As a child, each February I waited with anticipation for the month March and the azaleas in our yard to bloom. I knew it meant spring was approaching, better than that, Easter was near.

While I loved to dream about the Easter basket that would be left by my bed, Easter egg hunts and chocolate bunnies (like every other kid), my favorite Easter memories don’t include any of those.

The best ones were, the smell of fresh flowers (brightly colored azaleas and snowflake-like bundles from the spirea bush in our yard), and walking up the aisle of the church.

It was there that I helped the other children in our congregation bring beauty to an old wooden chicken-wire covered cross placed by the altar.

Each Sunday during the Lent, the priest read from the Bible and told stories about Jesus’ life, His death and His resurrection on Easter Sunday.

He told us the ugly old cross symbolized our sin and Christ’s death for us.

The bounty of fresh living flowers that we stuffed into the cross symbolized the new life Jesus gave us when He died and rose from the dead.

A metamorphosis in the making.

All winter long I looked forward to the new growth in our yard and the fresh fragrance of new life.

This was the perfect illustration for me as a child as well a sweet memory I will always treasure. Even today when I see azaleas bushes and puffy white spirea blooms I think of the new life, the eternal life, Jesus gave me through an old wood cross.

Easter bunnies and baskets of candy were fun and tasty but they didn’t last. The lessons I learned walking up the aisle of my church with a bouquet of flowers in hand were life changing and everlasting.

[bctt tweet=”Through His death and resurrection, Jesus took our ugly past and gave us a beautiful future. An eternal one with Him.” username=”PatHolbrook”]

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old is gone, the new is here” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

How was the meaning of Easter, what Jesus accomplished on the cross and the gift of eternal life explained to you as a child? I’d love to hear. How have you explained it to your children?

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[bctt tweet=”@christy_mobley gives us a beautiful glimpse of her childhood about the meaning of #Easter. Come read it and LINKUP with us if you are a Christian #blogger!” username=”PatHolbrook”]