This is the first time in almost 40 years that I have not stayed up all night sewing an Easter dress or a tie; or prepared the house or a meal for Easter dinner; or created a goodie bag to give away at church; or stuffed plastic eggs with coins for an Easter egg hunt with the grandkids. This will be the first Easter since my kids have been grown that we won’t be laughing and debating and solving the world’s problems around the dinner table while feasting on Amanda’s ham, Shannon’s strawberry salad, April’s yeast rolls, and Miranda’s world famous carrot cake.
Makes me emotional; makes my heart a little sad.

As I was sitting here considering these things, I began thinking of Christ’s disciples and how they may have been feeling the night before.

Some of them had been with Jesus for 3 years. Watching Him, listening to His teachings. John the baptizer had told them He was the Messiah— the One they had been waiting on to save them. They saw Him perform miracles—the blind were given sight, the lame began to walk, the deaf could hear, and they had even witnessed the dead come back to life!

What a glorious celebration they participated in when, just a few days earlier they entered Jerusalem. Everyone dancing and laughing and shouting out to Jesus as they laid palm leaves before Him, “Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna! Hosanna!”

And then some of them participated in the Passover meal where Jesus told them things that they could not believe—“One of you will betray Me””, He confided. One by one they began to ask, “Is it I, Lord?” But Judas knew he was the one. Taking on the duties of a servant, He washed their feet and told them they wouldn’t understand the complete meaning until afterwards. He told them that He was going someplace they wouldn’t be able to go. How confused they must have been.

Those closest to Him went with Him to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus, unknowingly to them, spent hours agonizing over His duty to follow the Father’s will, but totally surrendered to completing the work He had come to do.

They were awakened to the clatter of oncoming soldiers as Judas identified Jesus with a kiss on His check. He was taken away. The disciples scattered, and watched from afar as Jesus was falsely accused, tried unfairly throughout the night; beaten, mocked, and humiliated by the Roman soldiers; betrayed by His own people, and inhumanely crucified on a cruel and degrading cross.

Now, Jesus was gone. He was dead. The disciples and all the others who followed Jesus were hiding—fearing for their lives. The sorrow of Jesus’ death was more than any describable sorrow. Jesus was their friend, yes. He was a great teacher, yes. A wise prophet, yes. But they had believed Him to be the Son of God! So many things pointed to that evidence. They witnessed them all! But what now? What were they to do now? They had given up everything to follow Him.

So another day had passed. Another long day filled with sorrow. Another day of hopelessness. Another long night of fear, agony, and despair.

And then it happened. Well, it happened and then they saw. The tomb was empty and Jesus was alive! My heart SOARS as I think on these things! I can’t imagine how His disciples felt! No wonder they we’re able to set the world on fire for Christ! No wonder we’re still celebrating the miracle of His resurrection 2,000 years later.

I can’t wait to receive my resurrected body! I can’t wait to see my Savior’s face! I can’t wait to walk the streets of Heaven!

Oh! I hope I see you there! I can’t wait!! God bless you on this very special Resurrection Day!! He is Risen Indeed! All glory to God!!

Goal setting has never been my forte. Don’t get me wrong, It’s not like I’ve never tried to set goals. Believe it or not, there are things about me that need to change: I should lose weight, I should be more prompt, I should spend more time reading my Bible, and being in prayer, and I should work on internal things like patience, kindness, and procrastination. But oddly enough, I don’t like to fail, so why would I set myself up for failure? What a terrible way to start anew year.

I came to this conclusion about 20 years ago—think about it—all year long I love eating; I like living a “sedentary” lifestyle; I naturally put things off until tomorrow.

“Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow”.

(Quoting my Dad. I guess I take after him.)

But magically on January 1 (of any given year) I’m expected to believe that I will be able to change everything about my life and start behaving differently. I can’t see that happening.

No, I’m not a goal setter, usually. However, this year I have decided maybe it’s time for me to mix it up a little bit and maybe, possibly improve some things about myself.

So, I made a list, because I am a list maker. I actually think that contributes to my procrastination, but alas, that’s another post.

But this time I’m listing goals. Wow! I’ve already improved my life, because I have become a Goal Setter!! What a great year!

Listing the things that I want to improve helps me keep track of what I’m working on. It’s so easy for one day to pass on to another day, and I soon forget what I was supposed to be doing. Anyone else like that?

When I decided to change my eating habits this past week (notice I didn’t start on Jan. 1, just saying), I thought about setting an alert on my phone, just to remind me not to snack. Because the first day on the new eating plan, I started to reach for a piece of chocolate, and I almost had it in my mouth before I realized what I was doing. Habits are hard to break.

I also do a lot of research on things that I want to improve. This helps keep it in the front of my thought process, which in turn helps me keep the chocolate out of my mouth.

Because I want to improve in a few different areas of my life, I decided to implement them in staggering steps. I can’t expect a life time of negative habits to change just because it’s a new year, so I’m trying to give each modification time to become a part of my lifestyle.

So, that’s what I’m doing:

Making a list

Checking it twice

I’ll keep you informed, if I’m naughty or nice. What about you? Are you a goal setter? Do you make resolutions each year? Do you keep them? If you do, let me know the secret to your success.