R is for Resurrection

Adessa, Easter Sunday, April 8, 2007, Moreno Valley, CA.

R is for Resurrection -- what we celebrate today on Easter Sunday.  After remembering the death of Christ on Good Friday, what at the time seemed to be the very death of hope itself gave way to the very turning point in the history of mankind and of the world itself.  Jesus conquering the grave and death -- as He said He would -- and restoring hope to mankind.

I don't blame the disciples for not "getting it" as they watched Jesus crucified.  I can't imagine how afraid, disillusioned, and defeated they must have felt watching their Rabbi and Lord betrayed, humiliated, beaten, blasphemed, tortured and executed.  All the power that had seemed so readily at His fingertips as he healed people, walked on water, and fed thousands from leftovers was just... gone.  At that moment, all the promises He had made must have seemed empty and totally impossible to fulfill.  Perhaps they believed they had been fooled or misunderstood Jesus when He claimed to be both the Son of God and the fulfillment of hundreds of years of Messianic prophecy.

Adessa, Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009, Friday Harbor, WA.

That is why when the glory of the resurrection took place, pivoting the world's darkest hour into its greatest, it was a moment that today, 2000 years later, it fills our hearts with such joy and hope that nothing in our lives seems impossible.  Every bit of suffering, every sadness, every tragedy is put into perspective by the death and ultimate resurrection of Jesus.  Because where there is life, there is hope.

Adessa and Daddy, Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010, Davenport, IA.

I have celebrated four Easters with my precious daughter and trust that I will celebrate this special day with her again.  Where there is life, there is hope, and hope never dies because true love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.  True love never fails.

Until then, I will continue loving and praying for Adessa every day.  She is precious to me and always will be.

Happy Easter to you, Adessa.