Easter Egg Hunts & Expanding the Household

I have recently been pondering a passage from a phenomenal book entitled “Habits of Household” by Justin Whitmel Earley. He writes about using the term ‘household’ as opposed to ‘family’ when he discusses various habits that form the people living in our families, as follows:

The biblical idea of the household enlarges family both in dimension and direction. In terms of dimension, the biblical concept of the household is simply larger. It included extended family, as well as people who were economically connected to your family – workers or neighbors on the same land, and so on. But in terms of direction, the biblical concept of the household also pushes back on the idea of “family first.” We don’t care for our household because our responsibility is to our bloodline and no one else – that is a cloaked form of tribalism. Rather, we care for the family because it is through the household that God’s blessing to us is extended to others.

Increasingly, Esther and I are working toward establishing our home as a place of prayer and hospitality. Our heart is to open our home to larger numbers of people from our neighborhood, our church family, people we meet in the community and of course extended family. It is taking time for us to grow in this, and that is alright. We are praying for God to expand our horizons and welcome those he brings into our path.

A beautiful opportunity to put this into practice in a welcoming and delightful way is the occasion of Easter and the tradition of an Easter egg hunt.

Our family has hosted an egg hunt the last few years, and in both cases our yard sign worked to bring some neighbors around that we hadn’t met before. Add in a few friends we invited and some folks from the church, and it was a festive affair! We took time to share the Easter story in book form and then could chat with the parents while the kids went off to search for colorful prizes hidden in the grass. The best part is that the church provided everything we needed.

Hosting an egg hunt on the Saturday before Easter gives an opportunity to invite families to the Easter service on Sunday. Alternatively, an RSVP could be requested and information provided about services if a Sunday afternoon hunt makes more sense for a particular neighborhood.

Would you consider hosting an egg hunt in your neighborhood this year?

Here’s a few anecdotes from TWC members that have hosted one in years prior:

We hosted a neighborhood Easter egg hunt at our home in 2019 & it was a lot of fun & really easy to put together.

We had neighborhood kids join in & they brought friends & we had a family who was visiting a neighbor join in on the fun when they saw all the festivities. Our neighbors also let us use their yards for extra hiding space. It was just an all around fun community gathering.

In addition to the egg hunt, we provided easy snacks and drinks, prizes from the dollar tree, had an egg spoon race, bubbles, sidewalk chalk & crafts.
– April Groff

Last year was the first I took part. My friend and neighbor, a retired first grade teacher, and I started during Covid with a book lending library.  Then we moved on to a story time, usually with a holiday theme.  The neighborhood children really looked forward to it and would ask us when the next one would be.  When Trinity gave me the opportunity to participate in the neighborhood Easter Egg hunt, I asked my friend Sue if she was interested (yes!), we scheduled it the Saturday before Easter and got about 10-12 elementary age and toddler children.
– Carole Morton

I love having neighborhood Easter egg hunts and Trinity Wellsprings has made it so easy.  All I had to do was give them the date and estimated number of children and they put a box together for pick up prior to the event. So thankful!
– Chris Davis

Easter is my favorite time of year!!! It’s a time when I pause to appreciate the many blessings I have received.
I also enjoy hosting and attending Easter egg hunts through TWC.

I hosted one two years ago, and it was a wonderful (and EASY!) way to gather people from my street. We celebrated Jesus, watched the kids joyfully play, and enjoyed fellowship with neighbors whom I hadn’t gotten to know very well prior. Many were not even Christians! I was able to tell them about our church and what joy I have found in my relationship with Christ.

Can you host one this year? I promise it will bless you more than you know!
– Heather Warrington