The gift of Easter

Mandy MajorsHost00:02

Welcome to the nextTalk podcast. We are passionate about keeping kids safe in an overexposed world.

Kim ElerickHost00:09

It’s Mandy and Kim, and we’re navigating tech, culture and faith with our kids. It’s Easter week. It is One of my favorite times of year.

Mandy MajorsHost00:18

I mean the moms and dads of littles right now are thinking, oh, I gotta go get the peeps and the baskets and the bunnies and all the things right. The dyeing of eggs, all of those fun little traditions that we do to create family memories, all good things. But I think Easter is such just a special time that I don’t want to miss the deeper conversations that could happen there.

Kim ElerickHost00:46

Yeah, I think too, within all of those kind of earthly traditions that we partake in, especially when our kids are little, those conversations can start so that when they’re a little bit older and even as young adults, it grows on this foundation that you’ve created, even through things like peeps and eggs and Easter bunnies. It doesn’t have to be all of that, it can be a little bit of both, and you can explain why we’re really celebrating and what these other things are. What are these traditions about? And I think that helps our kids wrap their mind around. Okay, easter is really about this and these go in this other category, and so we’re going to talk a little bit about that today.

Mandy MajorsHost01:29

I think about all the different seasons and how they’re marketed. And you have Valentine’s Day, and then you have Easter, and then you have St Patrick’s Day, and then you have Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. It’s like always something right. But with Easter and Christmas, those two, as Christians, they are big things. And it’s not just a season, right, it is something that has changed our life forever.

01:53

Those two seasons, because we have Christmas, when Jesus was born and he came on the scene and he became flesh right, he became relatable to us as humans. He gave up heaven to come down here and live a life where he was going to be rejected and crucified and persecuted and everything. And then you have the story of Easter, right, where he got arrested. He was perfect, he was beaten and mocked and hung on a cross and died for our sins right and then rose three days later like defeated death, right the thing that separates any other religion in the world. And so those two things, they’re not just a season of new storefront items. Those are life changing moments that we need to celebrate, yes, in the season, but also remember those things affect every day of our lives. That changes how we operate everything in the world as Christians.

Kim ElerickHost02:58

Well, I think that’s a great conversation to have in an age-appropriate way throughout your kids’ lives is it’s not just another holiday on the calendar or where you get off from school?

03:10

And really separating those two and, as Christians, how that changes things, how we view those moments in history. I think we have to create that precedence for our kids sometimes, because we can all get caught up in it’s another holiday and what are we going to do? Are we going on vacation? Are we going to decorate the house? Are we going to do this, that, that? No, it is not just another holiday, and if we don’t set that example by highlighting that and explaining why, then everybody’s just going to go with the flow and it will become another holiday. So I think it’s our job as parents from day one to decide what that looks like in our house. How are we going to do that? How are we going to do that to our kids and how are we going to make it clear to them that these are life-changing moments as Christians that we cannot lump together with other holidays?

Mandy MajorsHost03:56

Well, and let’s, let’s walk through this practically, kim, like just some conversations we’ve had with our own kids to make sure this, you know, easter stands out amongst the rest and they recognize the significance of it. So you have littles and I feel like it’s. It’s maybe harder to do this with littles just because with older kids you can, you can dive into the Bible verses and kind of pick that, pick that apart and talk theology and stuff with older kids, but but little kids it’s, it’s a little bit harder. So tell us, tell us how you do this, tell us how you you plant seeds to make sure they’re understanding the significance of the holiday.

Kim ElerickHost04:34

So for Easter, I would say a couple of things. One is I learned years ago that if I’m not excited about something, my kids generally are not either, especially when it comes to something like faith or a decision we’ve made as a family. And so I have noticed, when I’m talking about my faith and where I’m talking about Jesus or, let’s say, easter, if I’m excited about the miracle that it is and I’m sharing with them the impact that Jesus has had on my life and what this day means and I’m getting pumped up about it like we get pumped up about a football game, why am I not getting pumped up about a savior of the world? And if I shift that and I share my passion and excitement for what Jesus has done for me and what this holiday means, I noticed when my kids were little like really little they would get excited too and they wanted to hear more. And then we could talk more about like, can you imagine the stone being rolled away? Like, just really get in there and get your kids pumped about this incredible moment in history that changed our lives. So really getting excited, so your kids know to get excited. We get to lead the way in that. And then just being real practical, about things like the Easter Bunny and I mean I’ll love me some chocolate, those Reese’s eggs, the peanut butter to chocolate ratio. I think about that for months to come, like I’m not going to joke around. I like those a lot. But as kids you know getting excited about candy and Easter egg hunts and Easter basket full of toys. That’s very easy for them to get excited about. But why are we doing that? If I’m over here getting excited about Jesus changing my life and, you know, coming up from the dead and this amazing moment, what do we do with the bunny? Like, where did that come from? And why are we hiding eggs and what? What is the candy have to do with anything? You can go all kinds of places with that. Some people get historical and like here’s the history behind what happened. That’s great If your family, your choice, or we just do it because that’s what other people do and it’s fun. Again, your family, your choice.

