I had invited my neighbor kids over to do some Easter art projects. Four of the girls came over today, which actually was a really nice time to just have a small, mellow group to connect with a bit. I had blown out 18 eggs to put confetti in and then paint. It's sort of a cultural thing in Mexico, I believe, to have these eggs and then break them over each other's heads once they are found. Anyway, the girls really enjoyed painting these blown-out eggs. There is something about paint that they really love. I think they just get to do it so rarely.

At one point one of the little girls asked when Easter is. I said Sunday, and today is Good Friday. Do you know why they call it Good Friday? She said yes, but then said something about getting to stand up when you eat. Don't know what that was about.

I asked if any of them know what Easter is for. One of the girls said, "God." Well, there's a bit more...

They are all "very" Catholic, which is so tied to their cultural identity more than anything else. At least one of the families goes to church at least once a week, and they have no idea what Easter celebrates! So, I said that Good Friday is when Jesus died on the cross, and Easter is when he rose again from the dead. I was feeling pretty excited to even have had the chance to say that.

Then came the question that has been asked at least a dozen times before, but it seems so important to distinguish, "Are you Christian or Catholic?" Oh. :(

I tried to talk about how Christian just means you believe in Jesus, so Catholics are Christians too, and the other Christians are called Protestants. Well, they've never heard of Protestants, so one girl firmly declared the distinction is that they don't believe in Mary! It's not like we don't believe she existed! It's just SO significant to them that we don't give her the honor and due she is believed to be worthy of in that culture, and it is a significant issue to them. It makes me sad that they don't even know why they celebrate Easter, but they're offended by a Christianity that doesn't celebrate Mary's birthday!

Anyway, still a good day but a little sad to hit those barriers. Not sure if it makes much difference sometimes to have them over for times like this, but they like to come. So I'll keep having them.