A Twist on the Chard Easter Egg Hunt

[Hez and I struggling at the pool yesterday in Scottsdale.]

This morning, my sisters and I got ready for the annual Chard Easter Egg Hunt. The eggs we're hunting for are usually hard-boiled, filled with stale, year-old candy, if you're lucky, you may find an egg with a quarter inside.

This year was different. My dad gathered my sisters and I together before we made the mad dash and told us that there was one "Super Egg" with $50.00 inside. Now Danielle (16), Heather (13), and I (19) were way too excited. Like small children at the carnival. We frantically started running around the house, intent on finding the super egg.

The easter egg ended after about five minutes, and we all gathered at the kitchen table to find out who had found the "Super Egg." I opened all of mine,

(sidenote: I was a little surprised when I opened one of my eggs to find a twix with a pink, flowery wrapper. For half a second I thought maybe this twix was actually purchased during the spring of 2010. Nope. Definitely from last Easter. Love it. Put it back in the easter basket so it could be hidden with next years easter egg hunt.)

I ended up with about $9.00, no sign of the "Super Egg". Danielle had about $7.00, no super. I looked at Heather's basket. Every single egg she had gathered was a hard-boiled one, except for three others. Everyone knows you don't grab the hard-boiled eggs, because there is no possible way that money would be hidden inside. As a result, Danielle and I had only picked up one hard-boiled egg each, while Heather had taken time to grab every single hard-boiled egg, as she did so, she knew she would not be the one to find the supposed "Super Egg."

Heather ended up with $3.00. My mom asked her why she had spent all her time looking for the hard-boiled eggs even though she knew they had no value. Heather answered, "I felt bad because no one ever wants the hard-boiled eggs, so I got them."

My dad and mom convened in the laundry room for a few minutes and then came back to announce the winner. My dad looked at our baskets for a minute and explained that it was the person who had gathered the most hard-boiled eggs who would be rewarded with the "Super Egg."

My dad awarded Heather with $5.00 as the grand prize. Without hesitation, Heather took the money and gave Danielle and I each a dollar.

Wow. I really have been thinking about what my little sister taught me this morning. Heather is always thinking about other people and is one of the most sensitive people I know.

Especially on this Easter Sunday, I have thought about how much Heather emulated the essence of the Easter season. Like the hard-boiled eggs Heather spent her hunt gathering, our Savior selflessly wants to gather each of us back to Him. Even when we feel like no one else cares, the Savior always does. He is our greatest advocate and will never abandon us.

Thank you Heather for reminding me to remember the essence of Easter.

Happy Easter!