I love holidays. I love the decorating, the preparations, cooking, spending time celebrating with family. Mostly, I love the build up to holidays and all the significance behind the spiritual purpose of the day. The last month of winter is always so horrible for me. Knowing spring and sunshine is soo close, but not yet here is just too much for me during the dreary snow turn rain. As the sun shifts into warm the mornings and the days grow longer, I start to feel the excitement of spring. As I watch God literally redeem the earth yet once again, I get giddy thinking of how redemption started. How the resurrection of beauty, newness, growth and life sprung forth the very first time.
The human race was dead in it's soul because of sin just as winter's curse on nature. Then Christ lived a perfect life and died a death to change the course of history. And just as the first bloom raises from the newly green grass so did our Lord Jesus on that morning. He conquered death and sin. His love brought us the hope of life, real life!
Knowing this makes the weeks before Easter so special as we see the world starting to rebirth it's self. I pray that everyone who ever reads this blog knows that only the grace that comes through believing in this good news is why I live the way I do. It's every part of who I am! It's why I wake every morning with new mercies, how I'm able to love on these children who were not supposed to be mine, why I sing when no one is around, it is what keeps me moving when I feel like I can go no longer. This grace through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has made my life full of HOPE, LOVE and LIVING. Not death and destruction, but living. My only hope for this blog is that those who read it will know that REAL living is possible. There is hope.
And let me tell you we celebrated it BIG time!!!
Here are a few pictures of our weekend celebrations.
We dyed eggs and it was much less messy than I intended with two under four. : )
I love all the colors.
Baby girl has a BIG smile under this stupid heart. She kept wanting to pick up the eggs.
This little man had dye everywhere and was very excited about the dunking part of the experience.
Next we celebrated at the Caraway house. Here are all the grandchildren with their Nana and Papaw!
We got all gussied up again Sunday morning for church. Here is Mommy's first Easter with her two blessings.
That Daddy sure is pretty handsome.
my 30th birthday happened to fall on Easter this year too. My sweet s-i-l, Mai Beth made the cutest cake for me!
Isn't it adorable. I know it took her for ever and it was super cute!!!
We also started the tradition of doing "empty tomb" rolls as we retold the kids about Christ resurection.
There are a hundred recipes online, but pretty much you dip a marshmellow in butter, cinnamon and sugar. Then wrap it in a cresent roll. You explain after Jesus' death, they used spices/perfumes for his body and then placed Him in the grave.
When you take them out of the oven, brake open a roll to show that the marshmellow is gone. Just like Jesus was not in the tomb...He has risen!
I initially learned of this tradition from the amazing family that I babysat for in college!
I had a horrible time finding Easter baskets that I liked and were sturdy. Then I realized that I had Scott's and mine from our childhoods. It was so neat reusing them and making new memories with our kids.
There was plenty of hunting over at Granny's and Grandaddy Herman's despite the weather!
I'm so thankful
and overwhelmed to have
celebrated our first Easter with the kids.
Our little man made me choke up a little as I asked him about the story we had told him over and over. It was a week or so after Easter and I wanted to see what he remembered. We talked about Jesus being put in the grave and how the angel came. I asked him what happened then and he said, "He wasn't there....He was ALIVE"
It's so exciting to hear little ones learning the truth that he was alive and is still alive today!