06:44

What we have always said is I remember when we moved here from Hawaii.

06:49

It was the first time I had really experienced real seasons since I was a very little girl and after the very cold winter or there was like a freeze and everything was dead and brown.

07:02

And I saw, I remember, coming up onto 1604, which is a highway here around where we live, and I saw these little purple flowers popping up from the ice and I saw the trees starting to bud and bloom and I had this moment of like, oh, new beginnings, like spring is here, a fresh start, and it reminded me of God’s mercies that are new every morning and there’s, you know, little deer running around and there’s bunnies and things like that.

07:31

And that’s what we associate it with with our kids is it’s a season of new beginnings, of fresh starts, of God’s mercies, and it’s not about the bunny or the chocolate or the Easter egg hunt, it’s just new beginnings. And they kind of latched on to that. They were like, okay, so we’re just really celebrating a new beginning. But really what we’re celebrating is Jesus and the new beginning he gave to our heart and our life, and so that’s kind of how we’ve explained it in our house. But I do think it’s important, especially as Christians, that we do give our kids something to latch on to when you have things like Santa Claus and Easter bunnies.

Mandy MajorsHost08:04

I love that so much. I want to circle back to something you said about the. You know, get excited about your faith like we get excited for a football game, are we excited about Jesus? I think this is really important to this conversation, because you can’t fake your relationship with Jesus, you can’t fake it and you can’t be robotic about it. And this is where it requires and we always say this, like looking in the mirror like are you connected to the Lord? Are you in daily? Like daily, taking up your cross and following him?

08:36

And we’ve all had moments where we can say, no, we didn’t, like I’m good on this day, I’m bad on this day, I’m bad, you know, like it’s not just, we cannot get into the habit of, okay, I’ve accepted Jesus, I’ve accepted the gift of Easter and I have eternal life and now I’m just gonna do my own thing. I think we have to be super careful here. God wants us to enjoy the joy of our salvation and I think where we find that is constantly being connected to him, you know, like the vine, and we cannot be unconnected to him. And when we are unconnected, we’re gonna respond badly to our children and our spouse and whatever, because he’s not directing our words and our thoughts right and we become selfish. That’s who we are as a people, and so I just think it’s so important. You know, and I guess my challenge to you this Easter is is your relationship with Jesus right? Is it deep? Is it? Is he the person that you turn to for everything? Right, because we can talk to you all day long about how to have conversations with your kids about pornography and sex and all the things we cover here every day, but if your relationship with Jesus is not right like what I have found as a parent is, I’m not gonna be right as a parent because I’m off. I’m off, I’m not getting my wisdom from the one who wants to pour into me and my family and create this amazing family unit of conversation. And so I guess my challenge to everybody this Easter is how are you with your relationship with Jesus? And I think it’s important. I think it’s really, really important, not only for us, but then also talking about that with our kids, because if we’re fully connected to the father and we are in commune with him every day and we have this deep rooted spiritual relationship, the conversations are gonna look so different with our kids about every topic on the map, and so what a great opportunity, though, for you to dig into some Bible stories this Easter I immediately think of.

10:35

The one of just the overarching theme of Easter is he was arrested. He was innocent, he was convicted, he was killed, crucified, right, and he knows what it feels like to stand alone. Like he knows and I think immediately about our shows about jumping on the bandwagon or being influenced, and we always say around here at Next Talk, teach your kids to be willing to stand alone. Teach your kids to do the right thing and model that for them. Do the right thing even when it’s hard. My kids have seen me cry cry about things that I have needed to say publicly, that I don’t wanna say because I don’t want it to hurt people, but I have to be obedient to what God is saying to me, like this is biblical. You have to stay this, mandy, and I’ve walked that with my kids, and they see that struggle between me and Jesus. That is gonna help a kid’s strength and faith more than you just spewing off Bible verses all the time to them. They need real, they need you to see that real relationship with Jesus, and so the Easter story. Bring that into your conversations and talk about.

