Easter

by

Observing Lent

What are you giving up for Lent?

This was a familiar question in my college dorm, back in the “Jesus Freak 70s.” As a child growing up in a Catholic neighborhood (my non-religious family stuck out like a group of Hari Krishnas at a bar mitzvah), I remember all my friends forgoing meat from Ash Wednesday until Easter. Fish sticks appeared on the school cafeteria menu while brown-baggers munched peanut butter or tuna sandwiches day after day.

Somewhere along the line, non-Catholic believers decided that giving up meat wasn’t the only option. We could fast anything, as long as it had some spiritual impact on our lives. Some of my college friends gave up sugar, while others unplugged their stereos. Bring that concept into the 21st century, and we might have signed off Facebook for the duration, or stopped playing video games.

Continue reading →

by

Our Easter Story

In honor of the resurrection of Jesus, I’d like to share our family’s personal story of God’s miraculous healing.

Holiday. It comes from “holy day.” To me, Easter is the most holy day of the year. The resurrection is the centerpiece of my faith in a God who saves.

As Paul told the Corinthians, “… if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (1 Cor. 15)

These verses have extra meaning for our family because of something that happened in 1997. While in Pretoria, South Africa, to speak at a conference, my husband, Pete, was walking across the street when he was hit by a speeding car. The events that followed cemented our faith in a God who works miracles—a God with resurrection power. It’s the perfect Easter story.

I’ll let Pete tell you what happened in his own words.