Easter Sunday

Spring:

As a kid, I always loved summer. Long days spent outside, no school or homework in sight, later bedtimes and more time with friends. Now that I am older, I often notice things about each season that I love and appreciate that weren’t even on my radar as a kid. Although I can’t pick one season that I love the most, spring always brings forth such an appreciation of life for me.

We moved into our house about four years ago and much like in every house you buy, it needed (who am I kidding…still needs) some improvements. One of those improvements was an overgrown perennial garden adjacent to the back patio of our house. We didn’t want to pay a landscaper to redo anything just yet because of wanting to renovate a few things, so one weekend the first spring we were in our house, Alex and I went to town. We removed a stump and cleared out practically everything from that garden with the exception of one peony bush.

The last few years I have slowly added to that garden, intentionally picking each plant. Lambs ear in honor of my Grandma Sandy because I have sweet memories of helping her garden and feeling the soft lambs ear leaves, hydrangeas because they were one of my wedding flowers, lilies for my daughter’s namesake…etc. Each year the garden has grown, and this is the first year that it feels “full”.

Every day I stare out my kitchen window to the new life bursting forth from the ground. The peonies were barely poking out of the ground last week but now they are about a foot high. There is just something so magical about that to me.

(My Outfit: Dress // Bag // Shoes // Earrings // Sunglasses // Lipstick // Lilly’s Outfit: Dress // Sweater //Shoes // Bag // Sunglasses)

He is Risen:

Spring also brings Easter, the biggest reminder of new life for us all. This weekend, Alex and I really immersed ourselves in God’s word. We read the Gospel of Mark and watched The Passion of the Christ. I still can’t even imagine the pain Christ was in the day He died for us all. Pain that I am not sure any other human has ever experienced. He didn’t have to do that. He didn’t have to die like that. He did so because He LOVES us so unbelievably much.

So we could all know God the way He does. I was reading a book the other day and it said (not word for word) that we are far too worried about getting into heaven and not worried enough about loving God the way he loves us.

It stopped me in my tracks. I want to love God the way he loves me. I daily want to know Him more. I don’t want to be that Christian who is just worried about getting into heaven. I want to pursue the One who pursues me in the fiercest ways and who gave His only Son to die for me. For me and for you. For my sin and for yours. For every sin that has ever been made. That’s how much Jesus had to suffer. Not just for one person’s sins. But for all of the sins that had ever and will ever be made. Can you even imagine that kind of suffering? I know I can’t.

Jesus overcame death and rose from that pain and suffering. New life was made, and now WE can have a new life through Him. I mean…does it get any more SPRING than that?

New Beginnings:

Today was a joyful day but also a sad day in some ways for my family. Our beloved pastor (Pastor Bob) will be taking on a new pastoral role in the next month and gave his last sermon today. Pastor Bob has been such a huge part of my life, he confirmed me into my church and I spent many Sundays growing my faith through his thoughtful questions and stories. He was the second person I called when I found out I was pregnant with Lilly, married Alex and I (twice), baptized Lilly, but that’s all the big stuff. What I love about Pastor Bob (and his whole family) is that he was in all the little stuff too. He met you for coffee, he held your baby, he played guitar in the contemporary band at church. Why am I telling you this?

Because today he said something that resonated with me. He said that God put you in the situation you are in for a reason. it’s your job to find that reason. I often feel like as Christians we seek God’s will for our lives when it’s convenient for us. We like the comfortable lives we are living in. We don’t want to do the uncomfortable things that might bring others closer to God. We are comfortable with the same routine, the same mediocre ways, and when something doesn’t go as we planned we complain or point fingers.

Jesus was uncomfortable for us. More than we can ever imagine. It’s time that we start becoming more uncomfortable for Him and transform a church who needs God in the center again. The center of our church, the center of our families, and the center of our own lives. And not just when we feel like it.

Easter Morning:

So let me close with how our Easter started:

Today Lilly woke up at 4 AM and came into our room exclaiming, “THE EASTER BUNNY CAME!”. Fortunately, we were able to diffuse the situation and she slept another two hours.

When she finally reached her basket, she found a GINORMOUS chocolate Easter bunny inside. She was so excited to find this bunny that she carried it around with her for about an hour.

That bunny was a mistake. I was so busy last week that I somehow missed the small detail of the BIG BUNNY when I was checking out of my Walmart Pick-Up Grocery App (one little thing that makes mom life so much easier, I don’t even have to step foot in the store).

So it looks like the BIG BUNNIES will have to be a thing in our house until she’s an adult because I don’t think a small bunny will be acceptable to Lilly after this year.

I hope your Easters were filled with Jesus, family, funny stories and lots of chocolate bunnies. From my family to yours, Happy Easter!

He is Risen!

Kalyn