Yes, this really is what it looks like. Not quite a full five pounds, but absolutely close enough to make my taste buds wholly content for weeks (um, maybe just days) to come. And, yes, that really is a rubber ducky - a PINK rubber ducky - and for my slightly strange friends who adore that color . . . yes, this pink rubber ducky has proudly found its way onto the dashboard of my car. The count’s now at 22. I walked into my house this evening to find this happy basket of one duck and exactly 1,249 particles of chocolate. Okay, so I didn’t actually count each one; that’s an estimate, though who really knows how many m&m’s are in a 52 ounce bag. The gift from my mother was waiting for me on the dining room table. I’m telling you, it smiled at me. And winked too. Then screamed, “Eat me!” No wonder kids play with their food. Wouldn’t you if it talked?
So, it’s Easter. And I got an Easter basket. Which is fun. Hilariously fun. Well, it got me thinking. Not very serious thinking, mind you, but still thinking. About biting the ears off chocolate bunnies as a child and then wondering why I never ate their face first. I don’t think they would have cared one way or the other. About Easter egg hunts and how we were always looking for hollow, plastic eggs and never the real thing. You know, good old-fashioned raw eggs. It could have been just like dodge ball.
About gifts and celebrations and songs and laughter. Especially laughter. Ever wonder what it sounds like to hear God laugh? I think that’s going to be one of my favorite things in Heaven. I bet He can tell some of the funniest jokes you’ve ever heard. We hear a lot about how He loves us, and not quite so often how He delights in us and sings over us and rejoices over us. And I think, if God does all that, then surely He laughs too. A lot. Big, happy peals of laughter that make you want to laugh with Him. And when I get to Heaven, I am looking forward to hearing God laugh.
Of course, right now I’m still here on earth. Stuck with a back that hurts at times and a throat that gets soar and eyes that refuse to define blobs unless they’ve got contacts in. But I’ve got a whole perfect world to look forward too, and that’s a happy thought. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”
And that’s my lesson for this Easter.
