He has risen indeed....and left candy!

Rachel is a great mother. Folks tell me that I'm a good dad and I guess I believe them. Yet, we both admit that we struggle in one area...holidays. It seems that most, if not all, of our friends have cute traditions with their kids around the holidays. We just got our Easter decorations out this past Monday. Did we take our kids to see the Easter Bunny? Do we want them to have nightmares? The answer to both is, "no". So, this morning, Junior and Bella came downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny had left for them. After reassuring Junior that this uniquely talented sugar pushing Santa like rabbit had left the room and was not going to get him, the baskets were discovered. We put their card from Grandma in each of the baskets. Filled with candy, fruit, fruit snacks, and froot roll ups (ain't no "fruit" in those) I asked Junior what was his favorite thing in his basket. He replied, "The favorite thing I got from Grandma was...". I replied, "Woooooaaaa, the card is from Grandma, everything else is from the Easter bunny." He picked up a can of Delmonte fruit (that he gets very often from Grandma's) and said, "I know that this came from Grandma." I told him, "No, buddy. The Easter bunny and grandma just shop at the same store. That's why grandma always has carrots on her. They are for the Easter bunny." For the record...
1. Grandma does not always have carrots on her...she better start 'cause a certain 6 and 4 year old will be asking to see them.
2. Junior can read and write. Yet, he buys the "Grandma and the Easter bunny shop at the same store." line.
3. When your children are way too sick for Easter dinner at their aunt's house (but don't know that we are not going yet) and climb into your bed in the morning and the first thing out of their mouth is, "Will we be playing games at the Easter party today?" your heart breaks into a million pieces...twice.
4. A promise of an outdoor and indoor Easter egg hunt, the video of "Toy Story" (which they haven't seen and Bella is already afraid of), some brand new sidewalk chalk, a game of Candyland and Chutes and Ladders, and much love from Daddy and Mommy can get them to forget about the "other Easter party" and excited about having our own.

I suppose that the disciples didn't wake up on Easter Sunday excited either. Yet, He did Rise. He has risen. He rises within us everyday. He rises within us and equips us to help those that are so alone even if they are surrounded by so many. He delights over us. He has risen indeed...but it was the Easter bunny that left the candy... that he bought while shopping with Grandma.

Regret

I was supposed to speak at my nephew Tyler's Junior High Bible Club meeting this morning before school. It was going to be awesome. I was to pick him up at 6:30, take him to school, and speak from 7:00 to 7:45. I really love, and like, Tyler. He is way older than his age and when I am with him I forget that he is 25 or so years younger than me. He is very talented and great to be around. I'm sure that one of the things that I like about him is that he likes me, a lot. It's a constant heavy feeling I have for Tyler in that I don't spend much time with him. I would love to be there for him more. He is really special to me and doesn't have much evidence to believe that. That is one of the reasons why this morning was to be so special for me. Another is that I love to speak and looked forward to blessing them with whatever the Lord would bring. I was even excited to take Tyler to school so my brother wouldn't have to. There are many reasons I was excited to be there with and for Tyler this morning.
Yet, I was not there. Car crash? Kids sick? House fire? Did I finally get in the fist fight I've been looking for all these years (read "Wild at Heart"...you'll understand)? No, I set my alarm, turned it on, and turned all of the sound off of my phone. Thus, I slept in. When Rachel's alarm went off at the time I should have been walking into the school with Tyler, my heart sank. I called my brother's cell phone and apologized to Tyler and Tommy (my brother...you probably know him as Tom).
There is nothing I can do. Could it have been worse? Sure. There could have been a fire, sickness, fights, etc. On a simpler note, I could have simply turned the alarm off after waking up or hit the snooze too many times. That would have been worse I guess. No, I just turned the sound off of my phone like I do every night. I am filled with regret.