Hoppy Easter!

This will be a short one this week... Easter weekend and all. 

Holidays have always been a big deal for my family.  We don't get together very often since 1/2 my family lives up here, and the other 1/2 lives down in Racine, so we all make an effort to make it to whomever is hosting the festivities.  This year the Sheboyganites are traveling down to Racine to my brother Mike's.  And, the get together will be a dual purpose one, as his daughter was just confirmed.  I remember hosting Easter each of the years my kids were confirmed as well.

Easter is a religious holiday. I grew up celebrating it as such.  But many people I know just celebrate the Easter Bunny!  I seem to have become one of those on-again, off-again religous people.  During my grade school and middle school (although it was called Junior High in my day) years, I went to church often and was very devout.  Then the high school years hit, and that meant boys, sneaking out to parties, and wanting to sleep late every Sunday.  I went sporadically over my twenties, mostly just on holidays, until it was time to get married.  Then, although my husband would have perfered eloping, I insisted on the traditional church wedding.  That meant going to church more regularly.  After I got married, and moved to Sheboygan, I slipped back into being a non-practicing Lutheran.  Until, you guessed it, the babies started arriving.  Then, of course, it was baptisms and Sunday School, and then later Confirmation classes.  I considered it very important to make sure my kids were confirmed.  Once confirmed, they were given the option to go to church or not.  After my last child was confirmed, we all went less and less and eventually, I slipped back into treasuring my lazy Sundays. 

I ran into my Pastor at the gas station the other day.  I have to admit, although he doesn't chastize me, feelings of guilt wash over me for days after running into him.  I feel like a small child again when I talk to him.  The whole time I am praying he won't ask me where I have been.  Unfortuneately, guilty feelings or not, I am right back to being a Holiday church goer.  But I won't be there for Easter this year, because we will be out of town. 

I wonder what my children will do when they get around to marriage and children.  I suppose I haven't set a very good church-going example for them.  I know that my oldest, being away at college, never attends church.  My middle child refuses to go, saying she believes in God, but doens't feel the need to prove it by going to church. (Confirmation classes didn't make that point clear to her, I guess.)  My youngest continues to be very religous, he volunteers at Campus Life, goes on mission trips, attends bible studies, etc.  But, even he doesn't go to church on Sunday mornings.  Looking at my own brothers and sisters, I see that although we were all raised the same, religion didn't 'stick' with over half of us.  Out of the five of us, only my brother and I actually got our kids confirmed.  And only three of the five of us even got our kids baptized.  Although we consider it important to get together every holiday, it is not for religious reasons.  It is for family.

I still pray every day.  And I do miss church, I have always loved the formality and the community feeling of church.  I tell myself that God understands, and plan to go back soon.  My family treasures the holidays as a time to be thankful for family and all that God has given us.  We try to be good people every day of our lives.  My husband has never attended church (except for the baptisms and confirmations of his own children, and the occasional church wedding).  He is not quite an atheist, he just doesn't believe in church.  He would give the shirt off his back for anyone in need though.  And, of course, even though we don't go to church very often anymore, we still celebrate Easter.  Easter baskets, Easter egg hunts, the traditional Easter dinners, and of course spending time with my brothers, sisters, neices, and nephews. 

As I reread my post, I wonder what my point was when I started.  Probably trying to assuage (sp?) my guilt at missing church, yet again.  Well, however each of you celebrates, whether it is with church or just the Easter Bunny, I hope everyone uses the day to celebrate family.  Happy Easter!