Resurrection Day!

 I woke up with Philippians 2:8-11 on my mind. Jesus humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. I just laid in bed for a few moments and gave thanks for Jesus' obedience to death so that God the Father's plan for salvation could be complete.

It is only through the death and resurrection of Jesus that we have a hope for the future. Without the blood sacrifice of Jesus there is no chance for anyone to stand in the presence of a Holy God. No one is good enough to get to heaven in their own power or good works. God gave us the standard for holiness in Scripture...in the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament and Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in the New Testament. Have you lied? Have you stolen? Have you looked at a man or woman lustfully? The possibilities for sin are endless. God knows that we cannot maintain His standard on our own so He sent his only son, Jesus, to earth--fully God and fully man--to be a sacrifice for the sin of humanity. Now when we stand before God as judge and are found guilty we can acknowledge Jesus' sacrifice and Jesus will stand beside us in "court". If we accept Jesus' sacrifice Jesus tells Father God, "I took care of this one. I've got this one's sin covered." Our "charge" is cleared and we are found pure and are able to stand in the presence of a Holy God.

That sacrificial gift of Jesus' life and also His resurrection from the dead which defeated sin and death is what we celebrate on Easter.

I made baskets for each of our children for Easter morning. There were 6 small gifts in each basket. Each gift was a different color that reminded them of a part of the Jesus' story. We have a book that we read that tells us about each color. Green for the palm branches that were waved when Jesus rode into Jericho on a donkey. Purple for the wine served at the Last Supper. Red for the death on the cross. Brown for the grave. White for the angels that told the women Jesus was alive! Yellow to remind us for the gift of life that Jesus gave us by rising from the dead. Aliza really got it and could remember what each color represented.

We had brunch and church and then it was time for the highly anticipated Easter egg hunt. It was a rainy day so our men hid the eggs in my parents living room. Josiah was completely devastated that we couldn't hide eggs outside. He came around and was able to enjoy the egg hunt. A bunch of pictures follow!