John 3:16  

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Tomorrow we will celebrate Easter. I went to the mall today and many women were standing in line buying dresses for themselves or beautiful outfits for their children. I was in Walmart and the seasonal section was near empty. Candy had been emptied off the shelves. We took the kids to an egg hunt today and children swarmed the halls to get the good filled plastic eggs. Tomorrow we will be eating a ham and all the yummy sides you eat on Easter. I am even making a bunny cake ( I will let you know how it goes). All good things, right? 

I think so. There is joy in tradition and excitement in holidays. I always loved the traditions of a new Easter dress each year. My Dad's mother always bought us our outfits and she had good taste. I loved the candy, the baskets, the big dinner, the egg hunt and of course the bunny. I am all in favor of all these things. As long as we don't miss the point. The REAL reason we celebrate Easter. 

We are going through John in our gatherings at our church. A few weeks back our pastor spoke about John 3:16. I think most kids memorize this passage. I know I remember sitting on the back porch of my grandma's house spinning in her office chair repeating it back to her and my mom until I could say it on my own. But, here's the thing. At the top of this post I put a picture of my three boys. They are awesome. They are adorable. They give me a ton of joy, and I am so thankful for them. However, they are not perfect. Not even a little bit. But even in all their imperfectness I can't even imagine life with out them. I really can't imagine allowing them to hurt, I mean really hurt. Knowing I could stop it. 

I guess being a mom now sheds some new light on this verse for me. I always realized it was a big deal. I mean, Jesus loved ME so much he came and died for me. And God let him. But now, I look at my sons and this verse hits home just a little more. The Father gave his ONLY son. I have three sons. I love them with all I have. I love them so so much. I mean I love them like crazy. And I'm HUMAN. How much more must God have loved HIS only SON. And he gave him as a sacrifice for ME. REALLY! God is so good. God loves us so much. SO much more than we can even begin to understand. 

So, Friday we remember the sacrifice, but here's the good part. Tomorrow, Easter, we will celebrate the GOOD NEWS. Jesus is ALIVE! He beat the grave. God wins and so do his adopted  kids. God has so much better foresight than I do (duh, I know). He knew that the pain, heart ache, anguish that Jesus death would be would only be victory forever. I am so glad I serve a God who would give up so much more than I understand to take me in as his kid. I'm so thankful that Jesus loved me enough knowing how much I SERIOUSLY DIDN'T deserve it. Because of his death I will live forever with him. 

I hope you have a happy Easter. I hope you enjoy some yummy treats, maybe wear a fun new outfit, and get some time with your family. I hope if your family is down with it that the bunny hops by. But most of all I hope you are able to celebrate the fact that Jesus is alive! 

Happy Easter.