This year is going to be the toughest to get ready for! With my sons getting older and the oldest getting to the age of not caring about Holiday fun and trinkets, I found myself at a bit of a lose. My daughter, thankfully, still believes in the magic and connects to God with the holidays. Don't get me wrong, my boys understand the meaning of Easter quite well....I am talking more specifically about how the Easter Bunny relates to God, Jesus and the stories. Growing up, one of the things I found the hardest to wrap my head around was how the Easter Bunny, Santa Clause and the rest of the fairytale creatures we use to create mystery in the lives of children connected to the holidays we were celebrating. As my children grew themselves, I created ways to connect these things so that they made sense. Santa Clause was one of the three wise men who loved the feeling of giving to Jesus on his day of birth so much that he set out to do it every year for all the children. This is his way of celebrating that great day. We remember the gift of the wise men to baby Jesus when we gift to one another. The Easter Bunny was and still is a hard one to sell. Santa as a Wise man was so easy to thread together....
Here's my Easter Bunny story....on the day that Jesus died a bunny was present and saw the whole thing. He followed Jesus to his grave, and saddened by the events he witness stood near the tomb for the days that followed. When God brought Jesus back to life, the bunny was there and some of his magic and power touched that little bunny. To celebrate the return of Jesus the little bunny set out to celebrate. It started with sharing the news with all of his animal friends, mainly chickens! To show the humans how grateful they were for Jesus's resurrection, the animals left treats and...well...eggs...at the doors of the humans they knew.
(Look I know I am reaching here....but when you want a holiday to make sense to children who ask a LOT of questions...this is what you end up with)
As time passed the Bunny continued to live, from that Godly power that splashed over him. Every year on the anniversary of Jesus's Resurrection, he would set out to deliver treats and goodies to all who believed. He realized over the years that he could slow down time....just like Santa...so he could reach all the Christian children of the world.
I found it my duty to ensure my children didn't get bogged down with the commercial views of holidays. Telling stories like this one allow us to celebrate with all the fun and still remember and understand why we are celebrating in the first place!
What stories do you tell your children??