11:48

Is it hard to go to your school and be love Jesus? Do you get made fun of? Do people say weird things about you Like be with them in that struggle because Jesus knows it. Jesus will walk with you hand in hand. He is not a stranger to being persecuted. I love, love John 16, 33. It says in this world you will have trouble, we will be persecuted, we will be made fun of, we will not be liked, right. But Jesus says take heart, I have overcome the world. These are, these are key Easter stories, scriptures that we can live and breathe and talk about every day of our life with our kids.

Kim ElerickHost12:31

We can’t miss it and I love that you shared it in that passionate way, because that’s exactly what we’re talking about. When Easter is on the horizon and even through the days of Easter and the days following, and let’s just say you’re taking a walk with your kids, share scriptures like this and talk about what does that mean? Like, what does that mean to you as a Christian? Here’s what it means to me. And those are those moments we’re talking about getting excited Instead of just like, okay, everybody needs to wear a matching outfit. We’re gonna take this picture. I’m smile. It’s mild. I’ll give you a piece of candy. Smile. You know what I’m saying. We got to get there early. Should we get the good seats? We’re going to brunch after what? We got to make a reservation.

Mandy MajorsHost13:11

I mean that sometimes we got, it comes our world. In the perfect Facebook post, quick as it. You know it’s Easter and everybody’s posting family pictures, so we got to have one, like we got doing what are we doing?

Kim ElerickHost13:23

Why? Why are we spending all of our time and energy and focus on that? And so that’s what our kids take away from Easter. This is what Easter is. It means we have matching outfits, easter baskets and Fancy shoes that mom got at TSW, like whatever it is. That is not what Easter is. Those things are fine if they are in the background.

13:44

What should be in the forefront is I am so excited for what Jesus did for me, and here’s what that looks like in the day to day. What does that mean for you? And having those deep, important discussions with your kids and if you have little ones, it’s not going to be some deep answer, but it’s going to be deep to them, it’s going to be practical to them, it’s going to be real to them and get them in the habit of thinking about their faith in Context to the world. And that’s what we want. Every day should be waking up, jesus. What do you have for me today? You died on the cross so that I could live today to do what? And my hope and prayer for you, as Mandy said, challenging you to think about your relationship with Jesus this Easter is how is your relationship making impact on your kids and how can we all do better? We all got a look in the mirror and see how can I do better.

Mandy MajorsHost14:35

I mean, there’s so many Fantastic moments in the Easter story, too that that can create such deep conversations with your kids. One of them, that that I’ve shared over the years, is Friday these disciples. They have left their lives to follow Jesus and be a part of this movement. Right, and they’ve left their lives, their families, behind their jobs, and they followed this Jesus and they see him doing all these miracles and they know it’s different and they they’re just wow, this is it, this is the Lord, right. And then he’s killed and he’s weak and he’s vulnerable and he’s mocked and people are piling on him and canceling him. Right.

15:24

And Can you imagine how the disciples felt on Friday night, in Saturday, if I were them, I would feel like Was I duped? Was this not real? Hopeless? Hopeless, where are you, god? If you’re the God of the universe, where are you right now? And if we’re being honest, we all have those kind of moments in our life, like a health diagnosis, a marriage that’s hurting, a kid that’s straying right, and we’re like oh my gosh. I have prayed for this kid, I’ve discipled this kid, like why is this happening, lord? Why, where are you right now? Have I pushed them down the wrong path of faith and it wasn’t really where I was supposed to. Like, if we’re honest, we have all thought those thoughts, but probably the disciples thought on that day of is this for real?

16:15

And I think that’s such a great teachable moment with our kids when we’re in those dark moments to look at them and say but the disciples, like their whole life was getting ready to change. God was in the background, working and he had a plan bigger than they could imagine as to how he was going to impact the world. Like he was gonna come back and then he was gonna walk with them again and then he was gonna go back up into heaven and leave the gift of the Holy Spirit, which we still get today. The same power that lives in our hearts is this is the Spirit that rose Jesus from the dead. Like that’s crazy, right, like who could fathom that? And so when your kid faces rejection or something horrible where it just feels so dark and you feel like God has abandoned you, like what a beautiful moment from this Easter story to walk your kid through that and I just don’t want to miss it.

