Sharing my post from last year…Love this time of year…
With Easter right around the corner, I can’t help but think of my last Easter with Lydia.
We had always enjoyed the sunrise service in the middle of the desert. There’s nothing quite like getting up at 4 AM, throwing the kids in the car, making them sleep in their clothes as we drive two hours in the dark, and then climb a hill to make it to the service on top of the giant rock.
Braving the many times freezing temperatures and harsh wind, nothing stood between us, as year after year,we looked forward to this day.
Surrounded by 50 others swarmed tightly around a big bonfire, we sang hymns and heard the story of Jesus, rising from the tomb, just as the sun peeked over the horizon.
It’s truly beautiful and in this moment you can’t help but feel the Holy Spirit surround you. This was our last Easter sunrise service with Lydia. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfectly beautiful day. With not a cloud in the sky, the kids hunkered down around the fire, jumping from rock to rock in the cool morning air. After the service, we enjoyed a hearty country breakfast at the local grange and then spent the day with family exploring and hunting Easter eggs in the sagebrush.
We haven’t been back in 7 years. Wow, I can’t believe it’s been that long. With the declining health of my father, new babies and work schedules, life happened and we weren’t able to make it.
And now, the time has come…we’re going back on Sunday. I’m so excited to take my three other children who have yet to experience this wonderful occasion, yet part of me is reluctant as my memories will be flooded by Lydia and her sweet giggles and enjoyment for life and adventures, missing her ever so much.
It will be bittersweet this Sunday as we gather without my dear Lydia, but I am reminded of the promise of new life He has given us. God sending his own son, to be crucified and die for our sins, now that is some kind of love. Love that is more powerful that anything we could ever imagine.
John 3:16…”For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
What are your Easter traditions and memories?
