It is finished!

It's been a week since Easter, and if any of you are like me, you probably already forgot about it, not because you're a "bad," insensitive person, solely because it's the busy time of the year. The weather has been nicer (kinda); for us students, school is coming down to a close, semester long assignments are due before you know it; baseball season started, etc. Easter is easy to forget. For me, I'm still processing and soaking in the after effects of the Lent season. Going to Evensong and FCA this past week brings me back to how close the Easter weekend really was, better yet is.

I was blessed to have the opportunity to spend Easter weekend with the Kern's (the family I stayed with last summer with my internship with Niagara Power baseball). I had a lot of family time with the little ones, who are growing up SO fast. Even better, because I've been on my own, not really cooking meals for myself, I GREATLY appreciate the meals that were prepared. Now, I have a WHOLE new appreciation for cooking.

After experiencing Lent this year, I realized why 40 days is the norm. The first two weeks is almost like going through a detoxing phase - ridding the body of caffeine, carbonated beverages, sugar from sweets, TV, whatever it is you decide to give up. The next two weeks your new "diet" is more normal. It's more routine to find ways to fight cravings, whether by spending more time with God in prayer or in the Word, chewing gum, whatever. You come to the realization that you CAN make it through this time without these things, and it sometimes surprises you that you even made it this far. The last two weeks, you recognize that you've almost made it! You're looking forward to a life where you can have sweets and caffeine. Most importantly, this 40 day process is just enough to break a habit.

Personally, I don't feel like I "need" a piece of chocolate anymore after dinner or a Diet Coke with my meal. Although, it IS nice to have (let's be honest), I don't crave it as much. I find myself not giving into those cravings as much either (the story may be different though with my afternoon coffee...eek). Going 40 days, a month and a third, without the things you want most, makes you understand that you CAN live your DAILY life without it and really depend on God to make it through. This sort of dependency most often cannot be achieved through our daily routines because we get comfortable and complacent. Hence, why Lent is 40 days long; it's intended to break a habit and start a NEW sort of routine. Romans 6:11 "in the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."

Upon grasping this concept, I believe I have a new appreciation for the death and resurrection of Christ. It didn't really hit me until this Wednesday at Evensong where we sang songs like Lead Me to the Cross, Salvation is Here or It Is Well, that I discovered I feel different, that these songs have a different, more personal meaning to me. On Good Friday, I almost bawled remembering Christ's death was for me, even if I was the only one left on this planet. On Easter Sunday, my heart was heavy with the picture Pastor Jeff from Whitehaven Road Baptist Church painted about how the focus shifted from Jesus' death to His resurrection. These unfamiliar feelings I've experienced, I realize are from a better recognition of what Jesus did for me on the cross. He didn't want to do this (Matthew 26:39), but was so in tune with God's will that He still carried out the plan to be tortured, beaten, whipped, mocked and crucified. Can you imagine getting the call from God that you didn't like? Let alone, that resulted in your death? We just get frustrated for not knowing what God's will is! Praise Jesus that we don't have to be crucified because HE already did that for us!!! We simply (yet easier said than done) have to get rid of ourselves (Luke 9:23). That's our call.

A pastor's sermon suggested to think and pray about how we should participate in the Lent season. She said it was to identify ourself more with Christ and His death in order to fully appreciate His resurrection. After this past week, I believe I have. I've tried to describe my new appreciation here in words, but words cannot describe the emotions I feel.

I don't think it matters if you're Catholic or Protestant or whatever to partake in the Lent season or to appreciate Easter. It's more important to know that when Jesus said in His last, dying breath "It is finished" (John 19:30), your sins are paid for. You may enter the Kingdom of Heaven, if you believe that His act of selflessness happened for you.