“Hope!”

“Good Friday and Easter free us to think about other things far beyond our own personal fate, about the ultimate meaning of all life, suffering, and events; and we lay hold of a great hope.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer while sitting in a jail cell on April 25, 1943

It is good for me to remember my hope does not rest in my circumstance nor my performance nor my children’s performance! My hope rests in a faithful Father that again and again has brought me to his “green pastures” of rest, forgiveness and direction (Psalm 23).

I want you to remember too! There is a place to lay down your burden and rest. There is a place to free your mind of past mistakes. There is a place to set your course and walk strong. This place is with your brother, Jesus, who came and lived a perfect life and made a way through his death and resurrection for each of us. He made a way through the disappointment, made a way through the pain, made a way through the questions. I can’t understand it all, and I wasn’t one of the few who saw him in the flesh, but I know life with and without Jesus. I know the weight and the dissatisfaction of a life without Jesus. I know the brokenness of relationships. I know the selfish drive to get all I can and protect all that I have. Life without Jesus was exhausting and lonely.

I know now the strength of a marriage when we are both running hard after him. I know the peace in our home when he is at the center. I know the freedom to let go and believe “he’s got this.” He has done it before, and I have seen this! I have seen Father God and Brother Jesus make a way in my marriage, make a way in my family and make a way in my heart. And today, I am going to tell my children once again of this story of Easter in my own life.

This day, with your children, tell them your story once again – why do you follow this Jesus? What difference does it make? Remind them of your hope!

Praying for all of us!