17:13

Easter is so amazing and I feel like we get and I’m not, you know what I did Easter egg hunts with my kids. I did the baskets. I’m not saying any of that stuff is wrong. No, we’re not. That is so much fun. Do it. But don’t miss this. Don’t miss the deep stuff. You know, it’s almost like monitoring social media. We say, of course, that you know, pay $9.99 a month and get a report. Of course, do that, right, those, do it. But don’t miss the conversations, because the conversations are where it’s at. That’s the same thing I’m saying about Easter. Don’t miss these faith-filled conversations.

Kim ElerickHost17:48

Yeah, I agree with you, Mandy, we do the same. You know celebrating spring, but then Easter is about Jesus rising from the dead. And you know, when I was, probably 20 years ago, it was the first time I heard this pastor, Tony Campolo. I’ll never forget. He said I know it feels like Friday, but Sunday is coming, and I don’t know if he said that originally. I’ve heard it many times since. I have said that to other people. But it’s something to teach your kids to latch onto when they’re in a deep, dark moment and it can really come alive at Easter because they see it play out in their faith. It is the disciples on Friday where it feels hopeless, but Sunday is coming Like. We know that. They didn’t know that and we get to apply that to our life. When it’s the deepest, darkest moment, Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, because Sunday is coming and that is what Easter is all about and we get to share that good news with our kids and we just don’t want to miss that.

Mandy MajorsHost18:44

Absolutely. Also, you know, just, the washing of the disciples’ feet. That’s another great, in-depth story, you know, and you can find that in John 13. But he washes his feet, he serves them even though he knows that they’re going to betray him. Even he knows Peter’s going to deny him, he still serves him. And there’s just something in that I feel like as a parent, I think too we serve our children. And then, you know, sometimes our kids go off the rails where they say something hurtful to us. Or you know, and you know, they’re just, they’re kids trying to figure it out, but then they got hormones and attitude and all the things and we take it so personally. And Jesus, what a model. Just keep serving, right, just keep serving. And with our kids, you know that bully at school, yeah, you know, take care of yourself for sure, but smile, don’t stoop to their level, move on. You know, just keep serving people. Loving God, loving others, I mean just so many nuggets of amazing truth in the Easter story that I just don’t want us to miss.

Kim ElerickHost19:49

There are some great Bible verses that you can read and share with your kids. Maybe take turns reading. You could read them to them. They could read them around the table. But these are some good ones for the Easter season Matthew 27, 11 through 65 and 28. Mark 14 through 16, Luke 22 through 24, and John 18 through 20. We also have a super cool thing that we’ve created for you for Easter.

Mandy MajorsHost20:18

Yeah, when my kids were little, one thing we would always do and this is not new to Next Talk, you guys have probably seen it it’s like you’ve been egged and what you do is you just gather up 12 eggs and you put treats in 11 of them and you keep one of them empty and you just put a printable or a note on this person’s door and it’s basically like you’ve been egged. There’s sweet treats for you to enjoy, but one is empty. Because the tomb is empty and because Jesus has risen and it is, you know, because Jesus has risen, the rock has been rolled away and the tomb is empty, and that’s something to celebrate. And so I love this little activity because it helps you kind of reach out to the friends in your life and bless them. One just do something fun and nice for them. You know like, go hunt the Easter eggs we’ve hidden in your front yard. But I think the other thing too is like and the most important, like it gets them talking about Jesus on Easter, just this little bitty thing that you can do with kids.

21:21

I will say this I don’t recommend just doing this to some random stranger. Love your trespassing on their property, so I would. I don’t want anybody to like get arrested for trespassing or shot or anything because they’re doing a you’ve been egged at activity that next time recommended. I do recommend, like texting your friend ahead of time and be like hey, we want to bless you, we want to do something in your front yard for Easter, is this OK? And then go hide the eggs and leave the little downloadable on their front porch. But we hope it’s just a way that you can. You can bless your friends and engage in conversations about Jesus this Easter.

Kim ElerickHost21:57

Happy Easter to you from our nextTalk family. He has risen, the tomb is empty.

Mandy MajorsHost22:02

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Kim ElerickHost22:09

Make a donation today at nextTalk.org. This podcast is not intended to replace the advice of a trained health care or legal professional, or to diagnose, treat or otherwise render expert advice regarding any type of medical, psychological or legal problem. Listeners are advised to consult a qualified expert for treatment.