The Easter Squall

I love Easter. It is a wonderful time of year..... Spring. It is a wonderful spiritual time of the year....resurrection. I love Easter Lilies, Easter dresses, Easter Cantatas, Easter food, Easter candy....I love it all.
But there is one thing I've noticed that I do not love.....the Easter Squall. I must admit here that I did not coin the phrase. I heard it from a dear friend who heard it from her mother-in-law. I think it describes things perfectly.
According to Webster, or whoever I googled, a squall is a sudden sharp increase in wind speed over a short period of time that can cause sudden rain, thunderstorms, snow storms....storms in general.
I have been in churches all my life. Church is great and I live for worshipping my Lord every Sunday in church. Churches gear up for Easter and Christmas, the 2 holidays when Christians celebrate our Lord. However, all that gearing up; music, practice, programs, flowers, extra services, costumes, etc, can cause the "squalls".
The pressure builds, company coming, the need for lots of food, family celebrations, travel, cute clothes, perfectly dressed children, white gloves, bonnets, smocked dresses, vests, suites for 2 year old boys, early services, Easter eggs, bunnies, hiding things.....argh! SQUALL - A sudden burst of wind and storms.
In my Christian walk, I didn't originally believe in an evil spirit, the devil, satan. However, as I grew in my faith and read the bible, I discovered there is a spirit always around us, wanting to draw us away from the Lord. My faith was really increased once I believed.
This is how I see the Easter squall. What better tool does evil have than to put us into such a holy frenzy over celebrating our Lord that it throws us off celebrating our Lord.
Let us be aware when we are so busy, so crazy, so frantic that is throws off the true meaning of anything that has to do with God.
20 years ago when my husband went into ministry our kids were 2, 4 and 6. Believe me, Easter was never a holy, quiet, spirit-filled holiday. My husband would get up, get ready and leave the house to go to the church to get ready for Sunrise service, leaving me with the kids, the house, the Easter bunny, the candy and usually a houseful of company to get to church by 0'dark:30, usually to sing with a group or solo. Boy are those fun memories!!
Really, they are fun memories now. I choose to remember the good things. And I chose to eat lots of jelly beans.
I still choose to eat lots of jelly beans and choose to have a house full of company. Fortunately, my kids all still come home, and they choose to go to church for Easter. Luckily, now they can dress themselves.
Lord, keep me aware of the "squall" and calm me to keep me focused on YOU!