The Egg

She was dressed in her Easter best, a pretty pink dress with bunnies across the chest and ruffles down the sides. The family had gone to church that morning and it had finally reached the time that she looked forward to each Easter... the egg hunt. As she did every year, her mother had placed plastic eggs all over the back yard filled with various candy and toys. This precious little girl was the youngest of 4 children, and the only girl. The children entered the back yard, and their faces filled with excitement for what the Easter bunny had left them. The tiny girl grinned as she spotted a few of the eggs hidden in the grass. When Mom said it was ok to start the search, the children dashed off of the deck and onto the lawn. Again and again, the girl would run towards an egg, but just as she would get close, one of her brothers would swoop in and grab it. Egg after egg, she would try, but her basket remained empty.

The egg hunt finally died down, and the boys assembled on the porch to open their eggs and claim their treats.... but she didn't quit searching, she knew that there was still something for her. Her brothers yelled mockingly at her, "you're not going to find anything, we already got them all" and "too bad you are too slow to get any eggs, maybe you should go cry to your mommy". The little girl didn't cry, she didn't pout, and she certainly didn't stop ... she just kept searching.

After all the others had gone inside, the young girl still continued her search. Somewhere deep down, she knew that there was just ONE egg for her, one single egg with something special in it. The sun was headed down, making it harder to see, but as she scanned the yard one last time, she noticed something in the corner of her eye... it was an EGG! Quickly, she bent down and picked it up. The egg was different, white in fact, and not bright in color like eggs that her brothers had gotten. As she pulled the egg open, she was surprised to see what lay inside. It wasn't a trinket, or candy, or a toy... this egg was empty inside. There was however a small white piece of paper folded in half, as if left behind when whatever had once been inside was taken. Although she was barely old enough to read, she knew exactly what the words on the paper read. This prize wasn't to be kept tucked inside an egg, it was the sort of thing that needed to be shared with everyone. It was then that she realized that her egg really was special... it was filled with good news. She smiled as she looked at the sliver of paper again and read the powerful words aloud... "HE IS RISEN".