we were packing for vacation. lots to do, many bits to remember before packing ourselves into the van and embarking on our journey. suitcases, plastic bins, and miscellany were everywhere. thankfully, the stress was not. it was a casual packing, with time for bits of fun in the middle of it all.
suddenly she brought her little suitcase into the living room and started “packing” by herself. I’d planned to fill it with toys, coloring books, dolls, books, and the sundry bits little girls like to have along. being distracted by my own packing and figuring I’d empty the case later, I let her pack whatever she wanted.
“mommy, I ready now. my suitcase is packed and I bring Easter to Nana.”
I thanked her for packing so thoughtfully. she moved on to her little beads and games. I kept packing.
eventually bedtime rolled around and I asked her to find some jammies. she went straight for her suitcase, unzipped it, and pulled out a set of jammies. it was my first glimpse into what she had done earlier. one pair of jammies. a baby book of pictures. her tiny princess dolls, a book, her teddy bear, and lots of Easter eggs (even a bag of Easter basket grass!)
she had thought through what she wanted to bring for her trip to Nana’s and what treasures she wanted to share. most importantly, she wanted to share Easter.
the little suitcase was so sweetly packed that I did not have the heart to disassemble and repack it. and it has me thinking about Easter and her statement, “mommy, I bring Easter to Nana.”
do I bring Easter? do I live the heart of Easter and carry it everywhere I roam? is Christ central? am I a goodwill ambassador for Him in how I live?
I have realized that bringing Easter is an amazing goal, a worthy pursuit, a lifestyle worth living every day and in every way. bringing Easter means bringing Christ, His mercy, love, hope, and message, to others. in order to do that and do it well, I need to be living it.
the call of the Christian life, at its root, is to bring Easter to others. to live in relationship with Him. to serve Him. to love Him. to let the vertical relationship flow into and through the horizontal ones.
what might “bringing Easter” look like on a practical level, in everyday living?
abiding one 