Easter Weekend

Posted by Chandra April 22, 2019

Easter Weekend

I was incredibly nervous to go to the family Easter Egg hunt. I almost didn't even go. But I mustered the bravery and felt strongly that I didn't want to be the one to create division in the family. We were suuuuuper late but when we pulled up, Kimmie and Brody came running to the car and helped us out. Then Savannah came up to me and gave me a huge hug and said she heard I was sad and said the sweetest things to me to make me feel better. I held her hand as we walked in and Jon came right up to me and apologized! I was blown away! Whew! Ok BOOM DONE! I don't want to talk about it anymore! He said it was pretty cool that we haven't had a fight in 34 years. So, I guess that's looking at the bright side. The things he said and the way he treated me is still something that i'm processing. But that's on me. He apologized and I forgave. Bless our family!

I don't think all of this happening around Easter was a coincidence. I relied so heavily on prayer and the power of the atonement to mend my broken heart and I would NOT have been able to get through this trial without that faith in Him. And the miraculous way people reached out to me- Amy Slusser randomly texting me the next day to see how I was doing! She told me that she had said her morning prayers and then felt prompted to get on her knees again and ask Heavenly Father to help her be a deliverer of Christ's love to whoever needed it that day. Then she texted me. I was able to hear her words of advice and comfort and man, if that isn't the Lord's hand in my life I don't know what is. She said to me, "No matter what, you can know of a surety that Christ loves you because he sent me to you in the moment you needed to feel that love. I'm just the vehicle." We discussed the fact that when you are living life in the right way, these spiritual promptings don't even come as a surprise. It is just how you are, what you do. The same thing happened to me when I reached out to a friend who had just learned of some family members leaving the church, including her husband and I happened to text her right as she was in her deepest darkest moment. And not only me but her visiting teacher, her estranged sister, and another sister from the ward- all within that very hour. The Lord knows us and it aware of our tender heart breaks, no matter how big or how small. He is there. And he died for us so that we don't have to endure the heart break. We can relieve ourselves of the burden by placing it at His feet. Through prayer, guidance of the Holy Ghost, true friends and faith, we can have peace no matter what the hard ship.

The family Easter Egg hunt was a success. Mikeala helped Rayleigh color eggs, Jack and Parker swam with cousins, the hunt was epic and Rayleigh round the giant golden egg! We had pizza and good times all around!

From there, we left the kids with Cami at my mom's house and went to Tyler Braithwaite's wedding open house in San Clemente! I can't believe he's married! He reminds me so much of Jack. I'm so proud of the man he's become and I can't wait to see how his life unfolds with his new bride.

We had Stake Conference on Easter Sunday so Tanner stayed home with the littles while I took Parker. It was a beautiful meeting filled with testimonies of Christ. We heard from the Redlands temple president and his wife, the Mission President and his wife, the Stake president and his wife, and his 2 counselors and their wives. I loves hearing Raschelle Tolley's testimony. It was all very uplifting and inspiring. We tried to keep Sunday more spiritual than we've had in the past. We didn't do a morning Easter egg hunt with candy or baskets. We had a BBQ after church and then I hid our new Ressurection Eggs- 12 eggs, each one with a symbol of Easter week inside. We were able to discuss Christ's final week and his glorious resurrection. THEN we gave the kids very basic baskets and went swimming to burn off the sugar high. We watched some Bible Videos on LDS.org and I cried as we watched Christ's final days unfold. We ate a "Last Supper" dinner outside on the ground at sunset and we each talked about what we loved most about our Savior.

It was a really nice day. My love for my Redeemer has grown so much this past week. Although trials are hard to go through, I am so thankful for the opportunity to turn to Him and feel of His mercy towards me. I know He lives and love me too!