Oh My Word So Many Eggs

So I woke up groggy this morning as my sweet husband gave me something to help my allergies. I seriously would open my eyes and then they closed again. Halving the pill. I will halve the pill tonight. I told him there are better ways to shut me up.  Like just fill my mouth with chocolate cake.  It's his professional duty to keep my body drugged like a well run machine.  Grace.  I'll give him grace just this once since he's so cute.

So I stumbled out and the girls were already ready, eagerly watching out the window.

So things happen so quickly when you have kids. I had forgotten we had egged our neighbors last night.  (yes, already forgotten)

You see yesterday after church we took our annual trip to the dollar store and Food Lion, bought 9 dozen eggs, filled them and hid them in the 9 houses with kids on our street. What resulted was a very early huge egg hunt.  (And I pause here to say that the implant people who moved to "cool" Durham should know downtown isn't the "real" Durham.  You need to visit other parts of Durham to see real Durham.  Like the Food Lion where I saw two men singing gospel, three people drunk, and several ladies in high heels coming in for things for their big Sunday lunch.  Durham hasn't always been whatever you want to call downtown and exists outside of the fancy places, just FYI.  Carrying on...)

Because my kids are young and they really only need to remember princess names and what I forget in my day to day business, clearly they had remembered where they hidden each single solitary egg.  (I should pause here and say please put a "surprise egg hunt for an entire street of children" on your bucket list.  Oh my word the fun!)

I must say they did a good job! The house with the middle schooler was the most impressive. My five year old had taken an orange egg and hid it in an orange tulip.

My little one waited by that window watching, smiling, wondering. Would they find that orange egg?

I feel bad. Those kids must have been out there for at least 30 minutes. In their jammies looking for that 12th egg. My girl stayed by that window giving me the play by play while I ingested my coffee (I needed a direct IV line this morning), leaving my third child named Latte close by my side.

The sheer delight when they found the egg! She was pleased. I hope they feel the lesson we wanted to teach. It really is better to give than receive.  It's a hard one to teach, an easy one to learn.  I suppose we try to set them up in positions to give.  Submit to one another.  Honor one another above yourselves.  I prayed this Easter, Lord, please teach me to teach them how to give.

So another egg hunt happened tonight for my girls.  (Number 5 but who's counting at this point…) This one was an underwater egg hunt.  We knew there would be prizes.  We knew the little one would get eggs on the ramp in the shallow end. We knew the big one would blaze past kiddos and load 'er up.  Yeah, I did my coaching.

"Sweetie, your grocery store bag is useless until you need it at the end.  Honey, to get the most eggs, baby, just stuff them in your suit."

"Really mom?"  says my daughter incredulously.

"Yes baby.  Just go down to the bottom of the pool like you love to do and start a stuffing.  Women do it all the time.  Just stuff stuff stuff.  Ok?"

The prize?  It was one of those HUGE plastic wrapped gift baskets.  She had her eye on them from the beginning.  She had a plan and she knew she was a strong swimmer.  The competition was stiff.  Those kids didn't mess around.  But in the end up came my big girl, suit full of eggs.  She glanced shyly over my direction and started putting them in the bag.  Happy to have had a good plan, but curious why her mama is so freakin crazy sometimes.  (I'm sorry- let's just use the word creative.)

So she knew she had a lot of eggs.  But she glanced over at a sweet girl who had no eggs. She tried her best and was upset.  So my girl quickly gave her a portion of her eggs.

The winners were announced.  My girl would have won.  If she had looked away instead of in the eyes of that sad, sweet girl.  If she just didn't care.  If she was just seeking out for herself.

She looked at me confused and said, "Mom, I would have won."  The other mom ran after me and made sure she told me, "Are you her mother?  She gave her eggs to my daughter who had none.  You should be so proud of her.  She gave up winning."

I told my confused baby, "You could have won.  Sure.  You could have looked over her.  Blazed your way to the winners table to get that prize.  That would have made you look successful.  Sure.  You'd have a prize. But this is the thing.  You are successful when you listen to your heart, that gentle voice that is loving.  Kind.  Looks after those around you.  Honors others.  You were successful today.  You didn't get that prize.  But you learned a more important lesson firsthand- the pain of sacrifice and the joy of giving.  You did it sweet girl.  Just remember with God winning doesn't look like the world's view of winning.  You are winning with each act of obedience.  Each step towards love."

So it is at Easter, on Good Friday, demonstrated in a children's egg hunt, shown to the world in a small act of kindness but true sacrifice to a seven year old.  Success looks like winning, but true success looks like dying.  Hung on a cross for the sins of the world.  A God that lovingly watches over us.  Is with us.  Speaks to us.  Gave us his Spirit to know him more.  Gave us Words to direct, guide, and direct line of communication to through Jesus.

He is the Treasure that I seek.  

Five Easter egg hunts and yet one egg is still lost in our front yard with chocolate candy in it.  If it's found come winter when we are putting out the Christmas lights, I will remember sacrifice and the anticipation of blessing.
Hope deferred and love sent.
The pain of sacrifice and delight of things found.