New beginnings

Easter has long been my favorite holiday. Not the bunnies and chocolate eggs, not the presents many children get but the real reason we celebrate; Christ's dying and ressurection. When my children were younger I was always against buying gifts and giving easter baskets. My parents had always just hidden chocolate eggs and that was that. Easter was about getting all decked out and going to church. My husband didn't necessarily agree but went along with it.

As the children got older and saw that their friends were getting large gifts for Easter they would question why the Easter Bunny didn't bring them presents. I explained to them that it was their parents who were buying the gifts that the bunny only brought candy.(Boy was I glad when I didn't have to play that game anymore.) Easter, I told them, was not about the Easter bunny but about Jesus' death and ressurection. They get it now.

For me I think of Easter as a time for new beginnings and strengthening my faith and commitment to Jesus. I get caught up in the hustle and bustle of church activity during the week prior to Easter and it all goes by in a blur. But I revel in Easter morning and the uplifting services and feeling of new beginnings.

It seems very fitting that we are now reading Genesis. After all this is all about beginnings. We have a lot of new beginnings happening at Faith. There is much excitement and a little uneasiness as well. The path before us is ours to shape. I am excited about the new beginnings we are creating and look forward to the path we will shape.