Easter Archives - Tricia Goyer

Hop. Hop. Hop. An Easter bunny hops into the room. She carries a basket with eggs in her hands. She wears a forced smile. Take a look closer. Her lower lip trembles. Tears well up in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” you dare to ask.

The words erupt with tears and snot. “I’m a fake! I’m a fraud! I try to do my part, but Easter is not about me!”

This scene is a skit we’ve done in children’s church more than once over the years. It’s also one we’ve gotten in trouble for before.

“How dare you tell kids there is no Easter bunny?!” more than one mom has complained.

Well, lady, I’ve wanted to say, If you’re going to bring you child to church at Easter there’s Someone more important we’re going to talk about—not the Easter bunny.

Just like at church, we ban the Easter bunny in our home. Here are a few reasons why:

It’s all about Jesus! It’s about God’s Son sent to save our souls.
We don’t want to distract our kids from the real message.
Jesus is exciting enough.
The best gifts aren’t hidden in plastic eggs.
I don’t want to spend money on commercialism I don’t believe in.

What we do instead:

We LOVE resurrection eggs! The tell the story of Christ’s death and resurrection in a fun an educational way.
I buy some type of Christian Bible or book. Ones I like: The Tale of Three Trees, The Parable of the Lily, and The Best Thing About Easter.
What I’m buying for my kids this year: God Gave Us Easter, ABC Easter, and What is Easter?

What we have planned:

Decorating eggs
Attending church
Having a family dinner
Doing resurrection eggs together
Worshipping God as a family

How about you? How do you celebrate Easter?

Growing up, Easter was a time of pretty dresses, Easter egg hunts and the hint of spring. It was my grandmother who picked out a pretty dress for me to wear on Easter morning. It was my mother who curled my hair and offered a chocolate bunny and other treats.

Once I had my own children, I looked forward to picking out a nice dress and suits, but also as a follower of Jesus I wanted my children to focus on the real meaning of the holiday. From the time they were young instead of picking out an Easter basket filled with all the treats, my husband John and I purchased a Christian book, video or music CD for each of them—something they could continue to enjoy throughout the the year. Something that would remind them of Jesus’s love.

This Easter our new baby girl is just one-years-old. I thought about different resources that I could give her, and then I found the perfect one: a DaySpring’s Recordable Storybook: Bedtime Prayers and Promises. If you’ve seen some of the recent Hallmark commercials you know what I’m talking about. Recordable Storybooks are ones that you record your voice (or someone else’s) and your child can hear the story read by someone they love whenever they flip through the pages.

When I first got the idea, I just assumed that I’d record my voice, or John and I would record our voices together. Then I got to thinking … this would be a perfect gift to include another person who loves Alyssa that lives far away, and I knew the perfect person.

You see, Alyssa joined our family through adoption a year ago. Alyssa has been a joy and a gift to our family. We’ve also enjoyed a relationship with her birth mom. We share our lives through photos and by sending weekly updates, but how much more special it would be if Alyssa’s birth mom could record her voice in a beautiful storybook!

I love this idea because it reminds Alyssa’s birth mom that we appreciate her and the gift of life she gave us. It will also help Alyssa to be familiar with her birth mom’s voice so in the future when they talk over the phone or see each other Alyssa will understand she’s talking to someone who cares and not a stranger.

How about you? Do you have a special child in your life who’d you like to share Bedtime Prayers and Promises with? If so, I’m going to give you a chance to be blessed!

I have TWO copies of Bedtime Prayers and Promises to give away. You can win by sharing a comment (short or long!) in this post. Please share:

A special Easter present you received as a child
Your favorite childhood book
Who you’d like to give a copy of Bedtime Prayers and Promises too.

Or
Who you’d ask to record this book for your child and why.

Don’t forget to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win!

I will draw TWO winners next Tuesday, April 12^th. I’m drawing it early so that if you don’t win you have plenty of time to purchase your own copy! They are being sold exclusively through Christian retailers.

But wait …. I’m also going to be giving away a THIRD copy of Bedtime Prayers and Promises to a random tweeter. Post the following, and I will draw a winner from all who tweeted.

Have you seen recordable storybook Bedtime Prayers & Promises available at Christian retailers? Like @triciagoyer I can’t wait to share it with my child!

You can post this as many times as you’d like for more chance to win … as long as you don’t drive your Twitter friends crazy 🙂

May you and a special child be blessed this Easter!

Banning the Easter Bunny

Bedtime Prayers and Promises–an Easter gift to cherish