I love Easter. I love everything about it – spring weather, fresh flowers, pretty dresses. I decorate my house with hand-painted eggs from all over Eastern Europe, hung by ribbons on pussy willows, with a papier-mache Hungarian bunny standing guard. Easter is a bigger holiday than Christmas in Orthodox countries like Romania, and I cherish my memories from the years I lived overseas …

Staying up all night to welcome the  sunrise on Easter morning … Breaking hard-boiled eggs on each other’s foreheads while saying, “Pac! pac!” …  Celebrating Easter at a midnight mass at a monastery outside of Bucharest with people newly freed to worship in public … Being greeted by strangers on the street or over the telephone with the words, “Jesus is risen! Isus a inviat!” …

Even though these memories are more than bunnies delivering gluttonous amounts of chocolate candy, they still pale in comparison to the wonder of Jesus’s sacrifice in our stead. Some years, I’ve been in more of a reflective place during the weeks leading up to Easter, but this year I’ve let myself become too distracted with life (and medical issues).

Today I’m purposely switching my mind to meditate on the things of the passion week, the greatest week in all of history. I hope to post some blogs that may also help you in that quest. I do pray that this Easter season you will discover new insights about the One who loved us so much that He gave His all for us.