Little Egg, BIG Message

Bob: Who is that right there?

Matthew: PattyCake.

Bob: That's Miss PattyCake.  And what has she got a basket of?  What's in that basket?

Matthew: Eggs.

Bob: Are those the eggs that tell about Jesus?

Matthew: Hm.

Bob: What color is that egg there?

Matthew: Green.

Bob: Yes, that's a green egg, isn't it?  You know your colors, don't you?  And what is that right there?

Matthew: A donkey.

Bob: A donkey?  Who rode on the donkey?

Matthew: Jesus.

Bob: That's right.  And then there's this cup right here.  Do you see that cup?

 And welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us on the Friday edition.  How did I do there with Matthew, huh?

Dennis: I think Matthew was enjoying himself.  It's too bad radio doesn't have a camera associated with hit.

Miss PattyCake: I think he was sort of a Mr. PattyCake there.

Bob: Do you think there's a new career for me?

Miss PattyCake: You did well!  It could be!

Dennis: Mr. PattyCake.

Miss PattyCake: I have a hat just for you.

Bob: Yeah, I'm a little afraid of that.  We actually have a grandmother in the studio along with her grandson, Matthew.

Dennis: Libby Strawn (ph) joins us.  Libby, you said he knows almost all of Miss PattyCake's songs?

Libby: He loves Miss PattyCake.  Everything about Miss PattyCake.

Dennis: And the Resurrection Eggs, the Easter story?

Libby: I was shocked.  He was two in August, and I cannot believe when I went to visit him in Texas last week, he showed me every egg and told me everything of the soldiers and the …

Matthew: (inaudible)

Libby: You know about Miss PattyCake and the eggs, don't you?  He loves it.

Dennis: He understands the symbols that are in the story at two-and-a-half years of age.

Libby: He talked about the dice and the soldiers, and he told me, "Jesus died for my sins," and he's two-and-a-half, and I'm, like, I can't believe.  But you were so right.  I heard you speaking about what they learn at an early age.

Dennis: You know, I'm now a grandparent, too, Libby.  Neither one of us look old enough to be grandparents, but we love the process because it represents the next generation, and I honestly believe that Resurrection Eggs, as an evangelistic tool, is perhaps one of the most effective tools to introduce children to the Gospel story that we can present, and the reason is it's visual, it involves something they can touch, they can open, and it's very, very simple, and it's no wonder, Bob, we've now seen more than 1 million dozen Resurrection Eggs distributed here in America.

Bob: And for years parents have been using these eggs with their own children and telling the Easter story around Easter and last year we said, "Well, let's not just keep it to our own kids …

Dennis: Let's broaden the circle.

Bob: Let's have the World's Largest Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt.  And we had listeners from all across the country who joined with us and said, "We'll have an Easter egg hunt in our neighborhood.  We'll use the Resurrection Eggs," and I think Miss Stephanie is here with a set of them.

Libby: Oh, you brought some eggs.  Thank you very much.  My grandson just got off the plane, and he's coming to stay with us for six days, and he said, "I cannot go without Miss PattyCake."

Matthew: Here's a hand.

Miss PattyCake: Which one is that orange egg?  There's a hand in there.  What is that hand?

Dennis: That's the praying …

Matthew: Praying …

Dennis: You folded your hands to pray.

Miss PattyCake: Matthew, do you remember what did Jesus say when He put his hands together?  (sings) Jesus said …

Matthew: Yes.

Miss PattyCake: That's right, Jesus said yes to the Father.  And what can you say?  (sings) And you can say …

Matthew: Yes.

Miss PattyCake: Yes!  You can say yes to him, too!

Libby: What is in that one?

Dennis: Two years old – I'm telling you, what a great illustration of what we're talking about.  Now, what's in the yellow egg?

Matthew: Cross.

Dennis: It's a cross.

Libby: What happened on the cross?

Matthew: Jesus.

Miss PattyCake: That’s right.

Libby: What did Jesus do on the cross?

Matthew: For my sins.

Libby: For your sins, that's right.

Libby: Listen, I had heard of these eggs, but until my grandson started telling me the story from the eggs, I didn't realize the value of it.  But, I'm blown away now.  And his grandfather has not seen this yet.

