Warning. Long post. Easter. In the past its been about how many cadbury eggs I could eat without wanting to puke. I did believe that Jesus rose from the dead and that was the true celebration that was going on, but this time its different for me. Before i was just kind of going through the motions, not really comprehending what Easter was. I was searching for so long. Something was missing. Talk about a beautiful and blessed life. It was mine. After all, I have a high school sweetheart that ive been married to for almost 21 years that loves and adores me; I have a wonderful, sweet, intelligent son who always makes us so proud; a comfortable house; a nice job; cute pets; a few really good friends; a nice car; and very little debt. I thought wow, i should be so happy But I wasnt. Something was missing. Despite all of these things, and people I was blessed with, I would still find myself kind of…..sad. empty. Why??? I should be binging off the walls. Even Phil would say youre living your dream. why are you sad? Then a friend invited me to come to one of Calvarys services. There we saw and heard a very passionate Pastor talk about his love for Christ and He was so down to earth, accepting, and personable that it made us want to come back for more. More Church? really? I mean, I never ever got excited about going to church. I always had to drag myself and everyone else out of bed, groaning and whining. This was different. About 3 or 4 Sundays in, going as visitors, Pastor talked about Forgiveness and He also talked about what it was like to see someone pass from this life to the next. Phil and I both have people who have hurt us deeply and even though we said we forgave them….well, it was just words. We never really understood that you have to just let it go. Give it totally to God. Treat that person as Jesus treated others. The most difficult thing I think we could ever have done. We both cried during that service. Lunch after church as silence. We came home mentally exhausted. Phil decided he was going to forgive and let go and let God, as did I. Then, having my husband say he wanted to participate more and learn more and get closer to Jesus made my heart leap for joy and my love for him increase. This was a prayer I had for a while. I wanted my husband to take lead in our religious life. A few weeks later, my last living grandparent passed away. While she was ill in the hospital, I messaged my Pastor on Facebook. Yep, Facebook. :) I asked him, first, to pray for her. Which, he did, no questions asked. He messaged me several times while she was ill asking if we needed anything. We were not members, nor were my parents, nor was my grandma. After seeing my grandmother at the hospital, I realized that she was probably going to be headed to Heaven soon. I felt the urge to ask my Pastor if he would come to the hospital and pray over her. He didnt really know me. He didnt really know my parents. He didnt really know my grandma. But he came. He prayed. He comforted. Im so glad we had him do that because my grandma passed away that night. Then, though he didnt perform her funeral, Pastor came to the wake. We werent members. Nor were my parents. Nor was my grandma. But he came anyway and gave us comfort. We kept attending. Then I decided it was time. I wanted to take my religious life to the next level. I wanted a public display of my commitment to Christ and my promise to live as He wants us to. I told Pastor Lane ParDue I wanted to be baptized. It cracks me up how excited Pastor gets over baptism…..perhaps thats because he knows Christ and is overjoyed to help lead others to Him. It didnt bother me for one moment that this is a Baptist Church and Ive been Catholic all my life (not a practicing Catholic, I might add) Who cares?? Who cares what religion it is as long as Im being lead to my Savior? I dont. This is the place it felt right. This felt like home. My life is changing. Yes, I still have all those blessings, but now….oh now….the sadness is GONE. I wake up with pep in my step, most of the time with a Chris Tomlin or Casting Crowns song in my head. Phil has said You are so much happier since weve been going to Calvary. The truth is: Im so much happier since I fell in love with Jesus and gave him my heart. That was the missing piece of the puzzle. That was why i was not joyous when I should have been. Sure, I still get stressed but Im getting better about how I handle it. Im a work in progress. Im His work and theres nothing I cant handle as long as Hes in my life!!!!! Happy Easter everyone! I hope that my testimony to why this Easter is different touched you in some way. Many blessings to you!
Posted on: Sun, 20 Apr 2014 12:59:08 +0000
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