IT´S ALL ABOUT LIFE

Every year at Easter I have the sincere desire to fast forward through the soberness of Friday to the joy & hope of Sunday. 

Am I alone in this?

I want to appreciate the death of Christ, His suffering, what it cost Him & what it accomplished for me and mankind but I honestly cannot take it all in.  It is so overwhelming, so sad, so full of pain and heaviness that I can´t linger there long. 

I am the kind of person who shuts her eyes in every violent scene in a movie and only made it through about 10 minutes of The Passion before leaving!

All of this doesn´t mean I am not thankful.  Or unaware of my own sin. Nor does it mean I don´t need to grow in this.  

I love my Redeemer.  I worship the Saviour.

It´s just that He came to give LIFE.  He Himself IS life.  And that LIFE triumphed on Sunday´s resurrection.  Of course there was a necessary path of death for there to even be a resurrection.  But, in the end, this is all about LIFE.

This year has been a heavy year.  And as Easter draws near, I have had a deeper desire than ever to celebrate LIFE, HEALING, HOPE.  It is a deep need within our family this year.  I hope this is ok with Him.  I think it is...

You may have seen my Easter Tree that I made to celebrate this year.  It´ something different for us.  Something visually symbolic of life and hope. It is made from an olive branch to remind us of the Garden´s pain.  But it keeps us looking forward to promises, to spring, to renewed faith, to upcoming healing, to miracles, big and small, and mostly, to LIFE.

                                     

                              

                              

                              

Here in Spain, everyone is focused on Jesus´ death through elaborate processions in the streets.  It is countercultural here to make Sunday the big day but it is the big day for me!

I realized this week that this is the first Easter in 5 years that we have all 5 been together!  That is special, too.  And even if Jenna doesn´t have strength to make it to church, we will be celebrating LIFE on that day in various ways.  Because Jesus, who is LIFE, is what this is all about...

...and THAT´S worth celebrating everyday.

Photo by:  Brian Haslam