Dennis: And you didn't actually come over to the studio to get on the radio.  You actually came over to the office because you live in the neighborhood, and your grandson just got off a plane, and he was wanting some Miss PattyCake. 

Libby: I thought, six days with him for the first time alone with us.  I'll go get Miss PattyCake anywhere I can.

Dennis: So you walk in and here she is.

Miss PattyCake: And I'm in Little Rock today.

Dennis: We deliver.

Libby: I appreciate it very much.  It may make my next six days better than you can imagine.

Bob: Well, you can hear, as Matthew opens he eggs, you can hear how a two-year-old knows that Jesus came into town on the donkey – he's opening that and there is the donkey.  We have found this to be such an effective tool that last year we enlisted moms and dads and churches and folks from all around the country in the World's Largest Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt, and we want you to be a part of it this year – the second annual hunt, and we've got all the information folks need on our website on how they can pull this off.

Dennis: What's that one that he just opened?

Libby: This one is coins, I think.

Dennis: The 30 pieces of silver.  So, Libby, you've never seen what's inside this?

Libby: No.

Dennis: You've been a friend for a long time, Libby.

Libby: Until your grandson or your child is interested …

Matthew: A rock.

Dennis: It's a rock.

Miss PattyCake: A rock!

Dennis: It's the stone.

Matthew: It rolled away.

Libby: It rolled away.

Dennis: You know, whether you have a young child like Matthew or whether you have some teenagers, I talked to one homeschooling mom who enlisted her 13-year-old and 15-year-old teenagers, and it was their Easter egg hunt and their party.  And you know what?  They went door-to-door in the neighborhood, they passed out the invitations, they invited the children, and they put the show on.  Now, you think about this – a 13- and a 15-year-old, this is a great way to train your children about being concerned about a future generation and about getting the Gospel to little children.

Bob: You know, if we can take this story and press it into the heart of a two-year-old, it's going to be there for life, isn't it?

Miss PattyCake: I hear people say, and these are people who don't understand, that these children are too young, but they are wrong.  They are wrong.  I see it – I guess you know, I'll be doing 50-concerts this year as Miss PattyCake.  Everywhere I go, the mommies and the grandparents and the daddies come and say, "You have no idea that my child sings your song and says every word that you say."  They're blank …

Matthew: This is dice.

Miss PattyCake: This is the dice, good for you, Matthew.  Their little brains are just – they're blank.  Their synapses are just connecting, and for us to give them a biblical and godly foundation and worldview is crucial for these children, especially in our culture.

Bob: And then they learn the songs that you've got on the DVD, and those songs just burn it even deeper into their memory.  In fact, can we put those headphones on Matthew?  Maybe we can play one of Miss PattyCake's songs for Matthew.

Miss PattyCake: Do you want to listen to some music?  Do you like the clip-clop song?

 ("Clip-Clop  Song")

Bob: You know, I'm not sure that without you dressed up in a green smock and a yellow shirt that Matthew is really connecting with the fact that Miss PattyCake is sitting here with him.

Miss PattyCake: You're exactly right.  Usually, it's really all about the costume.

Bob: He's looking here, like …

Miss PattyCake: I can't figure this out.

Dennis: She's here somewhere, but I can't find her.

Libby: He recognizes the voice.

Dennis: He was looking at the screen in there for a face and for the green dress and the heart and the hands.

Bob: Well, we need to let Matthew go and take his Miss PattyCake doll.  I didn't even know there was a Miss PattyCake doll, and you know what?  That book right there, Matthew can take that book with him, too.

Miss PattyCake: That's for you, Matthew.

Dennis: Brand-new, Matthew.

Matthew: The video.

Libby: Thank you.

Miss PattyCake: That's not what he said, he said, "And where's the video?"  Here, take the video, too.

 (laughter)

Libby: You've trained him well, Libby.

Bob: He's loaded up.  He's got his Resurrection Eggs, he's got his Miss PattyCake DVD …

Libby: Can you tell Miss PattyCake and the nice men thank you very much?

Matthew: Thank you very much.

