In Search of The Granny Egg

Every Easter our family has a traditional Easter Egg Hunt after our lunch has settled and we can no longer endure the kids begging us to hide eggs for them.  Several years ago my dad started hiding a Golden Egg that has the one thing inside that gets the teenagers involved in the hunt - CASH!  I remember one rainy Easter when it was too wet to go outside, my dad hid the egg in the house.  Every child, teenager and adult ripped through cabinets, drawers, closets and couch cushions in search of the prize.  My sweet mama threatened to put an end to the Easter Bunny if he EVER hid another egg in her house!  I'm pretty sure she said EVER in all caps.

This year the Golden Egg was renamed the Granny Egg in honor of my grandmother who is in a rehab facility and was unable to join us for the weekend. The boundaries of the hidden eggs were given and the kiddos were off to the hunt.  All the small, empty (yes, empty because MRS. Easter Bunny failed to fill them with candy) plastic eggs were found, but the Granny Egg was still up for grabs.  Everyone was begging and bribing my daddy to give them hints as to where the prized egg might be hiding.  He finally specified a small area of the yard and said, "Everyone of you have walked within an arms length of the Granny Egg."  Now it was on!  Fifteen people hovering in one small area leaving no blade of grass unturned.  The little kids gave up.  The teenagers grew frustrated and began whining, "Papaw, just tell us where it is!"

Just when things were getting tense we heard, "I found it!"  Jayleen, our neighbor and unofficially adopted family member, held up the Granny Egg with a great big grin on his face.  While everyone was looking in the easy and obvious places, Jayleen was thinking about Papaw's clue.  He dove head first into the large azalea bush that was within an arms length of all of us, looked underneath it's limbs and a strategically placed pink blossom, and came out with the giant egg.



"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you," declares The Lord, Jeremiah 29:13,14a.

The Granny Egg wasn't hidden so that it would never be found.  It was hidden in order to be found.  But we had to search for it.  The heart and the purposes of God are found the same way.  They are hidden and must be discovered.  The hunt can be fun or it can be frustrating.  We can get bored or we can stay engaged.  We can beg and bribe the Hider to just give us the prize or we can listen to his directions and trust that the prize is worth the hunt.  We can get mad and jealous when others find their Granny Egg or we can rejoice because we're all on this journey together and the GRAND prize is big enough for all of us.

Incidentally, an egg from last year (which Mrs. Easter Bunny HAD filled with candy) was discovered buried underneath some shrubbery.  What would have been a treat a year ago, was melted, decayed and rotten.  Some treasures aren't meant to stay hidden.