Let me recount a tale for you from class this past Thursday morning:

Kids: “Auntie, we can’t do our presentations on Monday, because we don’t have school.”

Me: “Nice try, but you’re not getting out of these presentations, and you already get Good Friday off.”

Kids: “But Auntie, we can’t do them on Monday, because it’s Easter Monday, and we don’t have class.”

Me: “Ha–good one! You must forget that I was a student once too. Y’all can’t fool me…there’s no such thing as “Easter Monday”, because Jesus is already risen; therefore, EVERY DAY after Easter is the same celebration of our risen Savior. Thanks for a good class today. See ya’ll Monday!”

Joke’s on this Auntie! It’s the Monday after Easter and there is no class today, because it really is “Easter Monday”. Somebody owes her students an apology tomorrow…

After an Easter weekend like the one we had, I now see why they take Easter Monday off as a holiday. It was extremely busy and exhausting, but the festivities were abundant for good reason–after all, we were mourning the death and celebrating the resurrection of Christ. This is my first Easter that I can remember spending somewhere other than at home with family. I love that time, and I’m not at all trying to say that I don’t think that can be meaningful and very important, but the Lord took me out of that situation this Easter for many reasons. He used this Easter time in a new place to give me a new perspective–a parental, motherly one. I have close to 140 kids that I claim and love as my own children. I believe God is really using this time in my life to help me see and understand what it means to be His child. As many of you are parents and probably already know, thinking about Easter with this perspective is incredibly powerful. The verse that really speaks to my heart thinking about if I were to knowingly send my child to die for the sins of the world, is in Isaiah 53:9:

“But (Jesus) was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

Jesus was CRUSHED…PIERCED…PUNISHED. We get PEACE…HEALING. It hurts me to even write about it because of how unfair it seems to put those two sentences together. There are not a strong enough words in the English language to describe the conflicting, powerful emotions in my heart.

Currently, there are 2 visitors sharing my house with me. We spent Saturday morning in devotion and worship with God and each other, then we deep cleaned the house. If the rapture happened soon, we didn’t want to get left behind because our house was so gross that Jesus wouldn’t even want to enter–ha, only kidding! Saturday afternoon, I spent some sweet time with Janice and a few of our girls, making Easter cookies for all the workers, kids, teachers, and staff of RG. It was such a special time with the girls with lots of learning and laughs. Obviously, Easter Sunday is always very meaningful, but this one was extra special and full of many emotions. I woke up early to watch the beautiful sunrise with my roommates. Then all of the kids, mamas and teachers footed 3 miles into the town of Karuma for church service in a community village church. On the trek, I walked hand in hand with many of my children, as we sang and danced for the glory of our Risen King! I was overjoyed with the feeling that this was a glimpse of what the sweetness of Heaven will be like. I could feel the presence of Jesus meeting us and walking with us into Karuma, just as if we were on the streets of gold. One of the songs we sang goes like this:

The greatest day in history; Death is beaten, You have rescued me

Sing it out…Jesus is alive!

The empty cross, the empty grave; Life eternal, You have won the day

Shout it out…Jesus is alive! He’s alive!

Oh, happy day, happy day; You washed my sin away

Oh, happy day, happy day; I’ll never be the same; Forever I am changed

When I stand in that place; Free at last, meeting face to face

I am Yours, Jesus, You are mine

Endless joy, perfect peace; Earthly pain finally will cease

Celebrate, Jesus is alive! He’s alive!

This was the perfect preparation for my heart before a beautiful service and message that spoke volumes to me. It’s amazing the things the Lord does for you if you take the time to listen and be aware (there’s a whole other blog in that, but I’ll spare you some time in your day 🙂 By the grace of God, I was raised in the church, hearing the story of Jesus, but I had never heard it presented like this. I would like to briefly share that message with you. After reading the story of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection from the book of Luke, the message (as my ears heard the Lord’s words) went something like this:

Easter is full of empty things. But those things are full of our Father’s promises.

The first empty thing we come across is the empty cross. Jesus is no longer on the cross, BUT if we were to look at the middle cross, we would see a reminder left on the cross: blood stains–from the crown of thorns, nails in Jesus’ hands and feet, slashes on Jesus’ back, and spear through Jesus’ side. This blood symbolizes the wrath of God. The wrath that has been left on the cross fills us with the promise of forgiveness. With his final breath, Jesus’ says “It is finished.” Jesus took it all, so we never have to experience it. Jesus took WRATH. We get FORGIVENESS.

The second empty thing of the story is the empty grave. With this empty grave, comes a hope of our own resurrection. Because the tomb is empty, we can have a bodily resurrection. The empty tomb is full of a promise that through Jesus, we can have eternal life.  Paul gives us these words in Philippians 3:10-11 to echo, “I want to know Christ, and the power of the resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain the resurrection from the dead.’ The empty tomb is God’s promise that says, “My child, I took the sting for you and you have nothing to fear.” Jesus was RAISED. We can have ETERNAL LIFE.

The last empty thing we see is Jesus’ empty burial garments. Not only were they empty, but in John 20, the Bible tells us the clothes were folded neatly. If the idea that the body was stolen in haste were true, there would be no time for unwrapping the body AND taking the time to fold the clothes up neatly. Those folded, empty clothes mean the Savior has to be alive. He did not disappear into Heaven, but appeared to the disciples and Mary. Jesus leaving behind his burial garments gives us the promise that He is alive and wants to be in relationship with us. Jesus is LIVING. We can have a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with Him.

This message really inspires and gives me hope! On the flip side, I’ll leave with something that the pastor said that has given me a sense of urgency, and also, a bitter taste in my mouth. As children of God, we CAN receive these promises for free; BUT in Matthew 7:21-23, God makes us another promise that is possibly the scariest in the Bible:

Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out the demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evil doers!”

Amen.

Praises and Prayer Requests

+ The Lord has really been working on my heart in many big ways. Pray that I continue to be patient and prayerful as I listen to what He is trying to tell me.

– God is doing huge things at RG. It’s really awesome to see His hands at work, but many of these changes are tough to be grateful for in the moment. Help us to pray to continue to count our blessings when things are tough.

– God designed each of us with specific gifts for specific purposes. Many days I get overwhelmed by all the needs that I see that I can’t do anything about. Pray that I continue to use my skills and talents to the fullest and that God will fill those needs, where I can’t.

+ Relationships with many people and children here are really blossoming and growing deep roots. Pray that God continues to develop those relationships and keeps them grounded in Him.

In His love,

Auntie Nanners