Easter Day.

It was quite possibly the most perfect weather ever yesterday. These pictures actually do a pretty good job of capturing the brightness of it. The boys had a phenomenal time searching for eggs, etc... and so did we. Gramsy outdid herself with goodies and surprises. And the Poppy-Bunny even hid a basket way up high, so a certain someone would get to go up in the aerial lift to retrieve it. All this combined with not one but TWO egg hunts the day before, made for 2 very spoiled little boys. they would've been happy with a couple of jelly beans...

You'd think getting them to hold still and smile for a few pictures would be a piece of cake, with how happy they were all day. But these were the best we could do. Apparently too much sugar makes it difficult to listen, let alone sit still.

The best part of it all though, was helping Christian to understand the Easter Story for the first time. Death is a topic I've always fretted about explaining to him. I always feared that it would be a discussion that ripped away his innocence and opened his eyes to the harsh reality of life. But I figured if he was going to start hearing about Jesus dying on the cross, we better start discussing it a few weeks before Easter. And I am SO glad we did. He's been reporting what he's heard at school and at church, and it seems like our conversations have helped prepare him for those topics. He's done a pretty good job comprehending a lot of it, through the filter of an almost 4 year old. . .

That death is when you're not alive anymore.

That Heaven is a real place where there is no more sad, bad, or mad.

That we can live there someday together with God and Jesus, and

that Jesus came to make that possible. . . all because He loves us SO much.

Today he's been making up "Jesus rose from the grave" songs, and handing out instruments for us to all play while we sing along. It's pretty adorable.

And with his little childlike understanding, it's a great relief to my mama's heart to see that his innocence is still pretty much intact. And now that the conversation has commenced, we can continue it at any given time, building on what we already know.

I guess each stage will be like this. Becoming more complex as the months and years go by. I am realizing how much help we are going to need to be good parents. I need wisdom for how to help my children learn and grow in this often scary world. . . for how to respond to their questions, their testing the boundaries, their need for independence, their insecurities.......

*sigh*.

Thank you, Jesus, for coming so that we could not only have the hope of Heaven, but the wisdom we so desperately need-- both from seeing how you lived, and from the Spirit which you left behind. May we strive to become more childlike as we depend on you, and not ourselves, for help in parenting these precious little lambs. Thank you that I don't have to have it all together or have all the answers to be a good mom. I just need you. And because of Easter, I do.