Easter Celebration

Easter did not come and go without significance for me this year.  I am sad to say that I believe it probably has in the past.  I was reflecting on the holidays that we as Christians celebrate, and it struck me in a new and refreshed way that Easter is the greatest of them all!  I love Christmas and all of the festivities that begin right after Thanksgiving and carry on throughout the whole month of December.  There is an excitement and anticipation that no one can deny surrounding Christmas.  I love celebrating birthdays and if you would have asked me before what my favorite holiday was, I would have told you without hesitation- Christmas.  But, this year it was really my prayer that Easter would resonate with my soul.  That it would not just come and go with the normalcy of any other weekend. 

We had a wonderful and meaningful Easter weekend.  Joey did not have class on Friday, and while I did not get the day off from work, I had some comp time to make up from events I have had lately, so only worked in the morning.  We spent the late afternoon and early evening at the Roush's.  They were babysitting their sweet niece, so we got to meet her and join them for dinner.  After that we came home to watch The Passion.  I have seen the movie a couple of times, but not very recently.  It really stirred up some emotion in me, and the awe of the sacrifice Christ made for me resonated strongly. 

Saturday was filled with some quality time for me and the hubs and we got to watch Tegan for the Roush's for the day.  Meg and Rich came over for dinner, and then Joey and I got our Easter eggs ready to hunt the next day.  We each bought a package of 12 eggs that we were going to fill with coupons and candy for each other to hunt on Easter.  I grew up with young siblings, so hunting eggs on Easter is a tradition that I don't plan to quit anytime soon.  Don't our eggs suit us perfectly?

Sunday morning we went to church and enjoyed a wonderful worship service.  I love to see everyone in their new Easter clothes squeezing into the full sanctuary.  The fresh Easter lilies lining the stage and the hymns that are so appropriate to celebrate a risen Savior fill me with excitement.  In Sunday School we studied in detail the death and Resurrection of our Lord.  I love the new things that jump off the page with meaning when we study scripture in a group with fellow believers.  It is such a cool thing when we are able to see a story we have studied for years with a new and refreshing wonder. 

Joey and I came home from church and hunted for the Easter eggs we had hidden around the house for each other.  It was pretty fun, and sometimes challenging to remember where we had hidden them when one of us needed a clue.  :)

Then, the Roush's came over and Meg and me cooked a big Easter lunch for us all.  Even the dogs got bones.  It was a meaningful and refreshing Easter weekend around here that made me thankful for many things, but especially for the holiday that reminds us to meditate and remember the price that was paid for our sins.  He is Risen and we are Free!  We sang, In Christ Alone, at church on Sunday.  It is one of my favorite hymns!  We sang it at our wedding as well.  The lyrics are a perfect way to worship our Risen Savior.

In Christ alone my hope is found

He is my light, my strength, my song

This Cornerstone, this solid ground

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

What heights of love, what depths of peace

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease

My Comforter, my All in All

Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh

Fullness of God in helpless Babe

This gift of love and righteousness

Scorned by the ones He came to save

'Til on that cross as Jesus died

The wrath of God was satisfied

For every sin on Him was laid

Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay

Light of the world by darkness slain

Then bursting forth in glorious Day

Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me

For I am His and He is mine

Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death

This is the power of Christ in me

From a life's first cry to final breath

Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell, no scheme of man

Could ever pluck me from His hand

'Til He returns or calls me home

Here in the power of Christ I stand