More than Eggs

As a child, I thought about Easter a little different than I do now.  Much like Christmas was all about Santa and trees, Easter was all about the Bunny and eggs.  I love those fun traditions and I have so many wonderful memories celebrating as a child, but now I know that Easter is so much more than eggs.  In church this morning, we sang:

Crown Him with many crowns,

the Lamb upon his throne,

Hark! How the heavenly anthem drowns

all music but its own.

Awake, my soul, and sing,

of Him who died for thee,

and hail Him as thy matchless King

through all eternity. 

I've sung this hymn several times over the years, but this morning, my soul - my heart - was woken up.  God has always been God, but sometimes I forget that He sent his son, Jesus, to live on this earth and to die.  He died.  BUT he didn't stay dead.  He rose from the dead.  That's crazy!  But that changes everything.  Jesus wasn't just a good teacher.  And I don't believe he was insane either.  I believe He was who He claimed to be - God.  And I believe that He died so that I, and anyone who believes in Him and receives Him, can live through all eternity.  That is what Easter is all about.  So that we don't fall asleep in our faith and forget what He has done for us.  I am thankful for the precious reminder.

We were able to spend great time with family over the weekend.  On Saturday, we went to Ray's parents' house to celebrate Easter with their family and today we went to my parents' house with the family to celebrate.  We got a few pictures of James with his grandparents...

 And James has been practicing how to go up the steps at our house for a few weeks now, but he can only practice on the few brick steps we have outside since we live in a one-story house.  He had a blast going up and down the steps at my parents!  He scoots down on his bottom (no surprise there since he's an expert scooter), but he still requires lots of supervision because when he gets tired, he gives up and would completely topple down the stairs if it were not for someone right behind him keeping a watchful eye. 

He was so proud of himself every time he reached the top!  My guess is that his chunky little legs are going to be a little sore tomorrow!

Happy Easter, everyone!