Today, we wait.

Luke 24:1-12
But at daybreak on the first day of the week they took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them. They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. They said to them, "Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day." And they remembered his words. Then they returned from the tomb and announced all these things to the eleven and to all the others. The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles, but their story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone; then he went home amazed at what had happened.



We wait in silence, or as much as there can be in a house full of spirit-filled children, and enjoy this one last fast today. A fast from too much busy-ness, too much chatter, too much bickering, from too much indulgence. We wait and we fast because we shall feast very soon.

My faith journey has taken me deeper than I ever knew existed and yet, I can say in complete confidence, I am still just scraping the surface. I cannot believe that just three short years ago I had left our beautifully rich faith. I did not know. I had not appreciated. I wanted Jesus, oh yes, but just not that hard, painful cross that always seems to go along.

I am grateful to be back and I am grateful to see that cross again. Yes, grateful. I am grateful for the indescribably gifts and graces it has brought to my life--to share an ever-deepening faith WITH my husband and my children. I am grateful God didn't give up on me. Not for one moment. He kept putting people in my life who would challenge my reasons for "taking a step back" and "trying out other things". I could name them, but there really is no need. All along, it was just Christ speaking to me through them. Christ saying, "Nicole, my child, I love you. Now turn around and face me. Stop running."

He'll always find a way to talk to our hearts. Always.

Today, I am going to listen and wait. Though we dyed Easter eggs, stocked plenty of goodies for tomorrow and have been inundated with lots of fun bunny dot-to-dots, we will still wait. Easter, I have learned, is about so much more than pretty dresses and egg hunts. That is just the beginning--an opening. A gift. The "gift" is that, through our children's excitement about the "bunny", the "eggs" and the "candy", we are able to relate it all back for them to the One True Gift. That which is Him.

We will wait. We wait for the hands and arms softer than even the softest bunny's fur, the Life that is even greater, brighter, and whiter than those eggs, and sweetness greater than any candy we have ever tasted.

Holy Saturday, indeed.