When a holiday is approaching, I begin searching online for crafts, games, and activities that I can do with our Sunshine children. I want our holiday parties to be fun and memorable. Yet every time, it is beyond challenging for me to find crafts, snacks, and games for which we have the supplies here. Oh what I wouldn't do to have a Dollar Store or Hobby Lobby craft store nearby!!!
Two weeks ago, I began searching online for Easter ideas made with supplies we have available for purchase here. I came up empty time and time again.
I found a great project where you put blue painters' tape on paper, paint the paper with watercolor paints, and then remove the painter's tape to reveal the cross underneath. But...no blue painter's tape here. I only could find masking tape, which tears the paper.
There were lots of necklaces and bracelets to be made with beads and crosses on them. But...no such materials here.
There were crosses that you bedazzled with sparkly stickers. But...no bedazzling supplies here.
I found the resurrection eggs that can be used to retell the story of Easter. But...there are no plastic eggs here.
I found the Jelly Bean Prayer in which the colors of the jelly beans represent different parts of the Easter story. But...our jelly beans only have the basic colors- no purple, no pink, no white.
I began to fret and whine. How could I have a party without party supplies? Ohhhhh how I wish we had some fun craft supplies. Ohhhh how I wish I could acquire all of those cute little bunny, chick, and egg novelties that we take for granted in the USA for being available each year for Easter. Our children would love them! I was frustrated and just plain bummed-out!
And then...I had this wake-up call last Saturday.
I was CONVICTED beyond conviction as I came upon one of our children literally passed out in a chair instead of outside playing on her Saturday afternoon . This precious, sleeping child re-taught me what Easter should be about. Yes, I already knew this season is about the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. But what I didn't know was how much I still cling to the Easter traditions I was raised on. I still was hanging onto the materialism of bunnies, eggs and baskets. I still held the incorrect assumption that these things make Easter better. I tried to hold the world and my faith in the same hand, but the world was taking over the faith. As I looked upon this sleeping child, I realized that she realizes this so much more than I do.
You see, here in Mozambique, people prepare for Easter by attending all-night prayer and worship vigils- not by hoarding up scads of candy, novelties, and toys for Easter baskets. Our 8 year-old Fatima had attended a vigil the previous night with her Sunshine family. Now, she was sound asleep in the afternoon. Fatima had given her whole night to Jesus. She knows the true meaning of Easter. She doesn't need an Easter basket, a chocolate bunny, or plastic eggs. She's got better. The bunnies, peeps, and eggs take away the joy we should be able to find in Jesus alone.
We are having our Easter celebration tomorrow with our Sunshine children. We will watch a video that retells the Easter story. We will not have resurrection eggs, but resurrection bags with the verses and symbols in each one. I rewrote the Jelly Bean Prayer to include the colors of jelly beans that come in our bags. We will focus on Jesus and His finished work on the cross. There will be no bedazzled crosses, no plastic eggs, and no chocolate bunnies. But there will be hearts that rediscover how very much their Father God loves them. Isn't this so much more valuable than anything else?
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