an Easter sacrifice

liam's preschool teacher, ms. kathy, sent the following e-mail to all of the parents in his class.  i was so touched that i thought i'd copy and paste it as its own special post.  happy Easter!

I was sitting in church on Palm Sunday. As our priest was talking about the spirit of sacrifice, I started to reflect on what happened during our Easter egg hunt, and I knew I HAD to share.

After we finished up our hunt we assembled to take a break, count our eggs, and give Ms. Lauren and me a moment to check that all the eggs had been found. While I was standing there, I noticed that Liam was frantically wiping away tears. I walked over to him and immediately asked him what was wrong. Lauren motioned for me to look in his basket, and I immediately realized the problem: there were only three eggs. Let's just say this ... some of the kids were extremely skilled in the art of egg gathering, and Liam was evidently up against some PROS!

I panicked and tried to think of ways to help bring balance to our world. My mind was going a million miles an hour, trying to figure how not to be obvious, wondering if the Robin Hood approach (do I rob from the "rich" and give to the "poor"?) would work.

But while I was figuring out what to do, I heard Essie ask Liam, "What's wrong?" She walked over, looked in his basket and immediately said, "HERE" and placed an egg in his basket. She was followed by Eliza, Henry, Harrison, Wade, Cooper and Kate. All dropping an egg into Liam's basket. No asking, no prompting, no negotiating, no discussion among themselves (or among their teachers) ... they acted like it was no big deal. Well, it was a VERY big deal! I was so proud! And the look on Liam's face while they were putting eggs in his basket is an expression that I just cannot describe.

It may not have been the type of sacrifice my priest was speaking of, but sacrifice is a very subjective concept. My babies made a very great sacrifice that moment. I pray that you are proud of their compassion, empathy, and the grace of their spirit -- I know that I am!

Happy Easter everyone, and may the spirit of Christ's sacrifice be with us all.

Love,
Ms. Kathy