On Sunday, April 24th we are going to celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.  It is something we are stepping into with great anticipation.  We just spent the last 35 days preparing our hearts for this season going through a spiritual journey as a church as we prayed, fast, read, and reflected on the holiness of God.  I know for me personally this Easter has been different.

It is different for me because my family is in a different place.  Our children can hold conversation and talk about the subject of Easter.  On Good Friday we sat around a fire on the back porch eating s’mores and talking about why Jesus had to die on the cross for our sin.  It was a lot of fun.  It is also different because I feel like my heart is in a different place.  I didn’t grow up celebrating Easter and when I trusted in Jesus I was in college so Easter weekend was really about getting caught up in school before the final exams.  After college I worked as a college pastor and most of the students would go home for Easter and for some reason it still seemed like a busy holiday weekend.  Our church would have Easter Sunrise services, we would attend, but I almost found myself thinking, “Why are we going to this much trouble for Easter.”  Looking back it saddens my heart to know there was such a disconnection for me around Easter.

The last couple of years Easter has continued to carry a deeper and greater meaning, and I am hopeful that trend will continue as I consider the price that was paid for my sin so that I would no longer have to carry the shame and guilt, but know that it was completely accounted for at the cross.