It’s happened again!
Easter week is here, and I’m caught pretty much unprepared!
Every year I tell myself I’m not going to do this, not going to just leave Easter for the last minute. Every year it seems to sneak up on me before I know it!
All of a sudden I’m seeing blog posts about Easter crafts and bunnies and I look up at the calendar and…
Already?
Every year Christmas starts early in my house. I love holidays and Christmas gains special honor in my heart because of the whole season of advent. This holiday is about Christ’s birth and it is precious to me!
But Easter? Easter is about Christ’s death, His resurrection, His ultimate sacrifice, the culmination of why He came.
Shouldn’t Easter be even that much more precious?
I grew up in a house that didn’t do much for Easter. We didn’t have Easter Egg hunts, we didn’t have Easter bunnies and baskets. We went to Church like every Sunday, and we remembered it in our hearts I suppose, but we didn’t really make a big deal out of it. At least, not like Christmas or Thanksgiving.
Yet the day was so very dear to my heart, I wanted to make a big deal out of it.
The reasons we didn’t celebrate with all the trappings came from a good heart. So much of the trappings of Easter are rooted in festivals that have nothing to do with Christ. Even the name, Easter, refers, not to Christ, but a fertility goddess. We didn’t have Easter, we had Resurrection Sunday.
But…
Isn’t fertility festivals, at their heart, about new life? And isn’t new life exactly what Christ came to bring?
In an effort to not maximize the “taboo” subjects of the holiday, the day itself became minimized. A day that should be the most precious of all days on our calendar.
And so, every year, it sneaks up on me. I’m unprepared. My heart has not stilled before Him in breathless wonder as it does during Advent. My home is not displaying the joy the day makes me feel. No traditions are in place to pass down the wonder to future generations.
Instilling wonder should not be a last minute affair. It should be one of breathless anticipation of the wonder of Salvation.
Salvation.
Do we truly understand the wonder behind that word? Or is it, too, minimized?
Unrecognized for its glory?
I find myself frustrated as the beauty of Easter Day sneaks up on me unannounced, but there is another day that will sneak up unannounced.
One day, each and every one of us will meet this Christ. One day we will stand before Him. And there is no way in which we can know what day that will be. It will sneak up unannounced in our lives, surprise us with its suddenness.
Will we be prepared?
Do we leave the state of our heart until the last minute? Do we leave the state of our Salvation as an afterthought?
Shouldn’t it be the most important thing in our lives? Not an afterthought but central to everything?
Shouldn’t we always, continually, be caught in the wonder of it?
The wonder that is Easter?
And so, the centrality, the importance, of this holiday comes home to my heart. Because, like Christmas, it is so much more. A day to mark what should always be in my heart, a day to teach what should always be on my lips.
Because one day, one glorious day, I will see His face, and but for His grace, I would be unprepared.
I have the same problem of Easter sneaking up on me. Thanks for this reminder that even if we don’t feel prepared, we can still experience God’s grace.
Isn’t it fantastic that He doesn’t hold us to our yardstick? Honestly I think I’m rarely prepared for life in general, yet He is always by my side.
I am always unprepared, half planned, last minute… on every single holiday, or birthday, or special date. I’m afraid to plan because 9.5/10 times my plans fail miserably. But it always turns out so good, inspite of me! So let’s be gracious with each other, specially during Easter!
Amen! Doesn’t all those cute pinterest things make you feel like you should be though? Sometimes it is hard to let go a little and just say, ok God, lead me where You want me to go, not where I think I should go.
Easter always seems to sneak up on me too! You’ve given us a great reminder of how important the celebration of Easter should be.
🙂 It’s so easy to think of it as “just” another holiday, when it is so much more isn’t it?
I agree and it’s the same way in our house! It’s Holy Week and I feel scattered and disconnected from a God I love and who sacrificed all for me! My soul longs to sit at His throne, resting in His presence. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one! I’m stopping by from Christian Women Bloggers and am following you now! 🙂 Blessings!
Thanks so much for following! I appreciate it! I know what you mean, I so want to rest in His presence but get soooo distracted!
I was not prepares this year either. Last year, I read the bible every day of lent and I went to every Wednesday night Lenten service. I prepared my heart for the Maundy Thursday and the celebration of Resurrection Sunday. This year, I was self-centered and my heart can feel the difference. I didn’t like it. But, you post made me realize that when my time comes, I probably won’t be prepared for it, no matter how much prepping I do. And, that’s okay. Because God is Awesome and loving and full of Grace.
I’m so glad there is Grace! 🙂 I know I need it so much!
It seems like all holidays, birthdays, and celebrations sneak up on my lately. I am so busy with everything else that the weeks and months go by so fast. Thanks for the reminder of how important it is to celebrate Easter.
Your Welcome! It is getting the same way for me! I remember being a child and time seemed so slow, now I blink and a whole month is gone it seems! 🙂
Joy, this is an awesome reminder of the importance of Easter. I’m always unprepared (as did almost all of my preparing TODAY) . God is so good and I’m so thankful for his grace! I’ll be sharing on my Facebook page tomorrow! 🙂
Thank you so much!
Thanks for the share! Even when I have all the time in the world and think I’m prepared I always think I can always do more and therefore be unprepared again! I just try to not stress, and do the vp best I can everyday because I never know when my last day will be.
So true, we can never be fully prepared, so we just do our best, and trust! 🙂