Easter Blessings

Rarely do people name Easter as their favorite holiday. Usually Christmas tops the list and birthdays are the highlight for many.  I'm partial to Thanksgiving, but I'm not sure why. The food's not my favorite and I don't cook. I think it's because, for our family, it's been since Easter that we've last gathered.

Let's begin by realizing that Easter in my family meant being dressed in our finest (bonnets, gloves, and tights) and apparently my brother was forced to wear bunny pants. He has since accused my mother of dressing him like a child of the '20s from Boardwalk Empire.

On a serious note, Easter is surely my parents' favorite holiday. Every single Easter for the past 30 years my parents have worked with converts to their church and Holy Saturday is a celebration of baptisms, confirmations and communions. My parents and their team spend a full year instructing these new believers about doctrine and dogma and share stories of faith and belief. And Easter is a day of new life for these new Christians.

I've always admired the dedication my parents have had to this group of men and women. I admire it more because in my recent shift to a new church they haven't tried to convert me back. They've just sat back and listened to my stories. And I am praying especially for them this Holy Week, as it's their final year working with RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) after lots of prayer and thought.

And this year my husband and I are attending our first Easter services together in our church. So very exciting, so wonderful, so different from where I was a year ago.

So I'm thinking Easter may become one of my favorite holidays, too. For the joy of new life, the joy of faith and belief, the joy of bonnets and bunnies, and the joy of Christ's promise of salvation.

Many Easter blessings to all of you!