hope

Easter is becoming my new favorite holiday.  Growing up my brother, sister, and I would spend hours decorating our Easter baskets, picking out our new outfits and shoes, and compete over who could decorate the prettiest eggs.  And somewhere in the mix of these traditions, I missed the real reason for the holiday.  Each year I seem to learn a little nugget more about what Easter is really about.  After a beautiful church service Saturday evening I came home baffled at how nieve I am as a Christian, saddened that I didn't know growing up what I know now. 

This beautiful holiday, centered around the most innocent taking the burden for our sins, and it has always felt like any other day.  As we planned our Easter meal and decided what we would wear, I forgot the beauty of this day. 

Hope.  Each service I went to and everything I read centered around HOPE.  The apostles were left broken, and three days later HOPE came.  The fact that we have a savior that carries our burdens and cleanses our sins leaves my heart heavy and light at the same time.  It makes my heart skip a beat, little butterflies emerge.  And how quickly this passes away when the day to day work takes over.  This Easter I was filled with HOPE.  This past week my heart was heavy.  I had cried for days over my exam, and then remained in a funk.  Work was hectic, our home was hectic, life seemed hard, and I felt hopeless.  The beautiful part of Jesus is that he is always there, when my heart is heavy and I forget to bring these burdens to him-he is there.  And as I sang my heart out on Saturday evening at church, my hope was restored.  It may not seem like all of our problems are solved, but I am a savior that is there to listen to my cries, forgive me of my sins, and make me complete again.  He makes this mess I feel like sometime into something beautiful.  

"We like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-every one-to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

-Isaiah 53:6

We did enjoy our Easter!  A LaFuze family tradition is the easter egg hunt the entire family participates in.  My mother-in-law puts puzzle pieces inside of plastic eggs, and we divide up into teams.  We all run around the backyard frantic to find our colored eggs, crack open the eggs on the table, and help our caption put together our puzzle.  This was the first year that my team couldn't find all of our eggs, as evidenced by the missing 4 pieces from our puzzle.  Without fail we will find it next year!  My niece ran around in her pretty dress, my nephew began walking all over the place, cousins surrounded the living room watching the basketball game, and mothers talked around the kitchen.  My soul was happy and my heart was full.  I hope you and your family had a beautiful Easter!