“Here comes Peter Cottontail, hoppin’ down the bunny trail!” We sang this with gusto as little kids, excited for the Easter Bunny to visit on Easter morning. To this day, when I hear the organ play “Up from the grave He arose…” I can taste jelly beans. Mom’s only stipulation was that we not open the chocolate eggs while we had our white gloves on.

Most holidays have godly origins and purposes, which came through loud and clear to us when we were children. Our parents made sure to detail the God-honoring side of each tradition, yet somehow we managed to dip into the secular side, too, having happy times together.

Nate and I made an effort to pass along this same delicate balance to our kids, celebrating the sacred and secular in a reasonable blend. I’ll never forget a friend’s comment about her parents making holidays heavy on meaning and lightweight on laughter. She said, “The ‘worldly’ kids had all the fun.” I think that gives religion a bad name and makes God seem grumpy to children.

Now that Louisa, Birgitta and I have traveled from Sanibel Island to our daughter Linnea’s home in northern Florida, we shared in the pleasure of watching 20 month old Skylar dig into her Easter basket and go on an egg hunt. When she found candy inside each egg, she knew just what to do. Marshmallow bunnies never tasted so good.

Two month old Micah was on hand too, although he was more interested in regular feedings than holiday eggs. I remember one Easter when our whole relation was vacationing together on Sanibel Island. We’d packed 100 plastic eggs in our luggage, each one holding a few coins. We put a dollar bill in one, a five dollar bill in another and a ten in still another. These “babyish” eggs had enough pull in them to get even the older kids involved, with enthusiasm.

Last year, when Skylar was only eight months old, we received an adorable photo of her wearing pink and white bunny ears. Nate fell in love with that picture, asking me to get a hard copy for him. When I did, he raved about his darling granddaughter and took the picture to his office. There he posted it on the door with a caption under it: “The Easter Bunny made it to Florida.”

Every family has its own traditions. Laughter and good cheer ought always to have a place in them. And today, on Easter, we felt like exploding with joy over Christ’s resurrection. What better day than this to have a party!

^“Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns’!” (1 Chronicles 16:31)