Easter is Evelyn’s favorite holiday. Yes, even more than Christmas, she claims! And I wish I could say it was for religious reasons, but no---Evy loves Easter because she loves to dye Easter eggs. And then she loves to EAT these eggs. Lately, Evelyn will eat four or five hard boiled eggs per meal— it’s pretty funny.
As the kids get older, it becomes more fun to plan Easter egg hunts and to dye eggs together. It is also a joy to teach them about the true meaning of Easter. This year we talked about feeding Christ’s sheep (as found in The Friend). Evelyn put together a Family Night on this subject and we made these fun little cotton ball sheep. A less successful experience occurred as Blake and I organized a formal Easter lesson. It began well enough. We discussed in length the resurrection of our Lord—the fact that all of us sin, and that death is a part of life for all of God’s children. The lesson ended as we explained that happily, because of Jesus Christ, we would all be able to live again, just as He did.
A difficult and somewhat confusing concept to teach young ones. But, Evelyn was very interested, very attentive throughout the lesson. And she did ask a few off-track questions, but what five year old doesn’t get a little distracted at times? “She’s really getting it,” I thought to myself proudly.
But alas, before we had a chance to say the closing prayer, I quickly realized that Evy was stuck way back at the whole death part of our lesson. She had become very distressed regarding the fact that at death, she would not be able to take Julie (her American Girl doll) up to heaven with her. Would we be able to bring our toys to heaven when we die? This was one of the off-track questions she had asked during our lesson.
But alas, before we had a chance to say the closing prayer, I quickly realized that Evy was stuck way back at the whole death part of our lesson. She had become very distressed regarding the fact that at death, she would not be able to take Julie (her American Girl doll) up to heaven with her. Would we be able to bring our toys to heaven when we die? This was one of the off-track questions she had asked during our lesson.
The night digressed, as Evy became more and more obsessed with this horrific thought. And please note that Evelyn considers Julie a part of our family, so this truly was sad news for her. Blake and I had trouble re-focusing her little mind back to the subject at hand and I was frustrated by my failed attempt to explain Easter properly.
I guess I have the year ahead of me to plan it out better and try a different approach next season—hopefully with a more spiritual tone. As for this evening, I’m off to go console my grieving daughter.
