Life doesn’t let up just because it’s Lent. There are still appointments to keep, work to be done, and distractions all around. Finding time to focus in on The Gospel message is hard.
It’s always been hard. It will continue to be, here on earth.
I remember one year when this was especially true for my family. In 2006, at 5 and 7 years of age, my daughters were becoming more conscious of the world outside of our home and church. The “Easter” bunnies were out in full-force that year at the mall, on school worksheets and in friends’ toy boxes. It’s only a problem, I think, when it begins to overshadow the real meaning of Easter in kids’ minds and hearts, which is just what began to happen with my daughters. Their lives were getting busier, and God wasn’t always fitting in.
To make matters worse, we were traveling that year. Leaving on Maundy Thursday for Virginia, and returning the Monday after Easter, we would miss church at a time when we really needed to be there.
I remember praying for my family often that Lent, asking God to help me keep our lives focused on Him. I also remember overwhelming my daughters with Easter message ‘reminders’, to the point where they began to resent it. Somehow I had got it in my head that I was the one responsible for making sure they didn’t miss the point.
My life had become busier too, you see, and somehow, in the midst of it all, I had forgotten how amazing and wonderful our Lord is.
While in Virginia, we were driving back from a day trip in Richmond when my husband lost his way. I remember thinking it odd, because he never loses his way. We ended up taking a very long detour, and passed a Lutheran church. Noting the service times, we decided to return the next day, Easter Sunday, for worship.
Something ‘magical’ happened at that service. Maybe it was the recognition of familiar liturgies and prayers in a different setting that heightened our awareness of them. The service, the sanctuary and the people were all different and yet somehow familiar too. But there was something more. My family and I sat in the pew attentively, as the Pastor spoke about (of all things) the busyness of life and holding on to our faith.
My older daughter, Sarah, mustered up the courage to come forward for the children’s chat, where the pastor handed each of them a plastic egg to open. Much to the kids’ surprise, all of the eggs were empty. This was just like at the tomb on Easter morning, Pastor explained.
Back at home the next day, after unloading our luggage, Sarah sifted through the clothes, toys, and memorabilia from our trip to find that plastic egg, and with a permanent marker wrote on it, “The Tomb was Empty!” Praise God, she got it!! The message I’d tried so hard to get across to her, she got it!
At that moment I ‘got’ it too. Jesus Christ is alive, and at work in our lives. He will continue to be, here on earth. He will always get His message across. He will always sift through the busyness of our lives, pull out what is important and bring it to our attention, if we will only come to Him.
Sometimes, all it takes is a detour.
