The countdown to Easter in our home is well underway. Lil’ Man wakes up every morning and rushes to his Star Wars calendar so he can mark off one more day…with each mark in the calendar, he sees the closeness of Easter Sunday’s arrival. He is so excited. The thrill of celebration and all that it entails – from gathering with family and friends, to consuming of tantalizing food and desserts, and of course, he is most excited about the infamous Easter egg hunt. Cascarones  (confetti eggs) are part of our Easter egg  hunting tradition and because the goal is to smash as many cascarones on as many heads as possible, well, let’s just say there are several people (little and big) who look forward to this day.

Easter day, it is fun and it is full of tradition. I love that my kids are experiencing the same joy from it that I always did while growing up. While it is okay to enjoy the celebrations of the day, it would be awry to bypass that which what we are celebrating through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

This month, my family has a daily weekday reading plan to go through. The plan is a combination of scripture and stories from the Jesus Storybook Bible – the goal behind this plan is to set our minds and hearts in a place where we, in holy reverence, take in all that Easter is to us, the redeemed and the hope it brings to those still wandering. Last week, over breakfast, I talked to the kids (mainly Lil’ Man) about holiness, what it was and what it meant in respects to God (who is holy). It helped set the stage for when we moved into the scriptures and stories that outline the fall and the entrance of sin into the world. I want us to fully feel the impact of that moment, so we can fully feel the impact of what was done for us on the cross…so we can fully understand grace and redemption. We spent time talking about ultimate separation from the One who is holy and how that which separates is within us from the beginning of our existence. We read and talked about sin’s imprint on the world and creation and how it broke and marred perfection. We saw the hopelessness of sin. Even when the world was consumed with flooded waters and everything destroyed…sin still lived on. It is taking in the full desperation of sin and fully understanding its impact in our world and in our lives that we can then begin to fully understand what really happened that day on the cross. 

Yeah, last week was tough. Our Easter journey wasn’t pretty-colored eggs and white-colored daisies and everything else that exudes the loveliness of Easter. It was darkness and it was misery. It was taking a hard long look at self and acknowledging all that is broken and all that is tainted by the touch of sin. It was understanding that there is no deed “good” enough which will save us from its grasp. Yes, we had to spend time out in those dark waters…but, we did so resting in the Hope that is coming our way. 

This week….We began with the promise of the provision of our sacrificial Lamb. With confidence, I was able to read the words spoken in faith, by Abraham – “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son” (Genesis 22:8). I can’t wait to share with you next week as we continue in our Easter Journey.