True Easter and Norooz and Spring #crossculturalmarriage

THIS is a Happy Spring photo. I love celebrating Iranian New Year, Norooz, for two weeks at the first of spring. It really helps separate spring from Easter.

I love all the bunnies and eggs and flowers and adorable photos in my news feed right now, but that isn’t Easter. It’s spring. It’s life. But God becoming man, fully dying, fully coming back to life, and then inviting us to follow into eternal life, is so much more than spring.

We didn’t do bunnies or eggs growing ip, because my parents didn’t want us to miss the true meaning of Easter. We celebrated. We went to a sunrise service on the top of a mountain and then had hoards of people over for breakfast before church. Easter is the reason we rejoice.

But spring is also wonderful, and I love embracing the celebration of spring and the new birth and new life in Iranian New Year.

I’ve seen so many beautiful and different family Easter traditions displayed on Facebook today and I truly think they are wonderful. I don’t question whether these families know the true meaning of Easter. There are many ways to celebrate God’s victory and gift of life.

I want to incorporate some of these traditions into my own, and since my Easter has never had bunnies and baskets and eggs, I think I’ll add them to our new (for me) Norooz celebration. 

So next year, if you see ZZ with an “Easter basket” a few weeks ahead of scheduled, don’t be surprised. We are just blending lives and cultures. Cross-cultural marriages can be awesome.

And speaking of cross-cultural marriage, stay tuned for the next post. We had Iranians over for a Norooz party this afternoon (remember Norooz is 2 weeks long and so we are halfway through.)  We made Iranian pirashki and pigs in a blanket, mirzahghasemi and Velveeta salsa dip.