The Gift
It’s the Tuesday after Easter. The songs have been sung, the sacred story told, the good china washed and put away, and we slip back into the daily routine. On this quiet afternoon, I sit and look down the long stretch of years to the Easters of my childhood.
In those days I shared a bedroom with my sister in the little yellow house on the corner. The night before Easter, I lay awake in the twin bed with the pink chenille bedspread, my heart filled with anticipation, and thought about the shiny patent leather shoes I’d placed neatly by the side of my bed. The matching light blue taffeta dresses, the ones my mother had sewn for us, hung in the closet.
In the morning there would be colored eggs to find and Easter baskets filled to the brim with goodies. Mom would take out the Italian Easter cookies she had baked and stored in tins along with the Easter bread with the colored egg decorating the middle.
Just before we left for church, Dad would go to the refrigerator and take out the orchid corsage. We would watch as he pinned it to her new spring coat, and they exchanged a kiss and a smile.
I sigh in the remembering and shake my head at the little girl whose skinny arm was raised high in the air every time they asked who would like Jesus to come into their heart. I loved Him early and sincerely. But, as so often happens when one receives an abundance of priceless gifts, I began to take Him for granted. Suddenly He was competing with patent leather shoes and swirly dresses. As the years sped by, I began to hold the precious gift too lightly.
Perhaps we must risk losing something before we fully know its value. So it was with me. I lay the gift down altogether for a time and quickly found myself bereft without it. I never want to do it again.
Whether we receive the gift as children or come to Him out of the depths of a lifetime of living without Him, may we never take for granted what we’ve been given.
This Easter, there were beautiful outfits and lots of goodies, but nothing could outshine the wonder of resurrection life. Never another ordinary day. We have been given a gift.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Blessings,
Linda
Great post.
Sweet memories and enjoyed your post.
So sweet! We didn’t have new Easter dresses, but always one for “decoration” day. We colored eggs with crayons and kept them for days, making Easter last longer for us.