It’s All About Life

I’ve been thinking a lot about life lately. During this Easter season, everything is about life and redemption.

I’ve been thinking about the new, little life that has come into our home straight from a loving Heavenly Father. Anyone who can look into a newborn baby’s eyes and doubt the existence of God is missing out on one of life’s most amazing experiences. Avery knows Him. She loves Him. And if you watch her closely, you’ll realize that for the time being she remembers Him. Oh how I wish these precious little ones could speak . . . could somehow articulate all that they know and all that we’ve managed to forget. She also knows her Savior. She loves Him. She remembers the big brother that loves her more than life itself and voluntarily gave His up on her behalf. Watching Hunter interact with Avery melts my heart. She adores her big brother. He speaks and she’s instantly quiet . . . instantly looking for the voice of the older brother that she knows loves her. She hangs onto his hand and refuses to let go. I’ve wondered how often we fail to go quiet and neglect to look for the voice of that older brother whom we know loves us. I wonder how often we let go when we should hang onto His life-giving hand for dear life.

I’ve been thinking about the life of my dear friend, Nikole. Avery is carrying her name and it’s caused me to reflect on the life that was cut so short. Seventeen years old . . . that’s quick. Far too quick. And it can happen that quickly for anyone, turning life into a tragedy for those who don’t yet understand the miracle that we call Easter. I remember the ache I felt when I found out Nikole wouldn’t live. It literally made me heartsick. But I also remember the peace I felt when I remembered that she would live. Maybe not that day, but one day it would be done. She would rise and we’d still be friends.

I’ve been thinking about my life. I’ve thought about how often I come up short . . . how I fail to do what I know I should or how I simply can’t manage to reach up and hold onto what my Father in Heaven has asked me to do. I’ve thought about what that would mean if my Savior’s victory over death and sin failed to exist. Life would be pointless. Our failure would have been complete after the first mistake, all being lost. Death would be final and Nikole would be gone. Avery would have just come into a world that she had no chance of exiting victoriously. But enter Jesus Christ, the Savior of all mankind. The truth is, His victory over sin in the garden of Gethsemane was complete, as was His victory over death when He rose and left behind Him an empty tomb. I emphasize the word complete. Because He rose, we will all rise. Every single one of us will live again. Nikole will live. I’ll live. My children and family will live. And because of his victory over sin, every single one of us have the opportunity to repent and be made clean.

So, as I think about life on this Easter Sunday, I feel great reason to rejoice. We all have reason to celebrate and that reason is Jesus the Christ. His reality cannot be argued away by any amount of logic, nor can His sacrifice. He was victorious and because of that my life has great meaning and purpose. Because of that, there is hope for my children and family, there is hope for Nikole, and there is hope for me . . . there is literally hope for all of humanity.