Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

Life observation:
Sometimes when things don't live up to our expectations we get almost more upset and frustrated than if we had none at all.


Case in point:
So, we had one of many Easter Egg hunts this year in our neighborhood one beautiful Saturday morning. I thought the kids would have a blast hunting eggs, climbing around a fire truck, dancing to music, face painting, eating cake, playing on the play ground, etc.

My mistake.

See pictures below for the tragic unfolding of EEH Disaster 2011


Wyatt was upset b/c he didn't get all the eggs he wanted.




Face painting was a brief highlight. Please note the presence of a balloon animal which popped later.

Of course.



Wyatt and Shelby share their discontent at the number of cookies and size of the cake piece they have been alloted.



Shelby is crying in the background b/c I had to pull her aside and "talk" to her b/c she wouldn't thank the fireman.

I'm sure her subsequent thanks touched his heart.


Here is Mommy who appears to be smiling but, in actuality, is really gritting her teeth. Some kind soul offered to take a family photo of us so that we could treasure this day for always.

Why do I include this sad tale of Easter past? Only for posterity. Someday when I am unpacking tiny onesies or flipping through picture after picture of smiling faces, I will need some sort of perspective to keep me from curling up in the now empty baby crib or toddler bed. Young motherhood comes with such joy but, oftentimes, frustration, exhaustion, and even loneliness can be sandwiched between the sweet times. Children are a blessing, but not always in the way we think. Our modern mindset says that blessings are to make us happy like opening a present yet sometimes blessings involve suffering or hardship. Corrie Tenboom thanked the Lord for letting fleas & lice overrun her cabin in a German concentration camp. I'll let you read her amazing book to find out exactly how these nasty critters turned out to be a blessing, but they did. We are to count suffering as "pure joy." The hard times in young motherhood are there to sanctify us and refine us. I already see my laziness and selfishness exposed as I try and make decisions each day for my family. So having an Easter egg hunt that goes terribly awry is also something to remember and document because the Lord is working in all these things for the "good of those who love him."