How does Santa get down the chimney?

My favorite time of year is happening as we speak! It’s like the earth is waking up from an extremely long nap and it gets to start over, fresh, blooming with life!

(P.S.My weakness though, during this time of the year… is the candy. I am doing my best to try to avoid buying bag after bag of sweet tarts...but have you tried the Wonka brand Sweetart Jelly beans? Genius! Just sayin’. If you like sweet, tangy, sour candy, I highly recommend you pick up a bag ASAP.)

Aside from the fact that my birthday is around the corner and my age will become one digit higher (and I become one year wiser ;0), there are other reasons I enjoy this Easter season. The tulips are coming up, I get to bring up my sandals from their cold, dark space in the basement and wear them, and I can finally cast my gaze upward and let the sun kiss my face once again. Also, this is the time of the year we get to celebrate the truth of Christ; how He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven so that we can live a life of love like He did! Moreover, when I think of spring, I always remember that spring of 1999 when I gave my heart to God and learned to trust Him for the details of my life for the first time.

Haven’t you ever wondered what Easter is all about, aside from the Bunny? I just love the imagery Ephesians 5:1-2 portrays. It helps me to see the beauty of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross, and what I can do in return here in this life. It’s about Christ’s resurrection, and what He did for us so that we might live a self-less life, centered on Him, the Giver of Life!

¹ Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children ² and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

I will never be able to live a perfect life like He did. But, as a child of God, I choose to walk as closely as I can to Him and be as good as an example as I can be of His love to the people He has put in my life.

My friend Jaci and I were discussing child rearing the other day, and the decision to highlight the Easter bunny or not....much like the Santa Claus conversations in late November. –What do you tell your kid when they ask, “Why does such a fat man bring the gifts down the chimney?” Why do we put cookies and carrots out?” With a toddler growing more curious by the minute, I foresee many "why" questions in the very near future. Carlo and I like to be as proactive as possible in eliminating potential headaches and confusion when it comes to kids stuff; so, we talk a lot. One thing we decided as a family, is that we’d rather celebrate the Christ in Christmas who lives in our hearts, rather than the guy who lives in the North Pole. During the month of April, we choose to focus on Jesus' sacrificial death and resurrection rather than a man-sized fuzzy bunny. Don't get me wrong; both fun, fictitious characters will be a part of the season, but we choose the truth over lies. For example, gifts will come from us at Christmas, which in turn, are from God who blesses us with the gift of a job to be able to pay for said gifts. Also, the small trinkets we will give Caleb this year for Easter will be to celebrate the Gift of God, who allowed His own Son to take our place and die on a cross, so that we could have the opportunity to know Him.

So, to get to the point, this time of the year I truly enjoy celebrating all things risen! My life will never be the same now that I know the truth of Christ’s unconditional love and sacrifice. Christ died for me, and for you. I am a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come! So, as the newness of spring washes over you this year, do me a favor and remember Who gave it all for you.

I will leave you with a very special passage that I keep close to my heart.

2 Corinthians 5:17-19

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.

Note: The photo was taken the spring of 2006, while my brother and I were fooling around outside of Grandpa and Grandma Gorenc's house during an Easter Celebration . -Good times, Boog. ;0)