What kind of Jesus-believing-blogger would I be if I let Easter come and go without notice? For anyone who might bristle at the name Easter, we can call it Resurrection Sunday… or The Great Exchange. Everything that I am I can attribute to what happened at the cross and in the garden with the borrowed tomb. It’s because of what Jesus did at the cross that gets me through the day-to-day. It’s what guides my decisions, shapes my morals, and provides me with hope for the future. I’m definitely not perfect on my own, but I’ve been redeemed by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. It’s pretty amazing to have the availability of such an inheritance before ever being born (not everyone inherits, but it was made available to all – I John 2:2).
My husband and I are going through a book study at church – The Gospel in Ten Words – and have been so encouraged and reminded of God’s love for us. The Easter holiday is a wonderful opportunity to be reminded of what God did, but – hate to say it – I haven’t been as noticeably moved during this time set aside to celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection as in previous years. It sounds terrible, but it’s not because The Great Exchange doesn’t mean as much to me as it should, but it’s because I purpose to recall His gift of grace more regularly. That’s a big emphasis in our book study: regularly recognizing and accepting what Jesus did in our everyday living.
We have this uncanny habit of getting caught up in the go-go-go of the day-to-day. Most days I start with coffee and Jesus, but some days are all about the clock. We make our New Year’s resolutions, pick our 1 word for the year, and boom! It’s almost April. Have I focused on anything other than the hustle and bustle for the past 3+ months? The time has flown by. Our newborn is suddenly old enough to potty train (yeah, she’ll be 3 this year), our oldest (in her 20’s) gave birth to her second baby (he’s almost 5 months), and our home continues to shrink as our children out-grow their clothes.
We currently live in a house that is almost too small for our family of 6. Okay, it is too small for us, but I’m trying to focus on being thankful for our home even though it’s a bit cramped. Because there’s no decent pantry, I have a bit of pantry in multiple places in our home. There are bins under our bed in the master bedroom that hold pasta, rice, and dried beans, half of our son’s closet is storing an assortment of non-perishables, we have a pie-pantry (built by my father-in-law) that holds our canned goods, and we have a closet in the kitchen that I suppose would work as a pantry for families on the smaller side. With everything spread out, it’s unfortunately difficult to keep a good inventory of what we have.
Before we left Alaska back in October of 2020, our neighbors (beekeepers) traded some of their honey for some of our cases of canned potatoes. Multiple quarts of local, unprocessed honey for some of our quart-sized canned potatoes? Yes, please! What is the line from the movie Dances with Wolves? Ah, yes… Good trade. It was a sweet deal – pun definitely intended. Honey, liquid gold in this house, is amazing! We use honey for so many things, even some medicinal recipes, but mostly we enjoy it in a cup of tea or paired with some type of bread and peanut butter. It was most definitely a good trade.
As I was helping the kiddos make some lunch the other day, I ended up digging in the pie pantry and struck gold in the form of some of that pure Alaskan honey. It was pretty easy deciding what I was going to make for lunch (at this point I had forgotten I even had kiddos and that they were hungry). I was already anticipating a peanut butter and honey sandwich. This honey doesn’t have the consistency of store-bought honey. It’s thick and spreadable – which makes it easy to get a little carried away with. As I held the quart-size jar in my hand I was trying to figure out how I could avoid sharing with my kiddos.
As I was finishing my 2nd sandwich – don’t judge, it’s really that good (and no, I did not share, but I made sure the kiddos had something else for lunch) – I couldn’t help but think about finding the honey buried in the pantry. Not only had I put the honey there, but I had bought other – lesser – honey so as not to use all the good stuff too quickly. How often do we wait for a holiday to unbury something of tremendous value? We put it on the shelf and close the door, other things get placed in there with it, and before we know it, we discover that it’s been pushed to the back, and we find it as we’re digging for something else. Or we find it when we look at the calendar and realize it’s almost one of the most significant days of our faith.
You know I’m going to use all this talk of honey to turn around and talk about God, right? You’re more than welcome to take a minute to make your own PB and honey sandwich (adding banana is a pretty tasty addition). I’m not going anywhere.
One of my favorite passages is Matthew 6:25-33. For me, this stands as a daily reminder to focus on Jesus – not just around or on a holiday. It tells us to …seek first His kingdom and His righteousness… Notice that we’re to seek His righteousness, not our own. That points to His finished work at the cross. I’m not sure about you, but I need the daily reminder to not get stressed about different things. Being self-employed, purposeful budgeting, a house that’s a bit cramped in a crazy housing market and being a homeschool mom of 4 kiddos that won’t stop growing any time soon… but when I start my day by seeking Him, all of those things just seem to effortlessly fall into place.
We have a friend in Alaska who scoffed at someone who stated that they didn’t know where their Bible was. This person used a choice word in her retelling of the moment, they couldn’t find their *bleeping* Bible! While our friend was a little overboard in her language, she was making a valid point. I can’t imagine not having my Bible or not knowing where it is – it’s like a lifeline! But there are a lot of people who have it shoved in the back of the pantry; they may have forgotten it’s even there until a big holiday of our faith comes along.
I want to enjoy my Savior every single day, not just on the holidays. I want to share my Savior with anyone who will listen. Our faith is not meant to be taken out of the pantry only on the holidays. I may feel differently about my pure Alaskan honey – but our faith is not meant to be packed away.
When we start our day seeking Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-3), our hearts will be moved all year long and not just around Resurrection Sunday. So, enjoy your babies, share some honey with them, start your day with gratitude and Jesus (and I’ll have some coffee, too), and daily recognize the good trade.