Easter Sunday

Today, we attended church services in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In a hotel room with 45 young Vietnamese children and several adults, we worshipped together. It did not feel like Easter Sunday because everyone was dressed in everyday clothes and there had not been any stores that had advertised Easter specials or even Easter candy. There were no Easter lilies adorning the front of the room and there were no plans for a picnic or Easter egg hunt. I became emotional thinking about past years when our kids were young and we had all the fun of coloring eggs and preparing baskets and then when I looked at these kids and realized that they could barely understand who Jesus was let alone know what an Easter basket was. Their attention to the lesson was admirable as Tom shared the death of Jesus and his resurrection that was our salvation. I felt a sense of guilt as I questioned myself if in the past did I place emphasis on what Easter was really about. I would not change a thing about coloring eggs with our kids, or hunting eggs with friends and family after a picnic lunch together. Those are treasured memories. It just hit me during the service about another blessing we have as Americans. But more important, how we should not forget what we need to share with our children as Christians. Gail