Since we are now the proud owners of chickens, I did a little investigating into the significance of “the egg” this Easter celebration.  When did eggs first become associated with Easter?  The egg is an ancient symbol of new life and it has been linked with the celebration of Spring for years.  According to history, Christians were forbidden to eat eggs along with other foods during the season of lent.  When Easter arrived, the people painted and decorated the eggs to celebrate the end of fasting.  Christians have adapted the symbolism of the egg to represent the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb, giving us new life through him.

We enjoyed a wonderful Easter yesterday as a family.  Our kids woke up to baskets  filled with candy eggs and special treats.  Their favorite gift was the wind-up chicken that lays bubble gum eggs as it waddles.  After church in the morning, we enjoyed an amazing brunch at the Olympic Training Center.  We then came home and had fun watching the chickens free range in our backyard.  We really wanted a family picture taken with all the chickens, but they were too fast for us.  We only managed to catch Athens, so she was the only one that made the Easter family photo.

To finish out the day, we spent the evening at my sister-in-law and brother-in-law’s house.  After the big Easter feast, the kids were excited to finally decorate the Easter eggs.  This was a fun time we were able to use the eggs to teach our little ones about the true meaning of Easter and the salvation story.

Here’s what the colors represent:

• Purple:  God’s Grace
• Black: Sin
• Blue: Baptism
• Red: The blood of Christ
• Green:  Eternal Life
• Gold:  Heaven

We also talked about how the hard shell of the egg represents the sealed tomb where Jesus was buried, and the breaking of the egg represents Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  I never thought about the significance of the Easter egg before we had chickens.  Next year, we look forward to decorating our own Easter eggs straight from our girls – Sydney, Athens, Beijing, London, and Rio.