He is risen.

Hope. We have hope, because He is risen. And as Pastor Scott spoke so confidently in church today, it is this hope that nobody can take away from us. Throughout the sermon, I developed a new found appreciation and understanding for this word. In reality, we wish and hope and pray for things every single day. When we hope, we wish for something with the expectation of fulfillment. Whether it be wishing we had someone to do our laundry for us or praying for the dishes to magically wash themselves, the end result is always the same. Regardless of the outcome, we move on. But with the Lord, we can know for a fact that if we truly believe in Him, there is hope. Hope that we ARE saved. Hope that we WILL go to heaven. And that expectation of fulfillment is guaranteed.

We spent most of our day eating jelly beans and dressing up in nice Easter-like clothing, hunting for eggs. But as most of you know, Easter is about more than candy and eggs and floral dresses. Sitting in church today was a brilliant reminder of that. It made me think of how my kids constantly learn and grow and how Bryan and I have such high hopes for their futures. I love that I'm able to talk to Kenz about God, and that she is intrigued enough to ask questions. I love that she asks questions about Him. Just the other night she asked me "what is heaven?" Believe me when I say I'm the FARTHEST thing from a religious scholar. I have a very basic knowledge of Christianity, but somehow I was able to answer her question. Explaining religion to a four year old is no easy task. Especially when you're me and have very little education on the subject. But we managed. And I have a feeling she and I are going to learn a lot together. :) I guess my point in all of this is that no matter what I hope for my kids, the only thing that's for sure is that they will be saved. That's not to say I can't hope for LOTS of amazing things for them, but it's more so a reminder of how important it is to teach them about Him. So on this blessed Easter Sunday, we went to church together, made crosses out of play dough and praised God for our food at the dinner table tonight. You've got to start somewhere, right? And although jelly beans and dressing up and blowing bubbles and egg hunts aren't the true meaning of Easter, we did all of those things this weekend. Because it's okay to do those things. And it's all made possible because of Him. Thank you, Lord.

"And He departed from our sight that we might return to our heart, and there find Him. For He departed, and behold, He is here."