyhose and Nanny saved those eggs throughout the year just for Easter.
Me (Circa 1973)
Me (Age-2 1971)
They were larger than your standard plastic Easter egg, so we called them the golden eggs, and, that’s exactly what they were because she would put money in them! After a huge lunch, with all of the proper Easter fixings, my little brother along with my cousins and I would assemble on Nanny and Papa’s front porch for the grand egg hunt. When Nanny said “go”, off we went into the large green field, all in search of a golden egg.
As I grew up and started to take responsibility for my own faith journey, I started attending church regularly and began to understand what all of the celebration was really about. I know God used those early years of being in church on Easter to lay the foundation for me to begin to understand what everyone was so excited about. Christ the Lord had risen from the dead and the tomb was empty!
Even though Easter was about the only thing that got us to church when I was young, I know it had an impact on me and the way I feel about Easter now. I loved the anticipation of the celebration, I loved dressing up for church, I loved singing the hymns, I loved the flowers, and I loved sitting down wind from all of the ladies fanning with those little fans on a stick they handed out as you walked into church.
I loved Easter then and I love Easter now.
Sarah Paige (Age 2- 2000)
I’ve always held onto these fond Easter memories and carried these traditions into life as a mother. I tweaked it all a bit, with regular church attendance (not just on Easter) and, yes, when my daughter, Sarah Paige, was young she always had the outfit complete with Easter Bonnet (but no gloves, because she would break a little sweat just like me). I would hide eggs for her as well, even when it wasn’t Easter! Of course, on Easter I would make the hunt special with a golden egg (not a L’eggs egg) prepared just for her to find.
Recently, I asked Sarah Paige to share some of her Easter memories. She quickly reminded me of a funny memory, that wasn’t so funny at the time, and if I’m honest I’m still a little salty about it to this day.
Sarah Paige couldn’t have been more than 5 or 6 on this particular Easter Eve, when a so-called “friend” she had just met on the beach that day decided it was HER job to inform MY daughter that there was no such thing as the Easter bunny. Of course, my little one was crushed at the news of this and immediately looked to me to clear the matter up.
So, I looked her right in the eyes and said “Honey, you know what the true meaning of Easter is, and you also know that the fun of the Easter bunny is just in addition to the real celebration of Christ rising from the dead, so I’m going to leave it up to you to decide if you believe an oversized bunny hops into our house every Easter to leave you an Easter basket. If you determine there is no such thing as the Easter bunny (I know this was cruel y’all, but I didn’t want it to end) you might not get an Easter basket.”
To quote Sarah Paige, “That’s when I decided I was going to keep believing, and to this day the bunny hasn’t let me down...yet!”
By the way, I saw to it that we never played with that so-called Easter Eve “friend” again!
I know Easter will be very different this year because of the very unfortunate pandemic we are all battling through, but I believe it will be one we will never forget. No church attendance on Easter…how can it be? If you are a believer, you probably have plans to meet up with loved ones and/or church friends online for your own personal celebration on Easter morning. We have those same plans and I can’t wait to see the faces of the people I love. Of course, I’m a little sad that it will be very different from any Easter I’ve ever known, but somehow, I feel even more excited about the celebration this year than I’ve ever felt before.
I know God has the power to change very bad circumstances “ in the twinkling of an eye”.
I think this has to be where my excitement is coming from. I’m waiting with the same anticipation I had as a little girl for Easter, but it’s not about the bunny, the outfit, or the Easter egg hunt, it’s about seeing God’s perfect plan unfold. I believe Easter this year will be a beautiful celebration like no other and that God’s people will be heard all around the world singing like never before, Christ the Lord has Risen today!
If Christ is for us, who (or what) can be against us?