Yesterday, I shared my favorite Easter books (without the bunny). In an effort not to send the message that I am a bunny-hater, I am daring to take on the great bunny debate. Perhaps you’ve heard of this debate. It’s the one where we sweet loving Christian moms get all bent out of shape as to whether or not there is a place for the bunny in our celebration of Easter. You might know this debate by it’s better known aliases: the great pumpkin debate or the great Santa debate.
I won’t lie. As a mom, I have spent HOURS and HOURS of my time thinking, researching, and praying about these “great debates.” I’ve considered my own upbringing, that of my husband’s, my friend’s opinions, and those that are floating around the internet. I’ve talked to God at length about what is right for our family.
If you have read this far hoping to find a clear answer to this question, I’m sorry to say that you will be disappointed. I don’t have one.
Personally, I think that our sovereign God chose to allow some things to be this way. Otherwise, we would become pious and lack complete faith. I mean honestly, what would I talk to him about if there was a cut and dry step by step plan for all of life’s questions?
Simply put, there are questions that do not have clear answers. I think many of these issues are the ones that Paul is talking about when he cautions believers against putting up divisions in the church (1 Cor 1:10-17). These are choices that we make that do not determine our salvation and should not cause dissension between us.
I do not mean to imply that in all of my time spent praying, studying, and seeking wise counsel that I have not determined a plan for my family. I have. But the funny thing is that it doesn’t look anything like what I would have expected. And on top of that, I am not willing to stand on a soap box and proclaim it to be the gospel for holiday celebration.
Nevertheless, very cautiously, I will share what I feel God has asked of our family regarding the celebration of holidays.
1. We keep legalism at a distance. It’s sometimes hard to have rules or expectations about a holiday or a certain topic without letting the “rules” become so rigid that no one can have fun. For example, if my 4 year old is running around the grocery store telling people that they will go to hell for worshipping the devil on Halloween, I might need to rethink the message that I am communicating to him. Or, if my daughter comes home with a shamrock art project, I am not going to burn it while screaming “we don’t celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.” After all, just because she made a craft doesn’t mean that we are suddenly celebrating a holiday. Right?
2. We keep commercialism at a distance. As a general rule, I avoid the store with my kids everyday of the year, but if we do happen in, I avoid the holiday section. I find that it creates “needs” that we never had before we walked down that aisle. It creates conversation about things that I am not always ready to tackle. But mostly, it drives us to become so wrapped up in the materialistic part of a holiday, that we miss the whole point. I won’t lie and tell you that this one has been easy for me. It has been a battle for me to remove from my head those “traditions” that I feel make or break a holiday that really just amount to nothing but a materialistic attitude.
3. We have sought out to find more innovative ways to celebrate holidays. As a holiday approaches, I look for ways to bring God into it. Whether it’s a Christian holiday or not. Let face it, unless we are going to live in a hole, the holiday is going to come up. Why not turn it around and make it something lovely? Instead of worrying so much about the horrific origins of “cupid” we put our attention on how to show others the love of Christ.
4. Above all: we love others. You might be thinking that this has nothing to do with celebrating a holiday or not. But it has EVERYTHING to do with it. Whether or not my friends celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween, Santa, or the Easter Bunny should have no bearing on how I extend love toward them. Our love toward others will spur us on to respect the choices that they have made for their family. For example, we don’t do the Santa thing in our house. However, my children KNOW that it is a fun game that lots of people celebrate and that if we ruin the game for them, that would not be very loving. It’s a topic that I label “for our family only.” I encourage them not to talk about stuff like that with their friends. If their friends have questions, they should talk to their parents. It is my hope that this policy will keep my kids from becoming legalistic and judgmental of their friends. (And hopefully we won’t ruin the fun for others.)
The pivotal point of it all? I’ve learned to relax. To let go of trying to micromanage every single thing that happens around us. I’m reminded of Solomon’s findings.
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 1:14
This issue of bunnies, Santa and pumpkins is just an earthly thing. Meaningless. I have already spent far too much time focused on that which God sees as meaningless. I’m not going to ruin my kids if they get an Easter basket from a bunny. And I’m not going to ruin them if they don’t. It’s not about the basket. It’s about GOD. How much time did our family spend on Him?
What other people do with the holiday should not be my concern. If I am on my knees before him, the holiday will bring Him glory. Regardless of what the world does with it.
Your turn~
Please share your thoughts about holidays with us. Please remember to respect fellow sisters in Christ with your words. This is a safe place to have opinions. God gave you one…feel free to share it! (I reserve the right to remove any comments that are unkind.)
Kim Sorgius
Kim is just a girl, crazy in love with Jesus. She's a single mother of 4, a passionate homeschooler and life-long student. After teaching 8 years in public school, she traded her M.A. in Early Childhood for sippy cups and homeschool co-ops. Kim is the owner and editor of The Homeschool Village and Not Consumed where she encourages others to rest victoriously in the hands of God, rather than allowing life's difficult circumstances to consume.
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Good Morning Kim!
I loved reading your thoughts on this topic! For Easter, we read the story, enjoy worship with our church family, and talk to our kids about it while answering any questions that their little minds throw our way. We talk about what Jesus did for all of us and how amazing His story is! Then, we sprinkle in a little “Easter” basket for fun and my parents provide an egg hunt.
My favorite thought is, that if I talk to my kids about life and God every day, by the time these holidays roll around they are going to know what it means and the real value in them. Each year it changes a little as they grow. p.s. I stay clear of commercials and stores around these times too! It’s part of working smarter not harder.
Thanks for sharing Kim! -Blessings girl, Amy
This was my favorite part: ”
I’m not going to ruin my kids if they get an Easter basket from a bunny. And I’m not going to ruin them if they don’t. It’s not about the basket. It’s about GOD. How much time did our family spend on Him?” I love this – cuts to the heart of the issue. Decide whatever you think is best for your family, and just make sure you’re emphasizing God more than anything else.
When we were in college my husband and I knew a wonderful family who really addressed the holiday question well. We have embraced their practices and our kids love it! We celebrate the first day of each of the seasons with a lot of flair. The first day of Spring gets an egg hunt, chocolate, bunnies, chicks, candy and baskets. We decorate the house for spring. We talk about how spring points us to the truth of new life. Then Easter is all about the resurrection. We have lamb as our meat, and talk about how the Passover feast was pointing to Jesus. And we don’t talk about the bunny that day at all. (We don’t say its bad or sinful or wrong – its just that we are all focused on the resurrection… and besides they already had all that chocolate and bunnies and chicks a few weeks before this…) We make “resurrection cookies” and we let our kids eat them for breakfast!
Holidays are such a great time to point our kids to Christ!
I LOVE the idea of celebrating the first day of spring. Bunnies and chicks are so cute and I would love to do fun things with them! Thanks for sharing!