I’ve surrendered part of my sunny kitchen counter to future hopes of tomatoes and radishes, zinnias and marigolds. It still amazes me that tiny seeds can yield a seedling, and then a large plant with flowers and maybe edible fruits and vegetables. A little moisture, a little sunshine, and there they go, the seedlings unfurl their leaves towards the light. Livia tends to these babies with great care as well and it’s fun to watch her excitement at the new life.
Spring is all about new life. I found myself explaining to Liv the difference between Easter Sunday and our Easter/spring celebrations of bunnies and eggs. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve loosened up about a lot of things, but I still believe it’s very important to teach my child the importance of Christ’s resurrection apart from the hoopla of colorful eggs and chocolate. Some folks do their egg hunts and baskets on the first day of spring to separate the concepts for their children (great idea, by the way). So far we separate them by repeated conversations about Jesus’ death and resurrection—and by holding our egg hunts on a day other than Resurrection Sunday (thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!).
Livia learned the real purpose of the cross as I explained Jesus’ death to her. It’s amazing how the cross has become something we talk about and refer to with casual ease, and yet it was an instrument for a horrific death for criminals in the past. As a Christian, I can see a certain beauty to the cross in the same way I can refer to tomorrow as “Good” Friday. Still, I struggled with sadness as I explained how the Son of God was hung on a cross to die. At times in parenting, you wonder if you’re explaining too much. But Liv grasped the concepts in a very easy way and moved on to laugh out loud at a silly picture of Doubting Thomas pointing at Jesus’ scarred hands. We talk more about Thomas’ gaping mouth now than we do the cross. LOL.
Bring on the bunnies and eggs—we certainly have fun with them. Come Sunday we’ll be celebrating the resurrection of Christ and the truth that our awesome God has conquered sin and death.
9 Comments
Melissa Marsh Apr 9, 2009 10:08 AM
What a wonderful job you’re doing in explaining these things to Livia. :)
Jen Apr 9, 2009 6:50 PM
I was never big on Easter eggs, either. But my sis-in-law started a hunt that involved finding symbols of Jesus’ last days on earth, his death and resurrection (thorns, nails, dice, etc.) When the kids are done finding eggs and the symbols, we read scripture about what the symbols mean. Pretty neat.
Rebecca Apr 9, 2009 6:58 PM
My mom had a really cool set of plastic eggs with symbols inside, too. I loved opening an egg each day leading up to Easter. I know you can purchase sets like it; I just haven’t done so yet.
Erica Apr 9, 2009 8:19 PM
This is a great post… thanks so much for your careful exploration and separation of concepts you’re teaching your daughter. It gives me a lot of things to think about as my son gets older– but this year, he’s one and a half, so it’s all about the egg hunts for him. I’ve mentioned Jesus, but I’m not sure he *quite* gets it yet. =)
Megan Apr 9, 2009 10:06 PM
Nice to see you back here! I love how long Livia’s hair is and I’m totally digging your cool handwriting on the planter things (see? I know my limits. I can’t grow things).
DeMo Apr 10, 2009 11:05 AM
I love how you wrote this post. And it never ceases to amaze me that God has created everything, and how a seedling can just be a seed until it is mixed with all the right “ingredients” and in the right environment will grow and reproduce more little seeds. Amazing. That’s always my favorite part about planting something is watching for the new growth to come up.
Sarah B. Apr 10, 2009 2:43 PM
I was thinking that wouldn’t it be nice if blogs had the option for readers to click a “like this” button, just like facebook? Cause if they did, I’d click that I like this post. :)
skoenig Apr 13, 2009 4:16 PM
liv is beautiful
Rebecca Apr 13, 2009 8:55 PM
Thanks for all the kind feedback, friends. It’s comments like these that make me glad for comments. : )