Easter

Before I share the pictures from our Easter morning, I do have to share how thankful I am for the reason we celebrate Good Friday and Easter. I always knew the reason that we celebrated Easter, but it becomes more and more real to me as I get older. Once I became a mom, it made it even more unbearable for me to imagine what Mary went through as a mother to Jesus. I cannot imagine how painful that was to watch her son dying....literally suffering in front of her eyes and in excruciating pain...because of our sin, because of MY sin.

I can barely stand it when Lainie falls down and scrapes her knee. I immediately take her inside every time to wash her wounds and make them better with a band-aid and a kiss. I can hug her, love her and see that she is better. I cannot fathom someone beating her, stoning her, ripping her skin with thorns, NAILING her to a cross when she had done absolutely nothing to deserve it. I cannot imagine watching Lainie or Emmie literally screaming in horrific pain, crying, bleeding, hanging by nails, flesh being torn from their bodies and not being able to do anything about it....I cannot imagine. And yet, Jesus did that for me and His mother watched it. It really is more than I can fathom. I am so grateful for Jesus dying on the cross for my sins and loving me more than I can ever comprehend. He died and He rose again, and if I had been the only person left standing on this Earth, He would have done it. Mary would have watched Him suffer and die in front of her own eyes, and she would have seen Him rise again......for me.

I don't understand why I am sometimes ashamed to say I am a Christian. Why am I ashamed to say that Jesus is my Lord, my Savior, my Redeemer? Why do I choose to place other priorities in front of Him? I am a sinner and I don't deserve His sacrifice, yet He loves me and forgives me. I can understand on the smallest scale how much He loves me through the love I have for my children. I would literally do anything for them, and I hope that I never have to hear that they are ashamed to know my name. That would break my heart, and yet I do it to Jesus all the time.

My greatest hope and prayer for my girls is to KNOW Jesus, to really know Him. I pray that they have a personal relationship with Him and that they understand the reason we celebrate Easter. It is fun to celebrate Easter with egg hunts, Easter baskets, and bunnies, but I hope that they eventually understand that Easter is so much more than that. He is risen...He is risen indeed!