An Adult Easter Egg Hunt

I did something last Sunday that I've never done before. When my adult children were here for dinner, we had two Easter Egg Hunts. The last one was for our grandchildren, but the first one was for our adult children. That's right, my adult kids participated in an Easter Egg Hunt their mother and I had planned. The odd thing was that I only hid one egg for them to find. How do you motivate a group of adults in their thirties to search the yard for an Easter egg? That's easy. Put enough money in a plastic egg and they'll scramble like preschoolers!

It was fun for me because I knew that whoever found the egg would be thrilled. I hid it in the flower bed up against the house, right under the water hose. They all began the search at the same time. They were looking in the Junipers, under flower pots, in the grill, in the birdhouses, everywhere. Everybody was laughing and having a great time. I especially enjoyed it.

After 10 minutes passed and nobody had found it, I told them I would give them a clue: "So you won't have to look all night; The egg is in my line of sight." Now they knew they didn't need to go back into the side yard out of my sight. So now they looked right in sight of where I sat on the patio.

Another 10 minutes passed. I gave a second clue: "You may think you'll find it but you can't; if you think it's hidden in a plant." Off the hillside they all came. No more looking among the Junipers or potted plants on the patio. My clue drew them all in closer to where Melanie and I sat. We both laughed as different ones came so very close to finding it at times, only to pass right over it.

Finally, I gave the final clue: "This is a clue that's really sweet; I could walk to the egg in fifteen feet." Now they circled around us, acting like forensic investigators trying to find that one hidden thing.

At last, Cliff, my son-in-law began to go alongside the house pulling up pine straw and then... there is was! We all laughed and congratulated him on his discovery. It brought me great pleasure to see him find it.

That Easter Egg Hunt reminds me of our spiritual adventure in the grace walk. We don't know everything. There are new and surprising truths that await our discovery. Our Father takes great joy in watching us as we search the Scripture and scour the terrain of life in Him in search of a greater knowledge of who He is to us and in us and who we are to Him and in Him.

It takes time and effort, like looking for the prize egg on Easter. Growing in grace isn't instant. It's a process, but if we know His heart, we can enjoy the search. We know that, just like I knew I would personally see to it that one of my family, found the prize egg, our Father will certainly see that we find the "prize" He wants us to discover.

I could have just handed one of the kids the money, but it would have robbed them of the joy of the search and I would have forfeited the pleasure of watching in knowing anticipation of what somebody was about to find. The process of grappling with truth is a pleasure to us and for Him too when we know that He takes pleasure in giving us revelation of Himself.

Sometimes people mistake grappling with truth for confusion. Somebody recently asked me, "Why do you write these things that leave questions in some people's minds?" I responded, "Because questions are a good thing. In fact, more problems come when we have more answers than questions than the other way around." Our Father takes delight in our questions and in our search to discover all that He has hidden in Christ for us. A question is nothing less than a spiritual thirst that He loves to satisfy.

My children didn't express frustration that they were confused as they searched for the egg. They knew that I would see to it that they would find it if they kept looking! That gave pleasure to all of us!

So it is with your Father. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't believe anybody who tries to convince you that reevaluating what you think you've known or that not having a definitive answer for every question is the same as confusion. Immaturity causes us to want to have simple answers for everything, but adults know that life doesn't work that way. It's okay to not have answers and it's okay to search, to reconsider the answers you've been given in the past and to ask them anew, trusting your Father to ensure that, however many "clues" it takes, He will lead you toward "the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

Our Father has prize eggs of revelation for all of us. It's not a matter of self-effort when we search. Divine truth does come by revelation but our Father is fun-loving and takes pleasure in watching us want Him and takes pleasure in leading us toward all that He has set aside for us.

Willie Torresin: How To Show Agape To Those Who Are Gay

Guest speaker, Willie Torresin talks with me about his past lifestyle in the gay community and how we can reach homosexuals with our Father's grace

Update on My Wife, Melanie and Her Broken Back

We saw the surgeon this afternoon and he confirmed that she has broken the L1 vertebrae. We were not happy to hear that it appears she also may have fractured her L3 vertebrae. She will go for a CT scan and an MRI either tomorrow or Wednesday (depending on how fast insurance approves it) and then will see the surgeon again asap after that. In the meantime, her orders are to stay down and don't do anything that might complicate matters worse.

Of course, we are disappointed in this but at the same time we know Who is in charge and we're trusting Him during this process. I remember once hearing Malcomb Smith say that he was in the hospital and somebody asked him, "What's this all about?" His answer was something to the effect of "This is Jesus living His life through Malcomb in the hospital." So that's our attitude - this is Jesus living His life through Melanie in this process. Although, I'll admit that if He had asked Steve for his vote, I would have cast my vote on the other side :)

Thanks again for the encouragement and prayers from so many of you. We knew when she was diagnosed a few years ago with a deteriorating spinal problem that our God is still in charge. So we're trusting Him and watching how He chooses to move us through this situation.

An Update On My Wife, Melanie

Many of you know about the problems Melanie has had with her back over the past few years. She was diagnosed a few years ago with a degenerative problem in her spine that the doctors said would progressively compromise the strength in her back. She had surgery this past August, then therapy for three months and has been slowly recovering since then.

A few days ago she had another incident that caused me to cut short my trip to California and immediately come back home to her. Last weekend we were out of town with a few friends for a weekend getaway. We ate breakfast in a restaurant on Sunday morning and something she ate made her sick. Shortly afterward, she vomited and said it felt like a knife pierced through her back when she did.

Obviously, we canceled her plan to go to California with me. I debated going but she insisted that she had most likely pulled a muscle and that I should go ahead without her. So I did, but no sooner did I arrive in Los Angeles on Thursday than she called to tell me that the results of the X-Rays she had done showed that it isn't a pulled muscle. She broke her back when she vomited. It's a fracture in L-1. (The surgery was on L4-5) I immediately changed my return flight and arrived back here last night at 2:00AM.

She is in terrible pain right now, but the earliest she could get into see the surgeon is Monday. Her previous surgeon said this will require a specialized surgery that he doesn't do. So we'll see a different surgeon on Monday and will know how this will proceed after that.

When I began this blog years ago, I said that I would use it for both personal and public posts. This is very personal to us. I'd appreciate your prayers. Our Father is faithful. We are trusting Him and ask you to pray for her during these trying days.