Beyond the chocolate bunny……

I love Easter Sunday–not because of the fancy pastel clothing that I dress my family in, or because of the ham and mashed potatoes that we eat too much of, and not even because of the abundance of chocolate at my house. (Although that is exciting!

No, Easter has such a thrilling significance for me, as a forgiven child of Jesus Christ. Easter Sunday is an exciting reminder that Jesus did much more than die on the cross for me. That in itself is the very reason for my living–He set me free from the power of sin! But on that morning of the third day, He showed His power over death itself, and rose again and lives! How can I ever live a defeated or depressed life, when I remember the POWER that is wrapped up in my salvation???!!!

As Easter approaches, take time to meditate on the words of one of my favorite hymns. It sums up the entire story of my redemption.

He was wounded for our transgressions,
He bore our sins in His body on the tree;
For our guilt He gave us peace,
From our bondage gave release,
And with His stripes,
and with His stripes,
And with His stripes our souls are healed.

He was numbered among transgressors,
We did esteem Him forsaken by His God;
As our sacrifice He died,
That the law be satisfied,
And all our sin,
and all our sin,
And all our sin was laid on Him.

We had wandered, we all had wandered
Far from the fold of “the Shepherd of the sheep”;
But He sought us where we were,
On the mountains bleak and bare,
And bro’t us home,
and bro’t us home,
And bro’t us safely home to God.

Who can number His generation?
Who shall declare all the triumphs of His Cross?
Millions, dead, now live again,
Myriads follow in His train!
Victorious Lord,
victorious Lord,
Victorious Lord and coming King!

And this is one of my favorite Easter songs. (The video is a little graphic, so just be aware if you decide to watch it.)

Catching up….

Going from 2 kids to 3 has not really changed things in our family……yet. But I am not back to work yet and we have not had to be anywhere super important yet. So we will see!

I know Easter is a distant memory now, but I did want to post a few pics from that weekend. Although I do not like to focus on eggs and chocolate, we do have a tradition of going to Josh’s parents’ house every Good Friday and coloring eggs and having an egg hunt. It is fun for the girls and not connected to Easter Day, which is nice. This year poor Little E was initiated into the “Girls’ Cousin Club”…..little does he know what life will be like for him!

On Easter Sunday, my sister was here for a visit. She has not been our house in four years, so I was thrilled to have her here. The girls were very excited too…..they miss Aunt Hannah. She stayed for a week, and helped me out tremendously. I miss her tons!! Hopefully next time her husband can come too.

She snapped our crazy family Easter photo for us…..I have given up hoping for a picture perfect look. As long as we are all facing the camera, I’m good.

The verse featured today is from Isaiah–one that I have read and memorized over and over again. But one phrase stuck out to me as I was reading it…”the punishment that brought us peace”. As a mother, I know much about punishment. Sometimes it is easier to administer than other times; but the recipient is never glad to be receiving it. The goal of my punishing though is to (hopefully) solve a problem or teach character. I want that child to learn self-control or respect or obedience, so that they can live a more joyful life.
That is similar to what Christ did for us so many years ago. He was administered punishment by His Father, so that peace and joy could be experienced by those who believe in Him. The peace that I live in daily (due to His gift) was brought about by horrible punishment. And I did not have to bear that punishment!
Every year I cringe a little when Easter rolls around….just like Christmastime, I hate the commercialism that even our Christian society embraces during these celebrations. I strive to keep my children from getting caught up in the candy and gifts. But it is hard to teach the importance of the true meaning of these days (especially after two Easter egg hunts in a row!). What a sweet reminder in the midst of candy and rabbits and eggs–that Jesus Christ bore the punishment for my sin so that I could experience peace! I pray that my children will someday soon recognize their need for that peace also.