Happy Easter

This Easter I felt the weight of trying to be a fun parent and recreate happy memories from my childhood for our girls. It turns out I had taken for granted all the thought, love and effort my parents, grandparents, and an army of aunts and uncles invested to make each Easter magical. If measured by Pinterest production value, I would give my effort this year a C+. But I'm confident the girls had fun and feel deep satisfaction when I ask Cora why we celebrate Easter and she says, "Because Jesus died and lives again."

We didn't do Easter baskets, but did manage to color eggs and enjoy rabbit-shaped pancakes on Sunday morning (Best I can tell, no animals were harmed in the making of these pancakes). 

My real triumph this year was the Easter egg hunt we put on for some of my coworkers' families and friends from the ward. Friday night we crammed about 40 of us into our tiny apartment for pizza before releasing the kids into our building's garden area. Stephen, one of the young men from the ward, came early and helped me hide. The girls "helped" too (i.e. helped themselves to dum dums as fast as they could pull them out of the grass). 

 I channeled Grandma Louise and tried to make it worth the teenagers' time by suspending bags of candy 30 feet in the air from palm trees using fishing line, and sinking a triple-wrapped bag of candy in the fountain.  I was especially proud of my last clue, which even got the 15-year-old into the action:

Hunting for treasure can be such a drain

You think there is one prize, but really there's twain. 

To discover the jackpot persistence is key

You must be first class, it's a priority. 

I hid one small bag of candy inside a drain grate for the fountain. They found the bag under the grate, and almost gave up thinking they had found the prize. Only a few stuck it out until they found a key taped to the bottom of the grate. After that it took them a while to figure out "first class" and "priority" were referring to our mailbox, and a bit longer to figure out which mail box was ours. I think next year I'm going to incorporate a digital component where they have to use their phones to navigate to different websites through a string of clues before finding the candy...

Every year Bren and I talk about how we should take time on Easter to record our thoughts and feelings about Jesus Christ so that we can see the growth and development of our faith over time. This will be the first year I actually follow through! 

I can't imagine my life without a knowledge of Jesus Christ. His love and teachings color all of my daily thoughts, interactions, and experiences. I know that He lives as an actual, personal being who takes an urgent interest in my wellness and growth. I know that He loves each of us infinitely. I know that because of His life and sacrifice we all have the ability to overcome our weaknesses and mistakes and choose to live true to the best versions of ourselves. Because of Christ our natures can be changed to be like Him, and we can live with God and our families eternally. The greatest evidence I have of his power and truth is the change he has wrought in my heart, and the profound and personal thoughts and feelings he plants inside me through the Holy Ghost. 

My witness of Christ is expanding to include not only what I know of Him, but what I know he wants me to be. He has prepared a path and extended an invitation to me and all of us to be joyful and to do good. This progress requires effort and pain and sacrifice. I requires me to actively choose difficult things. I know that as I try in weakness to do what he would have me do, to treat others as he would, he will make of me and my life more than I could ever imagine or accomplish on my own. I know he wants me to make my relationship with Him and my family my first priority. I know He wants me to invest deeply in my marriage and love Bren more than any other person on earth. I know He has given me the sacred trust of fatherhood, and expects me to raise my children in love and righteousness. He opens my eyes to see the beauty, worth, and potential of everyone I meet. These glimmers and flashes of light, when I can see others as they truly are, are among His most precious gifts to me, and they motivate me to try harder to understand and empathize, to be generous, and to be kind. 

I am betting my life, the priorities I set, and the sacrifices I make on my belief that these things are true. I love Him and am trying to love Him more perfectly. The turmoil, controversy, tragedy, and conflict of this world are all circumscribed within the bounds of his power to heal. He has overcome the world, and we can too, as we sincerely try to follow Him and live as He did.