New Life

Flowering forsythia branches from my garden.

Over the Easter weekend, I Spring-cleaned my garden.  As I pruned away dead branches and raked up old, dried-up leaves, I saw new life.  Fresh buds on branches. Baby plants starting to grow. Old plants coming back. 

New life everywhere in my garden!

As I worked in my garden, Easter Sunday was coming to an end.  It was a bright, sun-shining Resurrection Day afternoon... just perfect for gardening and getting lost in my own thoughts and reflection.

I reflected on our family's first practice of Lent, on how this Easter was somehow different than previous ones, on how I am more aware than ever before of grace-gifts, on how we can and should continue to live Easter after Resurrection Sunday, living this new life... not just during the 40 days right after {which marks the number of days from Easter Sunday to the Ascension, the same time length as Lent} but as a habit, for always... as people of the Resurrection, as Christ-followers!

I came to a happy and thankful realization, that by God's grace and solely, only because of Grace, our family already live like that!  Especially more so this year as we live out the verse from Micah 6:8 which God gave as our theme verse for 2011.

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

   And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

   and to walk humbly with your God.

And my prayer today is that God will continue to grow us, that our family will continue to live as Easter people, to discover more ways of unwrapping more of God's love in this world... not by our own strength, but by His grace alone.

Unwrapping more of His love in this world.

Act justly.  Love mercy.  Walk humbly with God!