INDEED!

Today was such an odd Easter for me.

I LOVE holidays.  I don’t want to say I live for a special occasion, but I kinda do.  And Easter.  WELL.  As a follower of Christ, there is NO BETTER DAY!  Victory!! Triumph!!  Death is defeated!!! THIS DAY!  A welling up in my spirit happens every Easter and there is joy beyond compare.

So, the fact that I woke up in a hospital on a plastic couch to the sound of oxygen and the never ending beeps of the never ending machines and a night staff who didn’t seem to notice that the Savior of the whole wide world was being celebrated literally all over the whole wide world….

I gathered my belongings.  I sipped coffee and chatted with my dad.  We shared some tender moments, prayed together, and I walked out of the room.  Tears welled up in my eyes as I turned down the hall.  I hated leaving him.  And I hated not being home with my boys.  Feeling so torn and absolutely overwhelmed by the sense of needing to be in two places at once, I headed home.

As I was driving towards the blinding sun on the interstate in almost no traffic, I started thinking about the body of Christ who were gathering this morning.  I drove by church after church after church with parking lots full.  I began to imagine the joy and could almost feel the sentiment of triumph as I passed through the countryside.  I thought about how in every church today, every single one, the message is the same on this day.  And that welling up in my spirit came over me as I said aloud….

Christ is risen, He is risen INDEED!

Dare I say that today, there is simply unity in the Body?  From Presbyterians to Pentecostals, to Quakers and Catholics, Methodists and Baptists…the same message rings out…

CHRIST IS RISEN, HE IS RISEN INDEED!!

Although I spent the morning alone, I didn’t feel alone at all.  Indeed.  I passed by all those churches and felt like a part of each one.  I sensed a great solidarity and camaraderie and belonging to something so much greater than myself. From the little country church in the valley to the big church on the hill, I am your sister and together we have some Good News to share!

CHRIST IS RISEN, HE IS RISEN INDEED!

Indeed. In truth. In reality. Whether I have on my Easter dress or not.  Whether I am driving in my minivan or am surrounded by the Body or am in a hospital room or wherever.  It is still true, it is INDEED reality, that:

‘On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!’ Luke 24:1-6

Indeed He is!  And He reigns victorious. And today the cares of this world, the being pulled in too many directions, the distractions, the pain, the suffering, the ordinary all fall away for a time….to simply proclaim:

CHRIST IS RISEN, HE IS RISEN INDEED!!!!

Happy Easter dear brothers and sisters.  It was a joy sharing this day with you all….