Disclaimer: Easter was on Sunday, March 31st this year; however, our family's Easter observances stretched out over a couple of weeks due to Spring Break literally breaking up the Easter celebrations and elongating the fun until we all celebrated together on Sunday, April 7th. But...let's back up to 40 days before Easter. Last year, Elder Stevenson of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles encouraged us to make Easter a more meaningful holiday. He wasn't necessarily telling us to go over the top, but he encouraged us to delve into the Easter story so that it becomes the greatest story ever told - not the greatest story never told. As I contemplated his counsel, I knew I wanted to be more meaningful in my preparation for this sacred holiday. I had heard about the 40 mile Jesus Trail that connects Nazareth to Capernaum (a trail Biblical and archeological scholars agree was present during Christ's life wherein he most likely traveled). Then I remembered many faithful friends who practiced Lent (a penitential 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and service leading up to Easter). 40 miles. 40 days. I decided that if I couldn't actually walk the Jesus trail, I could walk a mile with Jesus for 40 days as I observed my own penitential season of prayer, fasting, and service. One mile of communion with Christ...sometimes through music, sometimes listening to lectures on Christ, sometimes alone, sometimes with someone. Some miles were wet. Some miles were indoors. Some were windy. Some were mild. Most miles were cold. Most miles were in the early morning hours. The last mile was in the evening. The last mile was cold. The last mile was steep. The last mile filled my soul with immeasurable gratitude. The last mile reminded my heart of His incomprehensible love for me. The last mile led to a cross (read on for more details). While my feet guided me through 40 miles, my heart brought me to Him. I'm pretty sure I'll walk these 40 miles with Christ again next year.
As Easter approached, we began our Holy Week celebrations. For the past couple of years, I have had an increased desire to augment our Easter experiences. While I know my children know that the Easter holiday commemorates the death and resurrection of our Savior, we tended to only observe that during our church services on Easter Sunday instead of truly preparing ourselves to honor this sacred holiday. Because of that, I have tried to prepare our hearts and minds for that Easter Sunday by celebrating Holy Week...starting with Palm Sunday. As in years passed, we commemorated this day by reading the account of our Savior's triumphal entry into Jerusalem in the Book of Matthew. In the evening, we had a burrito bar dinner (because Jesus rode on a donkey...which is "burro" in Spanish) and palm "sundaes" for dessert. This year, I added a couple of games. This was truly a celebratory day for Christ so why not have a little more fun. We played a Holy Week Jeopardy then a "right-left" game where each individual got a large plastic egg with a cross ornament and a simple stone to remember His death and resurrection.
The rest of the week it was just Jonas, Jeff, and I celebrating. Each day, we would read what happened in the life of Christ for that day then we would do some small activity. On Monday, Christ cleansed the temple then healed the sick. Jonas and I decided to do a temple picnic for dinner that evening.
On Tuesday, Christ taught the people. Jonas got to skip the bus and participate in my morning "Jesus walk" as we listened to modern day prophets and apostles teach us about Christ.
The scriptures are silent as to what happened on Wednesday; yet, knowing our Savior, we are pretty sure he was showing kindness and serving others so I bought each of us a simple red bracelet to wear as a reminder to be kind and offer acts of service. That evening, we also took Jeff with us to watch the movie, One Life, about an ordinary British man during WWII who helped rescue Jewish children from Czechoslovakia. It just goes to show that we don't have to be extraordinary people to show extraordinary courage and kindness.
Thursday was the passover meal and Christ's time in the Garden of Gethsemane. I prepare a simple meal with a seder plate as our centerpiece. We talked about the tradition of passover and how that influenced our current eucharist (or sacrament) practice. We discussed Christ's suffering in the garden and subsequent betrayal.
I was really looking forward to Friday's activity. Last year, I recalled seeing a giant cross as we drove up Spanish Fork Canyon. I have probably seen it before, but I made a mental note that I wanted to hike to that cross on Good Friday. I wanted to take the time and make the effort to ascend my own hill even though I wouldn't be dragging a cross. Jeff and Jonas joined me. As we drove to the trailhead, we listened to Rob Gardner's Lamb of God oratorio to set our hearts and minds in the right place. We reached the trail and climbed the mountain. The weather had been gloomy all day. Dark clouds swirled around us as we trekked up the inclines. The whole earth seemed to be mourning the death we were commemorating, but how could we be sad? How could we mourn the indescribable gift His death was for us? I just kept contemplating what He might have been emotionally experiencing on that cross. Did He see my face? Did it bring Him comfort? Even with the excruciating physical pain, was He focused on the blessing this was? Jonas was the first to reach the cross. There was no one else there. I watched as my son walked the path to that cross and wondered what it was like for our Father in Heaven watching His Son. I reached the cross and couldn't stop the tiny tears that welled up in my eyes. An overwhelming sense of gratitude filled my heart for the love Jesus offers me. He has set me free...and all He asks is that I walk the path He did. Sometimes that path is easy; often times it's not...but it will never lead me to the pain He endured if I will but continue to turn to Him.
During Holy Week, Saturday is the day that He remained in the tomb. This was the day we drove to AZ (Jonas might have felt like he was confined in a tomb as we drove the entire 10 hours that day...haha!). See our Spring Break post for more details. When we returned the following week, we celebrated the rest of Easter with our little family. Saturday (April 6th) was Laurin's birthday (and also an Oliver family wedding). Jeff and I offered to watch Carter and Everly for the night (they even got to sleep over) while the rest of the kids (Jonas included) went out to celebrate. They went to Top Golf and enjoyed some games and food. Jonas even beat the whole crew on one game! He was pretty proud of himself. (Also pictured with the kids is Audrey, Dallin's girlfriend).
Sunday (April 7th) we finally enjoyed some of the more commercialized traditions (mixed with some of our more meaningful activities...or really just food) of Easter. Jonas, Carter, and Everly received little Easter "baskets" from me then we made resurrection rolls. I love making these yummy rolls on Easter morning. While the little kids weren't quite paying attention to where the marshmallow went, I know it will soak in eventually. Today was also General Conference Sunday. I loved that we got to fill our day with messages of Christ...even if it wasn't the real Easter Sunday. In between sessions of conference, we colored and hid eggs. We decided to try the blindfold egg hunt again this year. Everyone seemed to enjoy it...although Laurin made Casey work for it! She had him climbing trees, going up to the zipline platform and more. It was pretty funny to watch! He was a good sport through it all. We ended our day with our traditional Easter Sunday dinner. We had roast (which is only because my kid don't like lamb...but it's supposed to represent the Lamb of God), a garden (of Gethsemane) salad, funeral potatoes (because He died), rolls (because the stone was rolled away), and angel food cake for dessert (because He rose again). It was also a bonus because Laurin loves angel food cake so we threw some candles on the cake and also sung happy birthday. It was a full day. Yes...it was a little stressful feeding everyone all day and organizing all the activities, but I wouldn't change it. I got to gather with my family as we celebrated Christ. It doesn't get better than that! I love that we are choosing to make Easter more than just colored eggs. (Even Dallin called me and thanked me for putting effort into this week. He said that even though he didn't participate in all of our Easter activities, he knew we were celebrating it and it made him think more of Christ that week. It's moments like this that make all the effort worth it.) I am grateful for my Savior. I am grateful for the time I have spent with Him this season. He is my friend. He is my brother. He is my strength. He is my comfort. He is my Redeemer.
