Repossess you pay the cost
He will purchase you for freedom
He will find all that was lost...
So run and tell all
Those who have longed to hear
The wait is over
The Risen Savior's here
--Michael Card, "All That Was Lost"
Blessings to you this Easter! May you be filled with joy, amazement, and thankfulness at how Jesus suffered our death sentence so we wouldn't have to and made a way for us to be with right with God. Some thoughts about holidays... We love Christmas and celebrating Jesus' fragile coming as a baby-- everything is new and innocent and tentative. We think about that little baby and Mary and Joseph going to great extremes to keep him safe, and there are ominous notes underneath the sweetness because we know the plan. But Easter comes after the worst had happened, after it seemed all was lost, after Jesus was betrayed, made fun of, tortured, and killed. And then, in the bleakest situation, a most unexpected miracle happened. As Jesus showed himself to the disciples, their hearts must have "leaped, and a wild hope rose within them" (C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle). Jesus being risen makes all the difference. So while Christmas is a long-awaited arrival, Easter is an unparalleled victory. Hallelujah!
We worshiped and celebrated at church, then came home and celebrated as a family. I made my first whole holiday meal and only got kitchen grumpy at the end. I did get two cuts and a burn in the process, but nothing serious. Hendrik did an Easter egg hunt in the backyard on Dirk's shoulders... He's not walking yet, and we didn't want him crawling around outside in the wet yard. Hendrik liked the eggs. A few of them had a jelly bean, but most of them had a couple of raisins or a peanut butter cracker. Later in the evening we had a slaphappy baby. Maybe five jellybeans was too many.
Happy Easter once again. He is risen, risen indeed!