My Easter

I have a story to tell you this week. I know you’re all busy boiling eggs and ironing dress shirts, so I’ll keep it short.

It happened when Mandie was either 3 or 4. I don’t remember. But I do remember it was in the springtime, just before Easter. Mandie knew what Easter meant. She knew our Savior, Jesus, died and was buried in a cave, but that on Easter morning he became alive again. She knew because we told her about it. And she remembered what we told her. She’s always been very bright.

Anyway, it was an evening in the spring of 1991 or 1992, and I was helping her get ready for bed. She had a necklace on, but I told her she needed to take it off. “If you go to bed with a necklace on it may choke you, and then you’d die.” I know this sounds pretty graphic for a 3 or 4 year old, but I wasn’t sure if she knew what “choke” meant, and I felt it was my job as a mother to explain the consequences of this and all dangerous behavior, no matter how frightening such lessons may be.

Mandie was not fazed. She calmly added, “Then I’ll come back to life on my Easter.”

It took a second for me to realize how profound her statement truly was. "Yes," I replied, smiling. "You'll come back to life on your Easter."

My Easter. I love that idea.

Death is a terrible thing… a scary thing. But with Jesus as our Savior, we can know with child-like faith, death is nothing to fear. It’s lost its sting. When Jesus returns we will all celebrate a joyous resurrection. We will have our Easter. We will rise, just as Jesus did, and live in glory and light with all our brothers and sisters in Christ forevermore!

So as you celebrate Christ’s resurrection, think about this story. Remember that there’s another Easter Day in your future, when you will be the one who once was dead, but now is alive in Christ. Alive in body, mind and soul. Alive to praise the Lord forevermore.

Happy Easter, everyone!