Easter, Eggs, + a longer-legged Eli - Shannon Von Eschen Photography

† Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! -Luke 24:5-6 †

† HALLELUJAH! He is Risen Indeed! †

Twelve now. Twelve years have escaped the two of us as looking back on our annual Easter Egg Hunt in the trees. Me and E.

Every year, I wonder if he’ll want to do this again, and so far, he’s in until he’s 18! The sweet hat I had made for him from Etsy (that was ordered as a 3-6month size) has stretched beyond comprehension and has started to become fuzzy. Still, he wears it proudly. And yet those longer-than-life legs are taking up more space than they used to, and those ever-growing feet now wear Mama’s Converse. Yes, mine! What a wonder! But so too are our trees growing. So tall and lean, like our boy, towering towards our bluish-gray skies. The specific tree that we took Eli’s photo by all the prior years, was entirely taken out by a deer this last fall (can you even believe that?), and so we found a new one to stand next to.

…Sometimes things seem to stay the same forever, and yet, when you start truly looking, so much has changed…

On a personal note, we’ve had a difficult month leading up to this earlier-in-the-year celebration of Easter. Much sadness has hit our hearts again, and we’ve lost more than one family member we deeply love. Our first two months of 2024, however, were unusually easy and full of so much goodness. Life has its way of balancing us out, no? And yet, we have seen the ever constant, reckless love of God these days too. And thus the reason, I’m sure of it, that we put in the effort to stick with our traditions that were all born from our desire of intention. We prayed a lot today, and voiced our thankfulness for His steadfast goodness, even among all the unfair and all the hard. And I took photos of my sweet boy, and we laughed aloud as the rain started to fall on our skin, and on our tan-colored field that’s suddenly trying to peek with green.

Spring may reside on our calendars, but only hints of it are showing up outside. And yet, it’s coming; and with it, the reminder that hope always springs eternal. Not matter what we face, or what you are facing as you read this, death has been defeated. And Jesus reigns!