Easter Blessings

April 22, 2014

Easter Blessings

Dear O,

Saturday night, after waking up to donuts, meeting the Easter bunny (a half hour late, the drunkard), playing with kites in the park and working around the house, I finally got around to telling you the Easter story while I was putting you down for bed. I read you a short Bible story and you pointed to the picture.

From "Really Wooly Bible Stories" by Bonnie Rickner Jensen

You: Who's that?

Me: That's Mary Magdalene. Do you wanna hear the Easter story?

Y: Who's Mary Magda?

M: I'll tell you. Do you remember who Jesus is?

Y: He's in the sky!

M: Yup. He lives in Heaven now, but he used to be a person, just like us.

Y: Person?

M: Yup. And everyone loved him. But a few people didn't.

Y: Didn't love him?

M: Yup. And they hurt him and he ended up dying.

Y: Oh.

M: And back in those days, they didn't bury people, but put them in caves.

Y: Caves?

M: Yup - just like the picture. And because the people didn't like him, he put a big rock in the way so no one could see him. One day, Mary Magdalene -

Y: Mary Magda!

M: One day she went to see Jesus, and the rock was rolled away. So she looked in, and Jesus was gone!

Y: Gone? Where he go?

M: Well, she thought the same thing! Where'd Jesus go? And she saw a guy walking around and asked him. And that guy was Jesus! He had died, but he came back!

Y: <silence>

M: So she went to tell everyone that Jesus was back, and he told her that he went up to Heaven so that we all could go to Heaven when we die.

Y: Heaven?

M: Yup. Do you know what Heaven's like?

Y: No.

M: What's your favorite food in the entire world?

Y: Macaroni and hot dogs and broccoli!

M: Yum. They'll have tons of that up in Heaven. Everything you love will be in Heaven. And all the people you love will be in Heaven, too.

Y: <pause> I love Jesus.

M: He loves you. And he'll be up there too, love.

I don't describe or explain things very articulately. So I could tell that God was giving me the words to explain this story to you. It was pretty surreal.

Here are a few pictures of our Easter weekend - 2014. You're such a big kid!

The Easter bunny that arrived a half hour late to a screaming toddler, a vicious, teeth-baring mama and a frantic daddy