Grace, Grit, and Green Bean Casserole: Finding Easter Where You Are
Michelle Kuehner, ChFC®
The Easter holiday is approaching, and for many of us, this means searching through our closets for our "Sunday best"—which, if we are being completely honest, most likely still has the mustard stain from the previous year on it. The Easter holiday has a way of slipping into our routines and stirring things up, regardless of whether you are going to church, Grandma's house, or just staying at home with a tray of deviled eggs and a prayer that the children don't find the chocolate before breakfast.
Seriously, have you seen the price of eggs lately? It's as if the hens formed a union and started negotiating for better benefits. I half-expected to see a carton locked behind glass with a security guard standing nearby. Sure, the price tags have changed, but the feeling of Easter—the food, the laughter, the people you love—offers something familiar and comforting about the way we gather this time of year. It offers something that is more valuable than anything that can be measured in dollars—memories.
Easter is about more than church and an oversized bunny. You might find it on the factory floor, in the cab of a truck, or in a prayer that is whispered before a night shift at the hospital. It's not always loud or dressed up when it comes to faith around here. It can be quiet, worn into the hands of someone who shows up every day for their family, even if they're running on fumes and hope.
Resurrection goes beyond church. It is an expression of life.
It’s the mechanic who gets back on his feet after a rough year. The mother who, after months of saying, "We'll figure it out," eventually finds a stable job. It's the individual who attends his first AA meeting, feeling nervous and desperate for change in his life. This is not merely a collection of stories; rather, it is Easter in real time.
Sometimes resurrection shows up slow and steady, with lunch packed the night before and bills somehow paid one more month. And in the middle of it all—whether you believe in empty tombs or just the chance to start over—we find grace. Not the Sunday-morning, perfect-hair kind of grace. A different kind. The kind that meets you in your work boots, with doubts, debts, and maybe a little dirt on your jeans.
Easter reminds us that we are not stuck. That new life, fresh starts, and hope that does not quit are still on the table—right next to the green bean casserole and whatever Aunt Becky brought that nobody touches.
So go ahead, wear your Sunday best. Or don’t. Show up in your hoodie and steel-toed boots if that’s what you’ve got. What matters most is that we show up—with hearts open, hands willing, and maybe an extra slice of pie for someone who needs it.
Because Easter isn’t just a holiday. It’s a reminder: we fall, we rise, and—no matter how cracked or expensive—the eggs still hold something good inside.
Michelle Kuehner, ChFC® is the President of Personal Money Planning, LLC, a Wichita Falls retirement planning and investment management firm.
