Anyways, after they yelled and screamed and had their candy I pulled out a special yellow egg. It looked more special than the eggs they had, it had spirals and was made of better plastic. I told them it was special. Then I asked what was in the egg. They guessed a lot of different things, but no one guessed what was really in the egg, so I asked if they wanted to know what was in the egg. A few said yes, but I’m not happy with just letting kids blandly say “yeah” so we had to yell and scream as loud as we could. It was exciting, then I cracked the egg open and nothing was in the egg.

Of course they were a bit confused, maybe even disappointed. So I asked if they wanted to know why nothing was so special, and of course they were learning by then and started yelling “yes!!!!” so I told them about some young women who went looking for something one morning over 2000 years ago, but couldn’t find what they were seeking, and that was the best day of their life. At this point the kids were starting to lean in so I asked if they wanted to know what they were looking for and why they were so happy when they didn’t find it. Again they started yelling “YES!!!!”

So I told them about how they got up early in the morning and packed up expensive perfumes and other good smelling stuff because they wanted to go see Jesus one more time. He had died 3 days before and they were very sad. They walked slowly and cried softly as they went, but when they got to where his tomb was, they couldn’t find him. Then someone told them he was no longer there. They were confused but excited and ran to some of the other disciples who knew him. Those guys ran to the tomb and didn’t find Jesus either, but then Jesus started coming and talking to all these people looking for him.

I told them about how Jesus didn’t want to stay in the grave, and asked where he wanted to stay. A lot yelled “Heaven” so I told them he wanted to stay somewhere much better than Heaven. Then my son yelled “out heart.” … Smart boy I got there.

So I told them how Jesus wants to give us a great big huge heart that he can stay in, to guide us and help us.

So that’s what those young women did, they got a new heart with Jesus, because they couldn’t find him in the grave, but he found them.

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I get hung up on things like that. I mean I really obsess over my failures. That’s why I hate losing so much, I can’t let it go. I never miss the same question on two tests because I take every wrong answer personally. I find the right answer and don’t ever forget what I did wrong. I don’t know if other pastors are like that, I just know that any perceived failure on my part can take up my whole vision, not to the point of preventing me from moving forward, but in the sense of keeping from making the same mistake. The problem is, people get to do their own thing, and my actions can’t keep them from making mistakes.

At some point I need to change my vision and remember that there are good students that get even better. I have a few of those right now, but two in particular have really been doing great. I don’t know that they will never let me down, I mean hey, I have to remember I’m human and I’m bound to let others down, so my students have the same potential. Right now, though, I am so proud of them.

I have a hard time letting things go, not just perceived failures, I have a hard time trusting others to take on tasks, but ministry isn’t about doing everything yourself. I’ve often said students aren’t the Church of tomorrow, they are the Church right now. If they aren’t doing the work of the Church now then they never will.

To that end, I released them to plan and execute the Easter Egg hunt this year. Last year I was a bit more involved, but this year I tried to intentionally let them run with it. They did a great job. They experienced frustrations with getting volunteers and donations, but they pulled off a bigger and better event this year despite those frustrations, and even the weather raging against us. I just have to give them a huge shout out, and I know I can trust them with even more things now.

What about you? Do you have anyone you want to give an “ataboy” to? Who, what great and amazing things have they done? How can you help them by releasing them?

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