Easter Traditions

It is now about 8:30 am on Sunday Morning and I have been up for over 3 hours now! For those of you who know me well you know that getting up on time, particularly on Sundays, is a CHALLENGE for me!

But this morning my amazing husband and I started a new Easter tradition. We arose before sunrise, made a pot a coffee, put our jackets on over our pajamas and went out to our backyard to watch the sunrise as we remembered that The Son has risen and conquered death so that we may have life.

It was honestly the most amazing Easter I have ever celebrated in my almost 26 years of life, and 13 years as a Christian!

Sitting on the top of our picnic table watching the sun as it rose over the tree tops and the tops of houses  we marveled to see how slowly the light over took the darkness. Mark then read us the Easter story from his Bible and after the sun had almost fully risen we came inside where we worshipped together. We sang "Lo in the Grave" (my favorite Easter Hymn), "In Christ Alone", and "How Deep the Father's Love For Us".

Even though we still have a full day of Easter celebrations before us, I am so thankful that we took that time together as a family to worship our Savior and to thank Him for all He has done for us. I know for sure that this will be an Eldridge Easter family tradition that we will some day share with our children!

I would love to hear how you celebrate Easter with your family!


God Bless and Happy Easter!

(Focus on the Family had a great article this month on ways to celebrate Easter with your family if you would like to read some more about different family Easter traditions.) 

Resurgam

Resurgam (latin: "I shall rise again")

I recently went to see the new "Jane Eyre" movie with some friends and while I was watching it I kept feeling that something vital was missing, something that was so keen in the book that had been lost in translation from the book to the movie. So, I decided to read the book again to try and capture/discover the missing factor that makes "Jane Eyre", well "Jane Eyre". 

Here is what I found at the End of chapter 9:

"Where is God? What is God?"

"My Maker and yours, who will never destroy what he created. I rely implicitly on his power, and confide wholly in his goodness: I count the hours till that eventful one arrives which shall restore me to him, reveal him to me."

"You are sure, then, Helen, that there is such a place as heaven; and that our souls can get to it when we die?"

"I am sure there is a future state; I believe God is good; I can resign my immortal part to him without any misgivings. God is my father; God is my friend: I love him; I believe he loves me."

God! That is what the movie had forgotten to mention!!!

To me this scene is so amazingly beautiful; here is a young Helene Burns who has known nothing but heartache in her young life and is dying of consumption and yet she is able to rejoice in her circumstances, saying in fact that she counts the hours until she is able to see our Maker face to face! This scene forever alters Jane's life as it should (ours too). For the first time in her life Jane is hearing about the Joy of God and not the punishment that so many others had shown her in association with God's name. We see this in the headstone that Jane later had placed on Helen's grave which simply said "Resurgam". 

On a personal note it also made me ask myself how I am representing God to others? Do I shine His Joy or His wrath? Or am I like the movie and I just leave Him out all together?  

I pray that I am like Helen and that no matter the circumstance I would be shining the light and joy of God. However, I fear that I am often like the movie and simply leave God out of the picture when interacting with others. 

*As a side note, I would like to say that despite this posting I do recommend seeing the newest movie it is very well done, it simply left out I what I consider to be some wonderful parts of the text. Also, I should note that I am only half-way done re-reading the book so it is possible I will stumble across something else as I continue to read. :)  Also, check out the trailer for the movie below! 

Jesus the name above all names

So my class and I memorized the Scripture, "Let every creature praise his holy name" Psalm 145:21 last week and that got me thinking about the meaning behind names. If we are praising God's name shouldn't we  really think about the different names we call Him as we are praising Him. So I found this list about the names of God from the Old Testament:

• El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty)
• El Elyon (The Most High God)
• Adonai (Lord, Master)
• Yahweh (Lord, Jehovah)
• Jehovah Nissi (The Lord My Banner)
• Jehovah-Raah (The Lord My Shepherd)
• Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals)
• Jehovah Shammah (The Lord Is There)
• Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness)
• Jehovah Mekoddishkem (The Lord Who Sanctifies You)
• El Olam (The Everlasting God)
• Elohim (God)
• Qanna (Jealous)
• Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide)
• Jehovah Shalom (The Lord Is Peace)
• Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of Hosts)

How amazing is it to stop and ponder the names of God. A Study guide I was reading had this to say "Throughout Scripture God reveals Himself to us through His names. When we study these names that He reveals to us in the Bible, we will better understand who God really is. The meanings behind God's names reveal the central personality and nature of the One who bears them." 

So... How are you searching for God in His name? 

Oh and I would love to hear what your name means if you know!