Celebrating the Resurrection!

And doesn't everybody do that with miniature horses? ;-) My inlaws live in a town in the country (if that makes sense. in town, but surrounded by country. like we do. like most of Kansas does. :-) And on Saturday we went to see these miniature horse babies. 

The official Easter 2014 picture. (Except the photographer. We'll have to photoshop him in.) The rest of the pictures are a collection of moments spread out over a very special weekend. 

In the season leading up to Easter, we do some special things to help us be prepared for commemorating the cross, grieving our sin, and celebrating the Resurrection and our new life in Christ. This is our Jesus tree. This is the third year we've had it, it works like an Advent calendar, reading a story in the life of Christ each day, and putting up a picture. They are really starting to know some of the stories now. 

I decided the kids shouldn't be the only ones with a visual reminder! I was really blessed by Ann Voskamp's Lent devotional. Each day corresponds with a painting from classic art, which depicts one part of the atonement thread running through the Bible. The first picture was the Garden of Eden, where it all began. Every time I went in my bedroom, I had to look at the pictures hanging on the door. It definitely helped me meditate more, throughout the season. Sometimes I find myself guilty of wanting to partake in the celebration of Sunday morning, without also acknowledging the horrific, yet amazing, events of Good Friday. 

We grew an Easter garden to help us remember what brought about the need for the cross in the first place. Man's sin, our sin, in the original garden. But it didn't end there! Our decision to rebel against God only made Him all the more adamant to restore our relationship with Him, no matter what the cost. It helped us remember the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus wept and prayed. Prayed not just for the disciples, but for us. And finally, when we took the stone away from the tomb, we put reminders of all the Cross had bought for us. And to remind us that our life is now hidden in Christ, and He lives in us.