EASTER 2015

Well, I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that everything was as great yesterday as the pictures make it look.  We had to give ourselves a little pep talk to get out of bed.  Violet cried all the way to church, and all the way home again.  We were about 15 minutes late getting to church.  I ugly cried during the church service washing away much of my makeup that had been hurriedly applied not 30 minutes earlier.

No one was happy about taking this picture.

I changed clothes at least 3 times and didn't love what I wore and was irritated about the gloomy weather.  We did have a delicious lunch hosted by Gran Gran and Grandpa who served us so well.  I'm still getting used to having any family in town, and it was delightful to be welcomed somewhere besides a restaurant on Easter.

The children looked adorable in the clothes that Gran Gran got for them - especially William rocking his white suit.




We went home for naps, and John needed to work in the yard, which ended up taking most of the rest of his day.  I did an egg hunt for the kiddos, which they loved.

(The big girls helped the twins a ton, which was precious.)

(It will be a sad day when Lambie no longer hunts for eggs with us.)

They were all thrilled with their egg haul, and Lily kept thanking me, which was quite gratifying.  We did have a good day.  Sometime in the afternoon, I realized that my attitude was a big part of my problem - isn't that often the case?  I had unrealistic expectations for everything around me - the weather, the people, the clothing, the timing.  When things didn't go perfectly, I didn't respond so well in my heart.  I hate when I'm the problem.

Thankfully, I didn't have to stay there.  I asked God to change my heart, and I felt it soften and give way to gratitude for all the good and joy for the reason we celebrate.  Celebrating our risen Savior is not about the clothes.  Or the egg hunt.  I miss the mark so dang easily.

I need Christ daily, hourly, minutely to change me from the inside out, and he's got the goods to do it, because HE IS ALIVE.  It's amazing, and I don't ever want to lose sight of it.  I hope your Easter was filled with good things, but mostly I hope it was filled with Christ.  He is the best thing.