Easter

We had a wonderful Easter today. The Easter bunny managed to find us and James and Madie made out pretty well. They both got a new church outfit, some books, and James got some sunglasses. He quiet enjoyed the eggs with goldfish and fruit snacks. Madie was very impressed with the Easter egg rattle left for her. The kids all ready for church. I did have a picture of them together but neither one of them would cooperate.

After church and nap time, we colored eggs and them went out and hid them in the back yard. It made a great day and a great time outside.

As fun as it was to celebrate Easter with candy and eggs, the real purpose the Easter is truly about Christ. Today in Relief Society the teach read an amazing quote about Christ and his Atonement. It was truly the best part of my day. It is a little long but totally worth the time to read.

“We know that on some level Jesus experienced the totality of mortal existence in Gethsemane. It's our faith that he experienced everything-absolutely everything. Sometimes we don't think through the implications of that belief. We talk in great generalities about the sins of all humankind, about the suffering of the entire human family. But we don't experience pain in generalities. We experience it individually…
That means Jesus knows what it felt like when your mother died of cancer-how it was for your mother, how it still is for you.
He knows what it felt like to lose the student-body election.
He knows that moment when the brakes locked, and the car started to skid.
He experienced the slave ship sailing from Ghana toward Virginia.
He experienced the gas chambers at Dachau.
He experienced napalm in Vietnam.
He knows about drug addiction and alcoholism.
“There is nothing you have experienced as a woman that he does not also know and recognize. On a profound level, he understands about pregnancy and giving birth.…
He understands your mother-pain when your five-year-old leaves for kindergarten,
when a bully picks on your fifth-grader,
when your daughter calls to say that the new baby has Down's syndrome.
He knows your mother-rage when someone gives your thirteen-year-old drugs,
when someone seduces your seventeen-year-old.
He knows the pain you live with when you come home to a quiet apartment where the only children who ever come are visitors,
when you hear that your former husband and his new wife were sealed in the temple last week,
when your fiftieth wedding anniversary rolls around and your husband has been dead for two years.
“He knows all that. He's been there. He's been lower than all that.”
“Chieko N. Okazaki, Lighten Up!, p.174-176”