Somewhere Between Chaos and Calm: Easter 2014

Monday, April 21, 2014

Easter 2014

For our family, Easter is not about bunnies and candy and egg hunts. I don't think there's anything wrong with that stuff, per se, but, for us, Easter is about Christ. About His sacrifice for our sin. About how He was brutally beaten and then crucified in order to redeem us--to keep us from the eternal punishment we deserve. And, the true miracle, the real story, is that He was raised to life again, on a Sunday morning in spring. His resurrection means He lives, and because of that, we live. And, that's what we focus on each Easter season.

The Scriptures that we study during the Lent season (the time preparing us to celebrate His resurrection) are:

Isaiah 53
Matthew 27 and 28
Mark 14:43 - Mark 16
Luke 22:39 - 24:8
John 18-20

It is our joy to share these verses with you; the hope that awaits you once you call on His Name. Jesus. Our Savior. Our Sacrificial Lamb. It is our prayer that you will one day claim Him as yours as well.

Since we were traveling during the week before Easter, and since Peter had to work that weekend, we decided to stay local for the holiday. We celebrated with a service at our church in the morning and then had our "big" meal (just the four of us) at 2pm. I put together baskets for the kids with practical things in them: toothbrushes, toothpaste, lip balm, gum, a Reese's egg, earrings for Alayna, origami paper for Jeremiah, and stationary for both of them. Peter hid about 30 plastic eggs with pennies, nickels, and dimes in them for the kids to find. No matter how old they get, they love hide and seek. They continue to hide the (empty) plastic eggs from each other for several weeks after Easter.

We ended the day by spending a few hours at Avila beach before heading home for showers and a light supper. It was a quiet family day that I wouldn't have traded for anything. Here are some photos from our day: