Last year my soul needed to be reminded of the depth of Truth that is wrapped up in the Resurrection, this year my soul needed to be reminded that our God is in the business of redeeming. My soul needed Easter this year. My mind needed to go through the process grieving my sin on Ash Wednesday, of the discipline of lent, the anticipation of Palm Sunday, the grief of Good Friday and the hope Sunday brings. This year I needed to be reminded that God is in the business of resurrection. Not just the amazing miracle of our Salvation but the daily business of redemption.
This season through reading His word my soul was stirred with the Truth that we serve a God who not only bears our pain, but knows our pain. A God who resurrects our souls and moves them closer to Him, again and again. A God who loves His people, who redeems culture, evil and good for His glory. My soul needed a resurrection this Easter – to allow dreams and griefs that I have clung to to die in order that God could raise them into His plan for my life and not my own. Our Easter this year was marked with grief as we reflected on our first Easter in South Sudan, and grieved with Southern Sudanese friends here for the recent fighting around Renk and Upper Nile, but while it was marked by grief it was made of Hope as we reflected in the God who saves. This years Easter was so different from last, and so much the same. Praise the Lord He is Risen, in South Sudan, in our passport country and here in North Africa.
Praise the Lord He is Risen indeed, Allelulia
Soo here are pictures – behind each action is the quiet stirring of my heart to know more of God, He often uses the familiar rhythms of the church year to do that – and this year was no exception. Praise God that He is in the process of resurrecting this heart to know Him more.
Lent-For lent on Ash Wednesday the kids and I made a prayer chain. Each day until Resurrection Sunday we prayed for loved ones. I was reminded that God is bigger then our worries.Resurrection eggs. There are no plastic eggs here. We made paper envelope eggs and hid in each a scripture and image to tell the easter story then decorated the eggs. This was the highlight of our EasterEgg dying- unlike last year we had real eggs here in the city so using food dye, vinegar, crayons and rubber bands we decorated a dozen eggs. It was fun and super messyEven little D. got into egg decorating much to my dismay.When the eggs dried we got out stickers but D. decided it was much more fun to decorate himself then an egg.We made Resurrection cookies the night before Easter. They never quite turn out but we do it every year anyway…The kids get to beat the nuts and we remember Christ’s body was broken for us…I was so struck this year at Good Friday and then as we created cookies that Christ suffered for us, that we pray to the God who knows suffering it brought such peace as we pray for South Sudan.This year we enjoyed the luxury of electricity to beat the cookies. The kids loved watching the little blender…in true form I made a mess when I took over…this is at least 3x messier then it looks (sigh)Easter morning. We all got ready for our service. Here in North Africa most of the population don’t celebrate orthodox Easter so we were one of very few with plans for the day. There were policemen in riot gear protecting the church and keeping all vehicles/people away from the building to prevent riots. There were about 100 of us gathering to worship. It was a rough morning for me at home – I lost my temper, I was tired and grumpy . Truly the perfect timing to remember that God can even redeem my sinful heart.The girls helped me decorate the table for our guests. They used jellybeans, their resurrection and decorated eggs.…I love this as PJ explains why this last egg is emptyWe had guests over so Jon found sparkling Cider for a special drink. So fun!We enjoyed a wonderful Easter feast for 12 folks (of course half were our family).Our neighbor brought us Mishmish our five week old kitten which the kids opened and met for the first time.Meet MishMIsh (apricot). This sweet man joined our family on Easter. The kids have been anticipating a kitten since we said goodbye to Sampson. They are thrilled.After supper we spent some time getting to know kitty and visiting with our guestsThe girls shared their eggs with us by opening them and showing the images inside and reading scripture. Our neighbor had only heard this “story” once. It was fun to hear the girls use their ability to read to share with us truth from God’s word.D-man showed us his puzzle skillsLittle kitten became more comfortable. And around 10pm our house became quiet as our company trickled out and we settled in for the evening.
This Easter I realized that while it feels like everything in our life has changed – what is most important still remains. The gentle rhythm of the season and the day reminded me of the Truth that that my heart most needed to listen to…because He lives there is hope for tomorrow. Because He lives we know that there is hope for South Sudan and the many suffering there. Grateful for this season and the story of redemption and resurrection that He is writing in my life. Grateful to be celebrating in a country where we have the chance to share with so many why this season, this Savior changes everything. Happy Western (and this year Eastern) Easter.
Thank you for sharing your day with us. I love the pictures as well as the journey through your day. Love your all!