Easter Blessings

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. John 3:16-17

One of my favorite Holidays was this weekend, Easter, and during all of the festivities there were a lot of thoughts rolling through my mind.

The Holiday festivities really got into full swing at the Dahm household on Friday when the kids and I decided to dye our Easter eggs.  The process of coloring the eggs wasn't our best one for sure.  I didn't buy a new dying kit this year because when cleaning out my pantry a few weeks back I realized that I had one in there.  Sorry to say though, when we actually opened the kit and were about to put the tablets into each dish to start making the various colors we realized some of the tablets (most of them) had broke and were mixed with each other and we now needed to try to separate each little piece that was in the bag in order to have different colored eggs.  Thankfully Sam wanted to tackle this task and did a rather good job of it.  There were arguments about how many eggs each kid got to dye personally and what colors and what not, but we all survived I suppose.

A failed group shot of the kids during the egg dying process.  As you can see, Luke was upset about something at this point and didn't even want his picture taken.

The finished product.  Not our best looking eggs for sure but it's the thought that counts right?

Saturday was also a busy day for us.  Sam had to be out at church to practice for our Sunrise Service that was taking place on Easter Sunday and when the boys and I went back to pick her up later when she was done we visited Adam's gravesite to decorate it for Easter/Spring.

Going there always makes my head spin with the "what if" questions and I ponder how different life would be for all of us if he was still here on this Earth and not in Heaven.  To some, they may not understand my need to keep going to his gravesite (I know he isn't there obviously), but as his Mom, it is the only way I can give him "things" and show him the love that is in my heart every single day and I don't want to count him out.  So, he got his very own Easter bunny and he got his very own Easter eggs and the kids like to help with this as well for the same reasons and are very protective of anything by his stone.

I went to bed early on Saturday night (after heading downtown for a few drinks with the hubby) and was excited for the fact that although I would need to be at our church by 5:45 am the following morning, that still meant I had off of chores and got to sleep in about 30-40 minutes that morning.  That is huge for me!!!

My mother-in-law came to stay with Lukas while Sam and Zach and I headed to our Easter sunrise service.  It has been a while since I attended this service as it is always difficult for me to get three bodies plus myself moving that early in the morning, but as a child and teenager I remember going to these all the time with my parents and it brought back good memories for me.

Easter morning was beautiful.  A little windy and a tad chilly but overall a gorgeous morning.  And as our service was being done outside the sun did rise over the hill to the East and it was absolutely spectacular!!!  I kick myself as I brought my camera to take pictures outside but forget to put my recently charged battery back into the camera (must be the turning 40 thing?).

Our youth did a small skit (Sam was part of it) and when they were reading the part about the nails being pounded into Jesus hands and feet it brought tears to my eyes, seriously.  So much torture, so much pain He endured....for all of us.

Our church altar on Easter morning (the later service when I did remember to put the battery in my camera)

Our Easter festivites concluded with a yummy meal and conversation at my brother's house.  While there we also had a small egg hunt for Lukas and my great nephew, Brody.  Such innocent little souls on an adventure.  Their expressions, their comments, everything about them while hunting is so so precious.

Lukas and Brody after they found all of the eggs.

I counted every single one of my blessings yesterday.  I try count them every day, even when things aren't going my way.

God may not have blessed me with the fanciest house, the newest car or luxurious vacations but He did bless me with a gorgeous family, a faith that is stronger than most people would imagine and unbelievable surroundings.  It's too bad more people can't believe His love and understand what He did for all of us and continues to do at all times.

I hope all of you had a blessed Easter :)