EASTER 2023 RECAP
A Sand filled, Egg-Hunting Celebration
Written by: Sonya Camille
Easter is by far my favorite holiday, although I hesitate even to call it a holiday, for it is truly a celebration of the best day in the history of humanity! Jesus’ resurrection from the grave-HE LIVES! Easter is my favorite because it represents a new beginning-Christ Rose from the grave! He’s Alive and reigns over All in power and love. Death was not the end, and the tomb was not victorious in its attempt to keep the King of Kings there- HE ROSE! And HE LIVES! The older I get, the more and more I fall in love with my Savior, the living King, and this amazing week of reflection and celebration-Holy Week. Easter is synonymous with life, newness, new beginnings, Salvation, and Spring, and I love it!
So, Easter morning for us began early before sunrise at 5:30 am as we started our day at our church’s sunrise service. It was beautiful worshiping and celebrating our risen King with my family, my church friends (old and new), and a good cup of coffee. The warm donuts were equally delicious! Sitting together with a few thousand people was truly awesome as we all witnessed the sun rising over the beautiful mountains- gloriously amazing are the words I would use to describe this service. Yes, gloriously amazing sums it up for sure! After the sunrise service, we ran home to change. We then returned to church for the Easter morning service. Both services were powerful and emotional as we witnessed hundreds of people (again, in both services) accept Christ as their Savior and give their lives to Christ on this Holy day of Easter. Hundreds of people flooded the aisle after our pastor gave the invitation-souls were saved! Because they decided to follow Christ, they too, will escape eternal death, which is beyond amazing! If the day had ended after church, it would have been a complete and amazing day. But it didn’t, and I still had some major fun things to do with, and for my loves, so I was excited!
After church, we enjoyed the most fantastic brunch in the vineyards at a beautiful winery located here in beautiful California. The older my adult children get, the more Jerrold and I love these moments with them. The view, the breeze, the laughter, the food, and the great conversation are gifts. These extraordinary young adults have become our most treasured friends, and we greatly enjoy them. Walking the vineyards after brunch, taking photos, more laughter, more great conversation, just more of them was a beautiful blessing. We went home to change after brunch and immediately headed to the lake for fun. This lake is my special place, as is the ocean-I love the water! This particular lake, nestled in the middle of the mountains here in California, is our special spot. Boy, is it beautiful here!
At the lake, I watched my loves open their Easter bags (way too much stuff to fit into a basket). I had several friends email me to ask what I included in my 20 year olds (and my husband’s) Easter bag/baskets so I thought I would share it with you all here. So, my Easter baskets/bags for my family have always had one recurring theme. This theme has remained consistent ever since my babies were babies, and that theme is Christ. My basket/bags generally include the following: New devotionals, bookmarks, a new Bible if needed, a Bible trivia game, a book from a trusted Christian author, jewelry of some sort, maybe a decorative item for their dorm and/or apartment, other whatnots,their favorite candy and of course, chocolate! This year, after opening their Easter bags, we had our traditional egg hunt. Not the resurrection eggs we did with our kids when they were younger but, shall I say, a revised, more mature egg hunt-or so we thought. This year I incorporated a low-key relay race with our egg hunt. Jerrold was the line judge near the shoreline, and I was stationed near the baskets. These competitive young adults of ours, somehow turned this “low-key” fun activity into a mildly physical event in an attempt to gather as many eggs as possible. Jerrold and I all but rolled in the sand while laughing hysterically as we watched our kids combine little pushes, intentional tugs and occasional tripping eachother in the sand as they darted back and forth to get more eggs. It was the funniest thing ever to watch and my word, we had fun! Let me hit the pause button here for just a moment and give a quick Adult parent tip.
Parent tip of the day: If you want to keep some of the traditions you enjoyed with your little ones alive and well, then make sure you don’t let them die. Think of ways to maintain your kid’s interest in fun, family activities at every stage. You do not have to stop doing the activities that you once enjoyed doing together simply because the kids are older. And please don’t assume that they no longer have an interest in participating in fun family activities-they do! Their interst may still be there but just not in the same manner as it was when they were, perhaps, five or six years old. That said, make sure your activity grows and matures with your kids. Keep the tradition fresh and relevant, and provide space for those traditions to develop and evolve with your family. Make sure you come up with creative ways to do what you once enjoyed doing but in a more mature way. Your children will appreciate your creativity, and your tradition(s) will last for generations to come.
So, yes, we still do Easter egg hunts with our young adults, but with a bit of a twist on the egg hunts of old that they participated in as a child. Here’s the twist, because they are broke college students, we bless them by filling the eggs with money or small gifts. Some of the eggs contained pieces of paper with dollar amounts written on them, while others had messages on them which included the names of the gift or gift certificates written on them that they were to be given. Gifts such as, a pedicure, a manicure, a car wash, lunch, or coffee on us were a few of the gifts I wrote on notes and placed in their Easter eggs this year. Once the game ended, I gave them their money by either Cash App or Zelle and distributed the gift certificates earned. It was indeed a great time had by all and our broke but extremely appreciative college students loved it. I should probably add that even if the eggs were empty, i know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that my kids would have still enjoyed this activity. Remember my friends, time with you is what your family loves most. Although nice, but it truly isn’t the gifts received. So no matter your budget, keep that in mind. It isn’t the gifts, its you that they want. I guarentee that doing something fun and creative together, will keep them all very interested in participating in your annual traditions. So no matter what you decide to do with them, a scavenger hunt, playing games on a blanket at the beach or in a park, reading together, drawing together etc. just plan it and do it! You will be so glad you did and so will they!
Our day ended with us sitting together, watching the sunset gracefully fall behind the mountains surrounding the lake. It was a beautiful and fantastic way to end such a terrific day! Our hearts were full! Dinner followed, and although it was delicious, that’s no fun to talk about, so I’ll end this post with the sunset! And I’ll say it one last time for the ones in the back…My Savior LIVES y’all!
Until next year my cordially Friends! 💕