The "Just Jesus" Easter....

Throwback to Easter 2019

December 26, 2019 I found myself shopping once again for a few Christmas gifts for a post Christmas gathering. While shopping I stumbled upon a pink and white dress shirt that was too cute to pass up. I purchased the shirt for my son and I already dreaded convincing him to wear it on Easter morning, knowing that he would not be happy about wearing pink.

Looking back on years past, Easter has always consisted on new clothes,  seeing familiar faces at church, family pictures after church and a big Easter lunch at my parents house followed by an Easter Egg hunt with cousins. There is always the Easter drama with family pictures, curling my daughters hair and getting to church extra early because we are blessed to be in Ministry.

Seeing the Easter shirt hanging in my son's closet this week made me sad. It is the first year that I do not have a new Easter dress. I was sad seeing the grassy area at the lake where no Easter eggs will lay this year and I miss my church family, and I will especially miss worshiping with them on Easter Sunday. Feeling this grief from the unusual Easter season, I had to remind myself that it is okay to grieve from the expectations that I had for Easter 2020.

This Easter is different. With the effects of Covid-19 there was no Easter egg hunt at the lake today, there is no family lunch planned, church will be via Facebook Live, no other Easter outfits were purchased and we will probably be in our pajamas until mid day. Easter has not been canceled. However, this year we shift our focus from the prep of Easter to "Just Jesus".

 Jesus is enough. We do not need the extra of egg hunts, new clothes and  big family lunches. Jesus can fill every longing in our heart from the longing of normalcy, the broken relationships, financial worries and uncertain future. He is our sufficiency in all times good and bad.

We don't have the right to claim that we have done anything on our own. God gives us what it takes to do all we do. 2 Corinthians 3:5 CEV

What if this Easter, God has taken away all of the extras to lead us back to the cross? He has taken away all of the extras, so that we can focus on the true meaning of Easter....Him! 

The Gift of Honesty & transparency on Christmas Day...

It was Christmas Day, and amidst the wrapping paper and unopened gifts there was another surprise gift that remained unopened...honesty and transparency.

We were all having fun, opening gifts when we realized that although we had searched high and low for Finn's perfect nerf gun, we forgot the batteries. Finn being totally oblivious played with the nerf gun without batteries and all of his other toys. However, the tension that set in the room was obvious. My kids began to notice the shift in my husband's demeanor and began to question "what's wrong with Dad?"  Because depression and anxiety doesn't pick when it shows up. It doesn't pick the way that the people around you are affected. You just deal with it, the best way that you can.

Instead of telling my kids the usual "nothing's wrong, everything is fine." I chose to say "you guys, Dad is dealing with some things....Dad is sad. It is not because of us. He is just really sad with his life right now, but he is happy with us. We can't do anything to help Dad except to love him and to pray for him." My children are amazing and accepted this "surprise gift" amazingly well. It was so much better than just pushing it under the rug as we had frequently done.

In our counseling sessions we learned that we often times need to tell our kids the honest truth. Kids need to know that life isn't always perfect. Or fair. Or happy. Doing so, we will point them to the ways that they should react when life throws them lemons.

As my husband and I had some quiet time moments later, he said "I'm sorry that I ruined Christmas" and I replied "you didn't ruin Christmas." It was only a bad moment on Christmas Day, that turned out beautifully.

Sometimes we all need to remember that we all have bad moments, bad days and bad pages within our chapters. Being honest and transparent with those around you allows yourself to open up to others and allows them to effectively be there for you during your challenging moments.