Happy Easter!

Good morning!

We got up extra early this morning and headed up to our church's sunrise service.  It was so wonderful to be outside (even if it threatened to rain) and watch the sun rise and hear the birds sing as we celebrated the risen life of Jesus!

The kids stayed with us, so we were all a little dishevelled by the time we took this picture, but I love it anyway...it captures exactly where we are right now!

I saw a few words that Pope Francis shared this morning that I had to re-post here:

"How many deserts, even today, do human beings need to cross! Above all, the desert within, when we have no love for God or neighbor, when we fail to realize that we are guardians of all that the creator has given us and continues to give us," he said.

"Peace in the whole world, still divided by greed looking for easy gain, wounded by the selfishness which threatens human life and the family, selfishness that continues in human trafficking, the most extensive form of slavery in this 21st century.

"Peace to the whole world, torn apart by violence linked to drug trafficking and by the iniquitous exploitation of natural resources! Peace to this our Earth! May the risen Jesus bring comfort to the victims of natural disasters and make us responsible guardians of creation."

Today as I celebrate what the risen Jesus means for me personally, I must realize that Jesus didn't rise from the dead just for me, but He did so so that all the marginalized, all the poor in spirit, all those that mourn, and all those in conflict-torn areas can experience a peace that surpasses anything we can imagine.  Jesus came to make ALL THINGS new!

My prayer this Easter is that my family and I can be bearers of comfort to all, for it is no longer we who live, but (the risen) Christ who lives in us!