HE IS RISEN!

"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened."

Luke 24: 1-12

When I was a child, Christmas was by far, my favorite time of year. The lights, the smells, the carols, the gift shopping, cooking making, tree decorating....and I still love Christmas. I definitely am not a Clark Grizwold decorater, but I definitely go above and beyond many of my friends. I love it. However, as I have grown older, Easter by far, has become my favorite holiday of the year. TBH, it's still almost as cold right now in mid April as it was at Christmas time. Until the middle of May has passed, I still expect a good old fashioned midwest snow dump. It's not the TIME of year, it's the meaning of why Christians celebrate Easter..or as I like to call it, "Resurrection Sunday."

Yes , I still fill baskets for my kids, even being college aged down to third grade. Yes, we will joyfully put on on our Easter best and head to our church early Sunday morning to sing, play our instruments, eat Easter breakfast, and listen to dad/husband/pastor remind us of the beautiful meaning of this very day. This day, the day Jesus rose from the dead, LITERALLY changed the world, Your life and mine. Instead of living in this world of sadness, uncertainty, pain, sorrow, slander, lies, stress etc....we get to live forever in the world of eternal perfection, joy and certainty. No more sorrow, no more pain. It's almost impossible to imagine, yet through the Holy Spirit, our hope stays alive and we set our eyes on those things that are unseen, yet certain.

Easter renews me. It grounds me back to that certain reminder, that God still reigns, NO matter what. No matter what the CRAZY world is saying today, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. There is absolutely NOTHING new under the sun. Nothing,

Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ WILL come again.

Blessed Easter to all of you!! xoxo