An Easter Egg Hunt With an Egg Count of . . . One
This is a repost from Easter 2020 post. Enjoy!
The children, ages four to six, lined up against the ballpark fence anxiously awaiting the word, “Go” that would allow them to dash across the open grass to snatch up as many Easter eggs as they could gather. My son was one of them and he was as excited as all the rest. As the signal to begin was given, Brady took off toward the nearest egg to collect his first candied treasure. Just as he was reaching forward, a child, just a bit faster, scooped up that egg and was gone. Brady changed directions and headed for another egg nearby. As he reached for this one, swoosh . . .it was carried off by someone with more speed and accuracy.
I can’t say how many times this scenario occurred. I turned away and looked at the ground. With tears beginning to drop beneath my sunglasses, I couldn’t watch this silly game of hunting eggs. It was a painful reminder of what Brady’s life would be about.
Brady has Down syndrome and everything he does is a little slower and a little less accurate than other children his age. We knew that as a fact when he was born, yet watching this played out in real life this Saturday morning was almost more than I could bear.
As the last egg was found and all the little ones with their candy filled baskets filed out of the narrow opening of the fence, I watched parents bend over and congratulate their child on the many treasures they had gathered. When the field had emptied completely and the crowd had thinned, Brady was nowhere to be found. I quickly walked the perimeter of the field-day game booths and found Brady in front of the moonwalk where he was watching other children play.
He was still carrying his Easter basket, the count . . . one. Brady was oblivious to his near-empty basket, not sharing my disappointment at all. When he accidentally bumped into a little girl, causing her eggs to spill, Brady and I squatted down and helped return to the child each of her fallen eggs. Brady did not hesitate to hand over what was hers, though he had but one egg himself.
While heading back to our car because this mom was no longer in the mood to stay, a friend from our church, with his two children in hand, came alongside us. This friend had observed Brady’s almost empty basket and possibly my not so hidden tears, and gathered a collection of eggs from several other children.
With my son’s basket now full, not from his own efforts but from the gracious giving of others, Brady returned thanks with a big hug to his friends. As we continued back to the car, through tears now dropping from my face like a summer rain, I watched my friend kneel down and embrace his two small children. He was using what had just happened to teach them the importance of sharing what they had with others. I must admit it was a painful, though good lesson, in which to be on the receiving end this time.
In this simple game of hunting eggs, God revealed such powerful truths to me about who He is and what He desires. Our society measures success, in a sense, by how full we can fill our baskets, how much we can achieve. Yet my son was less concerned with how much he could gather for himself. He was simply finding joy in the race.
We will find our greatest joy in this journey when we put our focus on why we are here. Our satisfaction is not to be found in the “stuff” we can accumulate, rather in bringing God glory. “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” - John Piper
God is concerned about our destination - where we will spend eternity. This is why the entire Old Testament of the Bible leads us up to the Easter Story. We celebrate Easter because of what the resurrected Christ did for us on the cross. Jesus went to the cross so that you and I might enjoy an abiding relationship with God today and for all eternity! Our baskets are ALWAYS full in Him!
“And this is God's plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God's children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus. Eph 3:6 NLT”
Are you truly enjoying Jesus?