Sunday, March 23, 2008

Easter Reflections!

The inside says; Maybe God but Easter in Spring to remind us that He makes miraculous things happen when we do nothing more than open ourselves up to Him.
On a personal note:
This card was sent to my family by my Godmother, Delores, for Easter. I love the colors, the flowers, and especially the words.~Way to go Hallmark (and Delores) .

I was communicating with another blogger by email yesterday. When she mentioned something that her family does as an Easter Sunday tradition, I said something like "one of the drawbacks to moving around is that we have no annual traditions." It made me a little sad for a minute because we don't get to spend the day with family.
At church this morning, I was reminded that my little family does have traditions. We haven't consistently worshiped in the same church each year, but we are always in church. The Easter hymns are pretty traditional and common to each of our worship experiences. This morning and I realized that I've been singing those same songs since I was a little girl . I remember when I knew the words, but they were just that-- words. I remember the first Easter after I got saved and suddenly those same words became so much more meaningful to me.

Here are a few of the lines from my favorites:

Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He lives, He lives,
Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me
Along life's narrow way.
He lives, He lives,
Salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
God sent His son, they called Him Jesus.
He came to love, heal, and forgive.
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.


Another tradition we have is taking family pictures after church. Here are a couple from this year. I actually had a pretty good hair day today!





We miss you Jannelle. Hey girl, send me a photo of you today.

In lieu of big family dinners, we sometimes go to the movies on holiday afternoons. We did just that today. We went to see the Disney movie "College Road Trip". It was a cute but typical Disney cliche, nevertheless a fun time with the family.

I hope your day was meaningful!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just know your family day was joyful. Family can be such a blessing. Thanks for sharing with us.

Dawn said...

God Bless you Ms. Jackie, God knows your heart & your heart sounds on it!!. No, matter what earthly traditions people have YOurs, is the one Jesus will remember.

Amy said...

He is risen indeed! Praise God! Christ the Lord Has Risen Today is my FAVORITE Easter hymn too. I get chills and tears in my eyes every time we sing it along with trumpet processional and orchestra! Your family pics are gorgeous...I'm glad you realized that no matter where you are or have been, you have been making traditions and memories along the way.

Hugs,
Amy

Denise Bryant (imchatty) said...

Jacki, I love the pics of your family. I was looking for a pic of your son pretending to be asleep. LOL Happy Easter.

Julie Koerber said...

Beautiful card AND it was so fun to see the picture of your family together (minus one of course! :-()
Hope you had a blessed day!

Louise (KardKrazy) said...

One observation: You may love purple, but you look absolutely fabulous in pink!

Anonymous said...

"Christ the Lord is Risen Today" is one of my favorites also. It gives me goosebumps every time I hear it - especially with the trumpets and a full choir! When my first son was a baby, I would rock him in his room and sing hymns to him...this was one of our favorites on those late nights!

Easter blessings to you and your family!
-Krissy

seamom said...

Oh, Jacki! I have tears in my eyes and can hardly type. All they hymns we sang and learned as kids do indeed have real meaning. I was saved in 1972 and not long after a group of young people came to our church to sing one Sunday night and I learned a new song - "He Lives!" They sang with strong young voices beautifully, and with such heart. That has been my favorite hymn ever since. My goal is one day to be able to sing it all the way through without loosing my voice to tears.
Happy and blessed belated Easter to you and yours. God Bless.

Sharon in NE said...

Your post was such a blessing and your family, so precious! Thank you for sharing yourself with us. You are so special.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I love your pics - of your family & your sisters! Fun, fun times, I'm sure!!
Hope your Easter was most blessed & joy-filled!