Bob: You're welcome, Matthew.

Libby: Thanks, you guys.

Dennis: Bye-bye, Libby.

Bob: That's why you do what you do?  I mean, you're sitting here looking at a two-and-a-half-year-old, I'm just watching you – talk about gasoline on your fire.  Just seeing the eyes of a two-and-a-half-year-old light up and see him know the story of Easter.  That's why you do what you do.

Miss PattyCake: It's incredible.  When you said that about gasoline on my fire, George Barna, the pollster, has recently found out all this wonderful new information.  It's actually not even wonderful, it's fairly frightening, because it speaks of the need in our culture to speak into the lives of children, and here is what he said, which I think we should think about in light of the World's Largest Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt, but he says that ministry to children is the single most strategic ministry in the Kingdom of God, and he said if you want to have the greatest possible impact to achieve a lasting legacy – there's your word – of spiritual dividends, then consider employing your resources in ministry to young people.

Bob: Do you have a copyright on that word?

Dennis: I don't have a copyright.

Miss PattyCake: But I think of you when I see it.

Dennis: Well, I appreciate that.  I ran across a Disney brochure that talked about leaving a legacy …

Bob: By taking your kids to Disney World.

Dennis: Taking your kids to Disney World, and I thought, you know what?  Inscribing their names and your picture in some kind of commercial piece they're doing down there, maybe that's a piece of your legacy, but the real legacy is one that lasts for eternity – for eternity.  Now, think about that.  And what we are wanting to do is we are wanting to expose 1 million children to the Gospel.  We want a million children to hear about the Easter story through the World's Largest Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt, and we want you – no, not Jean, not Miss PattyCake – no, not Bob – we want you, as a listener, to say, "I'll take that on in my neighborhood.  I'll do that in my city, my community.  You can count on me."  And we're signing folks up, Bob.  We had over 3,000 folks a year ago who went to our website and actually signed up for the World's Largest Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt, and we had 70,000 download how to put this Easter egg hunt on.  So we have no idea how many did it last year, but we're wanting more this year.

Bob: Well, and do the math.  If 70,000 – let's say all 70,000 had done it, and let's say that 10 kids at each party heard the Easter story.  That's 700,000 kids.

Dennis: Right, and some of these parties had, as we've been hearing this week, had 25, 50 or more people in people's homes doing relays and hunts for eggs and hearing the Gospel.

Bob: One of our allies last year in the World's Largest Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt lives in Arlington, Tennessee.  Her name is Patricia, and we've got her on the line with us to hear what happened last year as she did this at her local church.  Patricia, are you there?

Patricia: Yes, I am.

Bob: Well, thanks for joining us on FamilyLife Today.

Patricia: Glad to do it.

Dennis: Hi, Patricia, this is Dennis.  Understand you live in a rural community and don't really have a neighborhood.

Patricia: Well, actually, I live in Memphis, and I go to church in an area that's very rural, and we have – I guess we have neighborhoods, but they're not neighborhoods like you think of in a subdivision.  The houses are not close together.  It's a farming community.

Bob: The mailboxes are kind of far apart.

Patricia: That's right.

Bob: We were just talking about how a neighborhood Easter egg hunt might have 10 children show up or 30 or 40.  You had a few more than that, didn't you?

Patricia: Yes, we did.  We actually had – the best count that we could get, we had 58 kids, and we had a total of 146 in attendance.

Dennis: 146?

Patricia: Yes, we did.  We had a whole lot of parents that came.  Of course, with younger kids that's normal, and they really got involved, and it was great.  They seemed to really get a charge out of watching the kids do this.

Dennis: So you had 146 people in your house?

Patricia: No, in our church.

Bob: They did it at the church.

Dennis: Oh, I missed that.  I was going, that's a nice house you've got there.  Well, what did you see happen as a result?  You had all these age groups hearing the Gospel, including adults.

Patricia: Absolutely, absolutely.  We actually had – we can't report any decisions, and I wish we could, but we operate off of a philosophy – I'm the children's director – we operate off of a philosophy that we are planting seeds.

Bob: That's right.

