The Franzy Bunch: Easter 2014

I'm not going to lie. The past few years Easter has not been great. It's been fine, but the rejoicing in my soul kind of great just hasn't been there. Let's face it. The past few years have been hard!

This year was different. I felt Easter in my soul. We did a few things differently. I'd like to share what we did differently, why Easter was different, and of course a few pictures.

First of all, Greg and I are new members of a church. It's a place we both have been members of before. We left and now we are back. We love it. It has been many years since I felt excited about going to church on Sunday morning and I have that back. It's awesome. I know that belonging and fitting in to a body of believers has been the primary reason that Easter felt real again.

We also decided to forgo Easter baskets with the girls this year. It started out as a way to save money. It turned in to more! Greg and I sponsor a child through Food for the Hungry. About a month ago we got a catalog in the mail from them asking people to send money for food and other items. For instance you could send $16 dollars to send 2 rabbits in a family in the village. You could send $4 for a mosquito net. You get the idea. Well, Jadyn got really in to it, so we asked her if she would be willing to not have an Easter basket and instead send the money to purchase something from the catalog. She said yes! We were so excited. She decided to send 2 chickens to one of the families in the village. We got to talk about it again Easter morning and she was still really excited that she decided to skip the basket and send a chicken instead. (She did get a basket from Nana and Papa, so she wasn't totally deprived).
Easter was so much less stressful not worrying about Easter baskets.

Church was awesome Sunday morning. We had a delightful time worshiping our Lord and Savior and our Pastor delivered a powerful sermon. It was so great! The church was packed. We had trouble getting out of the parking lot. What an awesome problem to have. :)

I think the biggest thing for me is this: The sounding resolution, echoing words that He lives. And, because he lives we will get to see our baby again one day.
Praise the Lord.

After church we headed to my parent's house for Easter lunch and an egg hunt. It was gorgeous weather, delightful company, and a fantastic afternoon. Greg's grandparents were able to join us for both church and lunch - we had a great time!

Grandma, Greg, and Jadyn flying a kite