Happy Easter

You would have thought it was Christmas morning in this house yesterday. Jack was so excited for Easter. We hid plastic eggs around the house the night before and, sure enough, at 6:30am Jack was in our room telling us that the "rabbit" had left him candy in his room. We told him to go find the rest of the treats--which gave us another 10 minutes to sleep--and then he was ready to color eggs.

Don't you just love pictures of Easter eggs?

{We spent the rest of the day in Fredricksburg. I'll post those pictures later.}

We had a beautiful Easter Sunday. We tried to teach Jack about what Easter really means--a day to celebrate that our Savior atoned for our sins, died for us, and then resurrected. I'm not sure that we were successful, but then again, I'm not sure that I'll ever fully comprehend the importance of Easter myself.

One of my favorite quotes that has helped me to understand what Jesus Christ did for me is from the October 1995 conference talk by Elder Holland called "This Do in Rembrance of Me." It reads:

When those difficult times come to us, we can remember that Jesus had to descend below all things before he could ascend above them, and that he suffered pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind that he might be filled with mercy and know how to succor his people in their infirmities.

To those who stagger or stumble, he is there to steady and strengthen us. In the end he is there to save us, and for all this he gave his life. However dim our days may seem they have been darker for the Savior of the world.

In fact, in a resurrected, otherwise perfected body, our Lord has chosen to retain for the benefit of his disciples the wounds in his hands and his feet and his side—signs, if you will, that painful things happen even to the pure and perfect. Signs, if you will, that pain in this world is not evidence that God doesn’t love you. It is the wounded Christ who is the captain of our soul—he who yet bears the scars of sacrifice, the lesions of love and humility and forgiveness.

We are so grateful for all of the blessings we have and to be together as a family right now. Most importantly, we are grateful that Jesus Christ has made it possible for us all to be forgiven of our sins and to live with Him someday.