The Easter Dress

Easter has always been a pretty big deal for my family. We would always have a special outfit to wear and a big lunch together, then my parents would hide Easter baskets, filled with wonderful treats, from my brother and I. Mom never lacked creativity when filling our basket, and dad never lacked creativity in hiding them. Oh, did I mention that there was a time or two during my younger years when mom would create matching Easter dresses for her and I? And one year dad hid Jordan's basket on the roof? Yes, Easter was very special.

With that in mind you may imagine my disappointment when I asked Bryan what he was going to wear for Easter Sunday and he replied, "I don't know. Whatever I pull out of the closet that morning." He obviously didn't know what a big deal Easter duds are (at least to me). Regardless, I moved on and settled with trying to create my perfect Easter outfit with what I had in my closet. 

A few days later on the Thursday before Easter, I got home from work and Bryan wasn't home yet so I decided to take Rig out for a run. The weather was absolutely perfect and we had a nice 6-mile jaunt on our favorite trail. When we got back to the car I read a text from Bryan saying, "Come home quick". Strange. When I got home 10 minutes later he was laying on the couch, still in his nice work clothes and told me to hurry up and shower because we had to go somewhere. I did as I was told, all the while assuming he was going to take me out to dinner. He's pretty sweet like that. However, after my quick shower and our drive, we pulled up in front of one of our favorite clothing stores and he proceeded to tell me to go pick out a new dress for Easter Sunday and he would find a new shirt, too. He even agreed that we could color-coordinate! I was stunned at his offer and got busy shopping. It wasn't long before I found the perfect navy dress and he found a very handsome (and color-coordinating) green and navy shirt and some navy pants. We were seriously going to look sharp on Sunday. As we stepped up to the register to pay we were discussing whether or not he should really get the pants... They weren't on sale like our other two purchases, but we decided to go ahead and splurge. I don't remember exactly how it came up, but as he was paying we realized I had gone over-budget on a recent credit card statement. He finished paying, but as we were walking out he turned around and said he was going to return the pants. I knew good-and-well he was returning them because of my mistake. I felt a knot forming in my throat and tried to convince him to keep them, to no avail. The pants were returned and when we got to the car I started sobbing. He assured me that it really wasn't that big of a deal and he had other pants he could wear with the shirt. All I could keep thinking was- I should have returned the dress. It was my fault. I shouldn't have gotten the dress. Upon arriving home and starting dinner, Bryan came up next me and told me how much he loved me and I couldn't hold back the tears again, but this time I stopped my lower lip from quivering enough to tell him, "You should have kept the pants and I should have returned the dress. It was my fault." He wrapped me in a hug and assured me it was not as big of a deal as I was making it. 

As I continued making dinner all I could think about was that this was a trivial example of what Christ did for us, thousand of years ago, at Easter. He made the ultimate sacrifice (bearing much more weight than Bryan returning his pants), and allowed us, His children, to have what we do not deserve. We were the ones who did something wrong, just like when I went over-budget with the credit card, except we are guilty of sin. Every single one of us deserves death because of that sin.

However, Christ chose to give up His rights and His life so that we could have something better than death. Because of Him, we can live guilt-free, victorious lives. 

That navy dress will always remind me of this special Easter and what Christ did for me. And if you see me wearing it, maybe it will remind you, too.  

Isaiah 53:5 "But he was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed."