Easter Sunday

Easter morning came and it was a beautiful day.... I woke up early, like at 5:30 in the morning so I could get our turkey on the smoker and let it cook all morning for our Easter dinner. I love Spring, and in the early morning when the sun is just coming up it's awesome, and you can hear the birds chirping happily. And to me Spring is re-birth... the trees start blossoming, the flowers start coming up, and the grass is green! I always feel re-newed... and while I was cleaning up the kitchen after having my turkey soaking in the sink, I had beautiful music playing softly and I looked up and out my kitchen window and there was this cute, fat robin, who had landed on my whiskey barrel planter and he looked at me for about 5 minutes......

he looked right at me... I could even see his eyebrows... yes, some robins have eyebrows. :) But it was if he was there to say 'Good Morning and Happy Easter'.....
and that brings up what Easter is all about, the death and resurrection of Christ and the fact that we will all live again, kind of in a re-born or re-newed body, it's so awesome that Easter is in the Spring... I really liked the article in the April Ensign by Elder Bednar called "The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality"... it was all about the atonement and what it means to each of us. I read it in the early morning and REALLY read it ... it just hit me, and I almost cried. Here is a quote I really liked from it....
"I suspect that many Church members are much more familiar with the nature of the redeeming and cleansing power of the Atonement than they are with the strengthening and enabling power. It is one thing to know that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for us—that is fundamental and foundational to the doctrine of Christ. But we also need to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement and by the power of the Holy Ghost, to live in us—not only to direct us but also to empower us."
I LOVED this article... and that quote is just a hint of what it's about, I encourage you to read the whole thing, I would like to copy it here but since that would be a copyright infringement, just read it, it's amazing. In our daily struggles, and I know we all have different struggles in this life, emotionally or physically, and it's awesome that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ give us the strength and endurance to carry on because of the Atonement.
I love this scripture...
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).

That is what we need sometimes in this world, rest unto our souls, I think. I'm very grateful for the Savior and the sacrifice he paid for me, and the pain and suffering he went through so he would know what it was like to go through what we go through so he can ease our pain and suffering, and empower us to get through it.
We had a lovely Easter together as a family, eating our smoked turkey, scalloped potatoes, and steamed asparagus with plenty of Reese's Peanut Butter eggs for dessert. And at the end of the day when my kids had to go back to there homes away from  home, I take comfort in knowing that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will be with them and me.