Easter 2012

Hope you all had a blessed Easter!

I wanted to share this song, Glorious Day by Casting Crowns, that we sung in our Easter Sunday church service. I think the lyrics very clearly sum up what Easter is all about...

One day when Heaven was filled with His praises
One day when sin was as black as could be
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin
Dwelt among men, my example is He
Word became flesh and the light shined among us
His glory revealed

Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He’s coming
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day

One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain
One day they nailed Him to die on a tree
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He
Hands that healed nations, stretched out on a tree
And took the nails for me

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer
One day the stone rolled away from the door
Then He arose, over death He had conquered
Now He’s ascended, my Lord evermore
Death could not hold Him, the grave could not keep Him
From rising again

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming
One day the skies with His glories will shine
Wonderful day, my Beloved One, bringing
My Savior, Jesus, is mine 

(I suggest you watch/listen to it on YouTube by clicking here.) 

I love this song; it is very powerful. And it's a great reminder to look past the easter bunny, the chocolate, and the public holiday; to what Easter really means.

Easter Day was hard, as it was yet another celebration that Hannah missed out on. Well, she missed out on sharing it with us; she probably had a wonderful celebration up in heaven with Jesus Himself! So I guess what I mean to say is, it was another event we had to celebrate without Hannah.

We went to Hannah's grave this weekend to spend some time focused on her. As we pulled up I was upset to see from a distance that there was something covering part of her grave. When we got closer, I discovered that the memorial company have laid the concrete base in preparation for installing her headstone :) Then they have covered it to keep it dry while the concrete sets. Getting her headstone details finalised has been a very long and drawn out process - we ordered it at the start of October, and there have been so many hold-ups and miscommunications since then. So we were excited to see some progress finally! Hopefully by the next time we visit, her headstone will be in place (and hopefully it will look like how we designed it to be!).

However it did mean that when we arrived her grave site was a bit of a mess - the company had to pull out her cross and windmill and decorations to pour the concrete, so they were all just lying on the ground in front of the tarpaulin cover. Jeremy pushed them back into the ground again for the meantime, until the work is finished and we can place them back where we want them.

I really wanted to decorate her grave for Easter, but couldn't find anything suitable at the shops that was 'Eastery' and would survive being outside :( I just found these two pretty flowers, and decided they would do.

We thought the cross shadow was rather appropriate, given that it is Easter and we are remembering what Jesus did for us on the cross. The cross is an amazing symbol of God's love! We know Hannah is now with Him, and we look forward to the day when we will join them up in heaven.

I just want to add something else in here as well. Thank you to two lovely ladies who remembered Hannah this Easter, and made her name for us to show they were thinking about her! We really appreciate it when people take the time to do this.

One in Colorado:

I love this idea, of writing the letters on eggs!

And one in the North Island here in NZ:

I pray that whatever your Easter held, that you were able to think upon the true meaning of Easter. I'm sure many people found the weekend hard for whatever reason, as we did last year and again this year. For others, it may have been a happy care-free time. But whatever you did over your weekend, and whatever emotions it held, my hope is that you were drawn one step closer into the arms of our loving God.