Easter 2019

Dear Children,

This week has been a lot of church.

And this weekend is the most important part of the story.

Your dad and I have chosen this story, at our own paces, and believe in it so much that we plan our seasons, our family time, and our relationship with the world around it. It is that powerful, that important.

To tell the story, to write it, to read it - it is quite ridiculous sounding. 

But to believe it...will change every inch of your life.

You know what else is ridiculous?

All the bunnies, the baskets and butterflies.

Is the cocoon the empty tomb that could no longer hold the butterfly?

Are the plastic eggs cracked open - to give you treats - also a reminder of the empty tomb?

And the fuzzy bunnies...my mind was too fuzzy when you were babies that I never made you an Easter Basket (admitted).

We would go to church and old ladies would ask y'all, "What did the Easter Bunny bring you?" and you would stare like they were asking a creepy question. 

Did I ruin you? I'm sorry...and you are welcome.

I went to Target yesterday and there was a sign that read:

THE TOMB IS EMPTY...LET'S FILL IT WITH TINY LITTLE THINGS! HECHO IN CHINA!

Not really. But I would have loved that sign.

I claim that I am not a Fun Parent - does claiming it make it okay? Either way, I'm sorry...and you are welcome.

All of these things, do they tell the story that shapes our calendar, our clothes, our culture?

I don't know. But if I am ruining your childhood, I'm sorry...and you are welcome.

Back to the story - it sounds ridiculous...so maybe we have permission to act ridiculous. Bounce like bunnies! Hunt for eggs! Carry around baskets! Take silly pictures!

Today is the happiest day in the Christian calendar - it's the REASON we are Christians. If I don't show it the way Target does, I'm sorry...and you're welcome.

Welcome to the World, SW.

Dear S,

Welcome to the world!

I made you this measly blanket.

I wanted to finish it before you were born, but it took longer than I planned. Which is a good lesson for us to share: some things take longer and it’s best to let them grow at their own pace. Also, attachment to completion dates and deadlines can crush your soul.

This blanket is crocheted with two skeins of yarn that were dyed different colors. Which means I did not plan when the colors would change, they just did. Sometimes that happens in life: colors change and we keep going.

When you “keep going” in crochet, that means you keep loop-ty looping over and over in whatever pattern until we are all loopy and land on a soft blanket for a big family hug.

There was no telling which color would be the end of the skein.

I worried I wouldn’t have enough and the final row wouldn’t be smooth…but wouldn’t you know it? (No you wouldn’t because you are an infant) but you will learn that sometimes rows and loops and numbers just work out and you find out that from the very beginning YOU ALWAYS HAD ENOUGH.

No matter how much you worry in the meantime, you always had enough.

That’s my wish for you: end in a family hug, trust that you are enough, feel welcomed in this world.

I can’t believe how much I already love you,

Mollie