Living in Resurrection

Friends,

This weekend we planted and mulched and weeded. We trimmed and cut and uprooted and irrigated. We rehung lights high above our patio table and lined up the badminton net in the grass. We were preparing - for life to break forth - for plants and people - in our own backyard! 

I always love when the whole family gives in to my pleads to do yardwork together. On Saturday we spent some time in the sun, getting the gardens and yard together, laughing and playing games, and hanging over deck rails trying to line up our strings of lights. It was work, and fun, and it helped me get excited for all that we hope to see in the yard this coming season.... Rosemary growing tall, the wildflowers attracting bees, the new bushes leaning into the light just so, friends kicking around the soccer ball, and grown ups enjoying drinks late at night. Whether quiet chats to catch up in the shade, or big groups around the same table, we were preparing the atmosphere for life. For more. To host well. To be able to rest. To have beauty and space to connect for our family. For growth. 

This season is called Eastertide - the time after Easter, after resurrection, the 50 days that we let the truth of the resurrection sink in. Time to light the Paschal candle every week, and celebrate, and remember the power of Alleluia is still alive in our lives, our world, our yards today. And practicing resurrection, preparing for new life, remembering the power of Easter, helps us walk through our everyday. Whether you are experiencing a heavy time, or a joyful season, we can remember that we live in a world marked by God's character of grace, power, and life. Which doesn't take away the hard stuff, but it is at work right within in all. And reminds us to notice the good, the growth, and be grateful!  

This reminder from Eugene Peterson says it well:

"There is a great deal we do not know about ourselves and our God and about the world. But we know some things definitely. And we know them because we have come to Jesus. Jesus is the demonstration that God loves, God heals, God forgives, that God's intention for every individual is redemption, that God actively seeks to make us whole persons. We know that no time or circumstance is inaccessible to his grace. We know that no disaster (even crucifixion) can limit his power. We know that his characteristic action is resurrection - the bringing of life to that which for us is beyond hope."

May you sense in the spring season the potential for growth, the preparation we're invited to make for life, and the promise that nothing - nothing - is beyond the healing, and the hope, of Jesus. Alleluia! Amen.