Easter Celebration

 This Sunday, after an amazing service with my church family celebrating our risen Savior, my sister, her friend, and I had our own Easter dinner together in my apartment.

 The color scheme happened to be purple. I used my bamboo plant and the African Violet my sister gave me for a center piece, and my sister brought purple mason jars for pretty glasses and Dove dark chocolate that happened to match.

 The menu consisted of our traditional family Easter dinner:

 Ham

 Scalloped Potatoes

 Freshly Steamed Broccoli

 Crescent Rolls with Raspberry Jam

 Raspberry Jello (A tradition in Gracie's friend's family)

 Though we would have preferred to have been at home with our parents, it was also good to make our own meal and begin our own traditions.

   Saturday night I was reading the account of Jesus' death and ressurection in John, and was happily surprised when John 20 was also the passage used for Easter morning's sermon. In my personal reading, I stopped after I read these verses:

 "Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?' Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, 'Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.' Jesus said to her, 'Mary'. She turned and said to him in Aramaic, 'Rabboni!' (which means teacher). Jesus said to her, 'Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" (John 20:15-17, ESV)

 I wondered why Jesus told Mary not to cling to Him. If I was in her situation, that is what I would do, too. My Lord and Savior is not dead but standing alive in front of me! How could I not cling to Him? But Jesus says not to cling to Him. What a hard command. And I thought of my own life, how there are things in my life that God has said no to. That also seems harsh and hard.

 But Sunday morning my pastor shared that Jesus told Mary not to cling to Him because His time on earth was limited. He would soon be ascending to heaven, as He continues to say after he tells her not to cling to Him. He was preparing Mary for that seperation, as well as all of His followers. 

 For some reason I often doubt that the God who died on the cruel cross for me has my best interest. It is days like Sunday where I am reminded how wrong I am. Sometimes they are hard commands. Often, I want to do the very opposite of what I am supposed to do or want the exact opposite situation than the one I am currently in. But God has an ultimate purpose.

Happy Easter! What are some of your special Easter traditions or things God has taught you this holiday?