A note from Jo: "I have always loved the chocolate side of Easter and still do! But it wasn't until I became a Christian as an adult that Easter really became special to me. I am loving seeing my boys, Josh in particular wrap his head around what it actually means that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. That God required a sacrifice for all the sins of all mankind, and so instead of taking the sacrifice from us bit by bit each and every time we do something wrong, he provided the sacrifice himself and came to earth in human form and took the ultimate punishment, the worst and most final punishment for any and every sin possible - death and in that death separation to God even, so that instead, not by anything we could possibly do except acknowledging what Jesus did on our behalf we get to live in right relationship with God on earth and spend all of eternity with him when our time on earth is over too!"A note from Lisa: "My most memorable Easter was back in 1997 when I was fourteen, and I went along (reluctantly!) to an Easter Camp with friends from our youth group. At that camp I experienced for the first time a loving God who died for me, through Jesus. I was so overwhelmed that I decided to become a Christian that Easter. It was a very meaningful time for me, it marked a massive change in my life, and it has shaped me into the person I am today as a follower of Jesus. I find Easter to be such an amazing time to reflect and be SO grateful that Jesus did the hardest thing ever on our behalf - taking our mess upon himself and overcoming death. I'm so glad he did!"
A note from Monique: "As a child, my family celebrated Easter each year by gathering round my father as he shared the story of Jesus' precious gift to us. I realise now as a Mum, that this is a challenging thing to help your kids to understand and relate to! That God, as a Father, sent His only son to take the punishment for my sin, so that I could go free. One of the ways I try to unpack this to my boys is along these lines: 'When you do something wrong... like... breaking another child's toy, something happens. The person who broke the toy needs to pay the consequences. We might have to buy another toy with all your pocket money to make it right, and you also might have to be in time-out to think about what you did... Imagine, if before you had to pay that price, your best friend offered to buy the new toy with his money, and go into time out for you so that you were free to play. That would be pretty special!' Even though they are not all old enough to understand it completely, I want to build on that foundation in their lives by giving them parallels they can latch onto. And the gem that they can catch, is that Easter is all about God's incredible, huge, amazing love for us! He delights in us, and we are all so very precious to Him...
We hope you all have a special Easter together with your families! From the WM Team x