Patricia: We felt from that, that it was a total success.  We had 150 people in our church, and there was a large portion of those people that wouldn't have been in our church if it hadn't been for us doing this.

Bob: And you stop and think about a local church and some of the things that they can do that will be attractive to people in the neighborhood – this has go to be a winning concept for a church.  I've said for years, if you want to connect with the heart of a mom, do something really nice for her kids, and she'll go wherever you want her to go.  And so you have an Easter egg hunt at your church for her kids, she's likely to show up the next day and say, "Tell me the rest of what happens over here."

Patricia: Oh, yeah, and we took the opportunity to be sure that they knew what was happening here by giving a letter to the parents that went home with each child that told what the Resurrection story was, what the children were told, and what each egg contained so that when children whose parents weren't there and did not hear the message, went home and started trying to talk about it, they would have an understanding and, hopefully, the parent could then reinforce what the child had heard.

Bob: I've got a copy of the letter that you sent home right here in front of me from the First Baptist Church of Hickory Withe Tennessee, and you took each of the elements from the eggs and – I mean, if a parent reads through this, they're going to hear the Easter story, aren't they?

Patricia: That's correct, that's correct. 

Bob: You are a sneaky children's director, aren't you?

Patricia: Oh, yeah, you have to be, you know – just resourceful.

Dennis: Patricia, I love the way you concluded your letter.  You said, "The children are excited about hearing the results whether or not we made the Guinness Book of World Records to let us know."

Bob: We'll put you in the Dennis Book of World Records, how's that?

Dennis: One hundred and forty-six – unless, of course, Patricia, you beat it this year.

Patricia: Well, we'll take that challenge.

Bob: Good for you. 

Dennis: So you're going to do it again?

Patricia: Yes, we are, and we had decided that we were going to follow through and use maybe some of the different games and that kind of thing.

Bob: Well, I'll tell you what, we're thrilled that you're linking arms with us in this endeavor, and I'm just thrilled for the 146 people last year and the 200 or more this year.  That's the gauntlet I'm throwing down for you.

Patricia: Well, we did 624 eggs last year with two sets of Resurrection Eggs, so I think that we'll probably do 800 this year.

Dennis: That's cool.  Thanks for your faith, Patricia, and for your faithfulness.

Bob: Keep us posted and let us know how it goes.

Patricia: We will do that.

Dennis: And we'll save your spot in the Dennis Book of World Records.

Patricia: We're glad to be a part of this.

Bob: Thanks, Patricia.

Patricia: Thank you guys.

Dennis: Bye-bye.

Patricia: Bye-bye.

Bob: You know, you stop and think about it, if you lived out in a rural community, out in Tennessee or Mississippi or Vermont or Nebraska or Washington State, it doesn't matter where, you get a flyer in the mailbox that said the church down the road is going to be having an Easter egg hunt for the kids, who wouldn't pack up the kids on a Saturday morning at 10 and go down there so the kids could have an hour of fun and meet other kids and play in an environment that's going to be safe, that's going to be wholesome …

Miss PattyCake: And non-threatening.

Bob: That's right.

Miss PattyCake: That's why I love the whole concept of Easter egg hunt because that doesn't frighten anybody.  But the Resurrection Eggs, those don't get old.  I love to encourage people – you did it last year, do it again this year, because it's been a whole year.  And, for a child, that's a long time.  So maybe this year when you open the blue one, you might say, "Who remembers what's in the blue egg?"  And someone will say, "That's the donkey," and then you can say, "Now, do you remember why the donkey is in the story," and there you go – off with the story.

Bob: And it is amazing how children can remember this; how the story comes back alive, and one of the reasons we wanted you to be a part of all we're doing this year is because I think a lot of parents would say, "Well, I'll do this for the kids when they get to be five."  And you're saying when they're two.

Miss PattyCake: When they're two, absolutely.  They can hear you, they can understand, they can hear the songs, they can learn them.  Even if they can't say all the words correctly, they can sing, they can clap, they can skip and jump and dance and sing, clap their hands and praise the King – they'll do it.

Bob: And just as Matthew showed us earlier today, you can know that the cross is where Jesus died for your sins.

