For me, Easter means my Savior died on the cross for my sins, rose on the third day, Sunday morning to conquer death. Jesus is the perfect lamb of God who came into the world to conquer sin for us.
1 Peter 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"
Luke 24: 6-7 "He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise."
1 Corinthians 15:3-8 "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me."
Matthew 28: 1-7 "Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.'"
Colossians 1: 13-14 "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
Most of my memories of Easter growing up were up in McIntosh which is a small town in Northern Minnesota. We would drive 4-5 hours (4 without kids, 5 with kids) up to where my grandparents lived with my uncle. I remember a lot of excitement surrounding Easter; being with family and celebrating Jesus resurrection from the dead. After arriving, we usually received tractor rides from grandpa and motorcycle rides from Uncle Ben. He would take us to Trinity Church which is about a mile and half from their farm. We would visit great Uncle John and Aunt Selma's grave before heading back to the farm. At some point during our stay, there was a trek through the woods with dad and Uncle David and his kids (when they were in the US) where we would knock over Boxelder trees, pick wild blueberries and get purple lips, and listen to dad and Uncle David share stories of their childhood, friends and where grandpa's old schoolhouse used to sit. I loved hearing these stories and lived for these walks in the woods. They were sharing their rich heritage with us and it meant a lot to me even back when I was a kid.
I cannot remember if it was Friday or Saturday evening when we would attend the Easter Cantata that Uncle Ben sang in every year. That was always special and it would be held in the old McIntosh school. Afterwards, dad, Ben and David would walk around and reminisce of their school days. Loved following and listening behind them and sometimes asking questions.
Grandma Ramse was busy, as always, in her kitchen before we came and during our visit baking molasses cookies (hers were the best!), prepping the Jello salads and other yummy foods we would eat during our stay. She usually had a few sugar cereals and some frozen pizzas tucked away as she knew we loved them.
Sunday morning has us getting ready for church. I even remember one Sunday getting up before the sun to attend the Sunrise service with grandma. Probably everyone else came too; I just remember sitting with grandma and trying to keep warm. Grandma Ramse would wear her lovely purple dress and be in the kitchen around 5:30 banging pots and pans. Since we usually ate cold cereal, I'm not sure why all the banging around, except for to maybe wake us up. :) Grandpa was down in his study having devotions, as he did every morning. Reading his Bible and praying. After breakfast, we would all stay around the kitchen table and have devotions as a family. Someone would read a devotional out of Our Daily Bread then we would pray for the missionaries around the world that they knew.
Then, of course, it was time to finish getting ready for church. Sometimes the church has breakfast prepared as the youth would be raising funds for something and would plan an Easter breakfast. The church service included congregational prayer where my grandma would always pray for the 'young people', old and new testament readings, singing hymns out of the hymnbook about Christ rising from the dead, some liturgy, a sermon and ending with Christ the Lord is Risen Today! I looked for a rendition similar to what I remember and shared it at the top of this post.
After church, we would head back to the farm with my grandpa driving or rather flying down the gravel roads raising lots of dust! Grandma would finish prepping our dinner with my mom and Aunt Miriam helping. There was baked ham, mashed potatoes or scalloped potatoes, a red (strawberry or raspberry) Jello salad with bananas and strawberries, gravy for the potatoes, squash and pumpkin pie for dessert. And perhaps some more veggies in there somewhere! I almost forgot about the lefse!! We had lefse with butter and brown sugar all rolled up into yumminess!
My grandparents ate the Promise margarine and would collect the containers and re-use them. She would also re-use them as our 'Easter baskets' and fill them with candy then hide them in the yard for us to find. I remember having so much fun looking for our Easter containers one particular Easter that I tried to convince my brothers that we could hide rocks and look for them. I don't remember them getting into that one. ;)
Throughout all of our fun celebrations, we remembered and always treasured why we were celebrating. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins then rose from the dead three days later and now lives in Heaven, seated at the right hand of God the Father and will one day return to collect His followers. These memories are so precious to me as they were a part of building a solid foundation for my faith that I still carry with me today. I am forever grateful to my grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, pastors and so many others who helped, through the help of Christ, shape the person I am today.
I thought I would leave you with another song. I love the hymns I sang while growing up as the words are deep and share the truth of the Gospel. I also enjoy Keith and Kristyn Getty for the same reason.
Hallelujah, He is risen!
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