Anticipation

This week marks the beginning of the Easter season, and it is with great meaning and joy that we anticipate this event and celebrate. As I think about Christmas, I am reminded of how much thought, preparation, and celebration goes into that holiday. Weeks before Christmas Day we decorate, listen to Christmas carols, bake cookies, light candles, give gifts, and think of the birth of Jesus.
It is so special to do this with Easter also…to especially remember Jesus and His sacrifice for us in these days and weeks leading up to Easter. For the past few years Jeff and I have taken part in “Lent” (a tradition many of the Church forefathers participated in) which is basically putting off certain things and putting on other things to draw close to Christ during this season. It has always been a powerful experience for us. We’ve been humbled by the fact that even in an orphanage in poverty stricken India, some of the older boys are choosing to fast from certain meals each day, serve those who have even less than they do, and wake up early to pray together in order to pursue Christ more fully.
I invite you to join us on this sacred journey. May we draw close to Jesus and be blessed by His beauty, His love, and His sacrifice.
"Forty days of persistent appeal to think, to kneel, and to rise with the cross upon our shoulders are none to many.” -Bishop Moule, from the devotional A Call to Lent