Dennis: And it's a message that we, as the adults, have been entrusted with.  We're ambassadors.  He calls us over in 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, and as ambassadors, you have to tell the people about where you're from, and where we're from is an invisible kingdom that has a Savior who visited planet earth, and He gave us a great story to tell to the next generation, and this is all about caring about the next generation and, for years, Barbara and I have had a big heart and a burden upon our heart for children.  And, you know, Bob, you were there when the idea for Resurrection Eggs was hatched. 

Bob: I knew he was going to say that.

Dennis: But you and I both, here in the studio, watched God do something very special with a visual illustration of the Easter story, and now to such a degree over a million dozen of these Resurrection Eggs have been distributed in America and who know how many have gone out internationally in other languages.

Bob: We've actually seen this translated into Spanish and into Russian, and it's interesting, because in the Russian culture, eggs are a big deal, and so it's been a hit over there, and our whole desire with the Resurrection Eggs is to see the story planted deep in the hearts of children no matter what age they are, and that's the reason for the World's Largest Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt, and all it takes is you getting together with another person or two, going to our website at FamilyLife.com, downloading what you need.  We've got everything you need – invitations, there's even a coloring book that you can download and reproduce the pages and have coloring sheets for kids when they come over to your house for the World's Largest Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. 

 If you need Resurrection Eggs, you can order those from us, you can find them at your local Wal-Mart, or you can go to your local Christian bookstore.  Family Christian Stores this year is our Easter egg hunt headquarters.  They've got all the supplies you need at the store, so if you're looking for something, you can go by your neighborhood Family Christian Store and pick up things there.

 We've got Miss PattyCake's DVD, and we've got the new book for children that tells the Resurrection Egg story with Miss PattyCake's picture here on the front.

Dennis: This is the one that little Matthew bootlegged out of the studio earlier. 

Bob: He said, "Book, hand me book."

Dennis: He wanted the book and the DVD.

Miss PattyCake: He took my DVD also.

Bob: If you need any of these resources, again, go to our website at FamilyLife.com or go by your local Family Christian Store.  If you need the Resurrection Eggs, they're available there and at Wal-Mart stores, and if we can help you with any information about how you can be a part of the World's Largest Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt or if you think that you somehow qualify for the Dennis Book of World Records, go to FamilyLife.com or give us a call at 1-800-F-as-in-family, L-as-in-life, and then the word TODAY.

Dennis: I have a feeling that – where was that church again?  Hickory Withe.

Bob: Hickory Withe.

Dennis: Hickory Withe, Tennessee.  I think they're going to be edged out.

Bob: You think another church is going to beat them?

Dennis: Well, I’m just thinking of some of these churches that are located in the heart of the city.  You could easily have several hundred kids.

Miss PattyCake: They didn't call it this, but four years ago I did a Resurrection Eggs presentation to a church in Montgomery, Alabama, and there were 700 children there.

Dennis: So are you saying …

Miss PattyCake: I'm saying that church wins.

Bob: You're claiming the record?

Dennis: Are you claiming the record?

Miss PattyCake: Well, no, because it wasn't called the World's Largest Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt at that point, so we should start fresh.

Bob: Join with us, and we're hoping a million children will hear the Gospel this year using the tool of the Resurrection Eggs, and, Miss PattyCake, thank you for stopping by and joining with us, and thank you for your heart for kids.

Dennis: I agree.

Bob: And may God multiply your ministry in their hearts and lives and may He give us a generation of spiritual warriors.

Miss PattyCake: May I say one more thing that I just have to share with both of you – a mother called me the other day and said, "I just want you to know that after watching Eggs-travaganza, my children know about the Resurrection Eggs and my son got out of the car the other day as I was putting gasoline into our car, walked across the little whatchacallit, you know, where the gas pumps are …

Dennis: … island…

Miss PattyCake: … walked right over – thank you – to the man who was pumping gas to us, and he was four years old, and he looked right into this man and said, "Excuse me, but did you know that Jesus made our way to heaven?"  Those are the words of our song, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.  So we never know what seeds are being planted into their hearts.  Thank you, so thank you.

Bob: FamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ.

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