Have A Little Faith in We

Happy Easter! I hope you and your families had a most beautiful Easter celebration yesterday. We spent time with our little family and some extended family – more of that during our Weekend Wrap-Up. Today I just want to take a moment and honor this year’s celebration of Christ rising from the dead.

This Lent Danny and I dedicated ourselves to letting go and letting God. We had a variety of intentions on our hearts – home life, health, career paths, the blog, family, business life – over the past few months that led to many evenings of discontent. Some of these were big items and some were just personal goals or dreams we felt a little lost on. Finally it was Danny that said – we can’t keep having these same conversations. What to do, what ifs, we can’t, we wish, why not – those questions swam around our heads on a very regular bases. And when you let yourself start to get overwhelmed with the questions….. then the anger and negatively rears its ugly head.

We decided for the next 40 days we would not worry, analyze, or deliberate over these intentions. Instead we would do our best to stick to the positive, do little things each day to keep moving forward, without questioning the paths, and we would try and seek God’s will though prayer, service to others, and sacrifice. Unfortunately life got in the way of some of our plans. Dan’s tune up really slowed us down and required we turn more inward to focus on our families needs. We missed days of our prayer regiment, ran out of time to even try and fit in one of our charity picks, and what we had hoped to sacrifice, turned into rewards for survival. But we did not become discouraged – as that would have been missing the whole point! Instead we did what we could, and constantly reminded ourselves that the most important thing to keep doing was remain positive (Do good works really count if your screaming at your spouse you can’t help them because you have to go do charity??? How about just being extra helpful to them as charity work).

As we made it to Good Friday I reflected on how it had been hard for us to keep up our end of the deal, yet God came through loud and clear on His. We experienced the power of staying positive when Danny came home on IVs way earlier than expected. We received news on some health questions, I got some answers on my career path, and in an extraordinarily busy month – I was able to make such strides with some person goals. God did not owe us any proof…… even still He choose to answer our intentions and provide direction. It was extremely powerful, and something no matter how hard I try I could never really put into words. All I know is the peace my heart feels knowing God is in control and only asks for both my best and my joy, so He can do the rest is life changing.

Yesterday as I sat in mass and heard several of these phrases:

“Roll away the tomb and witness the power of God”

“This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad”

“He will raise you up on the last day”

I was moved by the calling of my Lord to just follow him. Follow him in darkness – just like Good Friday – and he will lead you to light – just like Easter Sunday. He will protect, He will provide, He knows what we need and how to help us…..we just have to follow Him. Not all the answers we received regarding our intentions were good news – some of them were answers admittedly we may not have been ready to hear, but the peace in knowing that we could never have had influence over those results with all our worry – so wasn’t it better that we could focus on being positive and be better prepared to follow this a new path?

It is my belief that God utilized this Easter season to show me the power and peace that comes from letting go and letting Him. And if I was only somewhat successful in my Lenten efforts – and still feel I have so much clarity around my intentions….. what would it be like to make a true effort of living that life always? So this Easter I purchased a Journalling Bible that I hope to read over the course of  a year. Just think if I sought out God’s word so actively what further transformation could happen for Danny and I?

Hope this Easter also brought you clarity, peace, and the immense joy that comes with allowing God to be your guide and the glory of Easter be a part of your everyday life.

Thank you for reading and remember to make it a great day!
Jackie