“No, I absolutely disagree.”
“But this is a non-negotiable for me.”
As silly as it sounds, years ago, Cliff and I argued about whether we would have a Christmas tree at our home. 🎄
“It’s a pagan practice!” Cliff argued. “It’s not the true meaning of Christmas.”
“But that’s not the point!” I shot back.
The Christmas tree was a magical part of my childhood, and I wasn’t prepared to do away with it.
“Papa, can we PLEEEAAASEEEE have a Christmas tree?”
Years later, when we became parents, Cliff gave in, albeit a little grudgingly.
This Easter, when he orchestrated an Easter Egg Hunt, I took the opportunity to jibe at him— “Hoho, looks like Easter eggs are the true meaning of Easter?” 😏🤭🐣
This time, however, instead of butting heads, we could laugh.
We realized that more important than somber religiosity, was a faith that was alive and genuinely joyful.
After years of clarifying our values, we realized we didn’t want our children growing up tightly-strapped to OUR ideas of religion. More than the legalistic adherence to a list of Dos and Don’ts, we desire their joyful relationship with God, more.
“So, is there a way we can make Easter BOTH fun and true to its meaning?”
A day after the Easter Egg hunt, Cliff came up with a game. We hope it inspires you to come up with YOUR own games as parents to impart not a legalistic religion, but a delightful faith! 💛
Instructions:
1. Print out or draw out scenarios of any Bible story you wish to impart.
2. Have your kids color them.
3. Cut out characters in those scenes.
4. Hide them around your home and/or outdoors. Try it outdoors! It’s a load of fun!
5. If your child is old enough, make a map of the places where you hid them.
6. As they collect the characters, you may wish to have them stick them on the correct backgrounds. Or simply, just have them collect the different cutouts in a cute goodie bag!
7. Use the process as an opportunity to ask them about their different scenes and what they learnt.
We hope this blesses you for Christmas, Easter and simply any day you want to have fun with them💛💪🏾💡