Celebrating Easter has always been exciting to me for many reasons. It signifies the beginning of spring and the return of warm weather, flowers, and green grass. It’s also fun to get dressed up in new clothes and spend the day at church and with family.

I was especially excited about this Easter since it would be Jack’s first Easter. We had a busy weekend planned. We were celebrating with my side of the family on the day before Easter with an Easter waffle brunch. I had a new outfit all picked out for Jack for Easter morning, and we had big plans for having my husband’s side of the family over for Easter lunch.

But sometimes, the best-laid plans fail. Unfortunately, Jack came down with croup the Thursday night before Easter. After getting over the initial scare of dealing with Jack’s croup came the disappointment of not being able to celebrate Easter in quite the way we wanted. We did not take Jack to Easter brunch or to church on Easter morning. (We thought it best not to spread his germs!) To be honest, I was flat out depressed.

Then it hit me. After lamenting several times about how it just didn’t feel like Easter, I realized that I had lost focus on the true meaning of Easter. I am reminded of the words from Dr. Seuss’ classic story How the Grinch Stole Christmas. While the story is dealing with Christmas, I believe the concept could just as easily be applied to Easter.

“It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes, or bags! … He hadn’t stopped Christmas from coming, it came. Somehow or other, it came just the same.”

Easter is not about spring, new clothes, or even going to church or
spending time with family. It is all about Jesus, His sacrifice on the
cross, and most importantly, His resurrection! It is about the
opportunity to spend eternity in heaven with Him because of the price
He paid for my sins!

Were you able to celebrate the real reason for Easter this year? Tell us about your Easter celebrations.