New Life

I had a happy blog written out in my mind for this Easter morning.

I pictured it would be sunny and warm. I’d put on a pretty pink Easter dress. I’d eagerly anticipate brunch as I rejoiced in new life, the empty tomb.

But before I had a chance to write that post, I got an email telling me that one of my best friends from college lost her little brother a week ago of natural causes at 4 o’clock in the morning while he slept in his parents home.

It’s funny how things can change in a minute, in the blink of an eye. It’s funny how suddenly life begins, then ends. It’s funny how plans change, and stories unfold.

There’s a robin outside my house getting ready to usher new life into this world. Every time I open my patio door, she scares the life out of me. The truth is that new life scares the daylights out of me.

I remember hearing that a loved one was going to have a baby. I refused to believe it until the boy came out. Will the little one make it out of the shell, or will a spring storm knock the nest over? Will the little one learn to fly or will he hit some early end to his precious life? Will the boy make it all the way to adulthood? Will he grow up to love God or will he wreck his life? Will he be kind to strangers, love the unlovely, and marry a nice girl?

What, I wonder, will new life bring?

I imagine the morning started out slowly with heavy steps all the way to the tomb where he lay. I imagine hearts ached and eyes blurred of tears too many to shed.

I imagine that first glimmer of confusion as facts were faced and joys increased. I imagine hopes and dreams as new life was breathed into lives broken by nails on a tree.

One after the next each of the eleven would be re-birthed. One after the next each women would sense new life. Would they endure to the end? Would they become what they were meant to be?

Or would other loves encroach? Would memories fade? Would obstacles overwhelm and life be snuffed out, too soon, too soon.

New life brings hope, the empty tomb promises life. But on this Easter morning, the question remains: what will your life be?

Will you fly or will you fade?

Will you believe or will you go on refusing to bow your knee, break your will, embrace what has been so freely given to you on this morning?

New life is yours for the taking.

What’s keeping you from grabbing on to Him – the one who gave you His all?

What’s keeping you from becoming all you were meant to be in Him?

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