Making Easter Meaningful for Your Family

So often I come up with things I feel like I need to teach my kids, whether it’s something I see that they don’t know how to do well, something society says they need to know, or something I just think they need to learn. It’s easy to have my whole mind focus on the topic, looking for ways to help them learn it.

But so often, God whispers for me to slow down, to not get caught up in teaching my kids every little thing, because I could spend their entire lives focused on teaching this, that, and the other and forget to focus on giving them what they really need. God reminds me to keep my focus on him and let him tell me what they need to learn. When something comes up that I think they need to know, I can counsel with him to make sure that is what they really need at that time. He reveals ways for me to teach them the most important things. 

This week has been one of those reminders. I set out to have a great Holy Week with my kids, I browsed for ideas for teaching them about Holy Week, and I realized there is a lot about Holy Week that I don’t know. There is a lot for me to unpack and ponder. As I’ve pondered how to make Christ’s sacrifice, suffering, and gifts meaningful to my kids, I’ve realized the most important thing I can do is make it meaningful to me. They will feel my love for the Savior when I talk to them about Him; they will feel my faith in his power to save us, and they will be inspired to have a relationship with the Lamb of God if I deepen my relationship with him.

This week I’ve realized on a deeper level that we are all learning. We all need to continually renew. The process of discovering the Savior and becoming like him is continual for all of us, no matter our age or background. I am in this with my kids, I might be able to guide and direct them in certain ways, but they can also direct me.

My faith in the Savior deepens as I drink of the water He gives and allow him to change me. As I do so, I can mentor my children in their own path back to him. I can show them that the way back to him is not short and simple, but lifelong and life changing.