Izzie's First Easter

Happy Easter, everyone! The Lord is Risen! Hallelujah!

Last night, we read Izzie to sleep from her Jesus Storybook Bible. We read her the story of Abraham and Isaac. As we read to her, we explained how hard it would be for Abraham to obey God and sacrifice Isaac, his only son, with virtually no chance of ever having any more children. And as we read about the tears that filled Abraham's eyes, we put ourselves in his shoes, and thought that we would never be able to do what was asked of Abraham on that mountain. Izzie is just too cute. And yet, we explained to Izzie, we were the undeserving beneficiaries of such an act of love and grace. Because on that mountain that day, we were promised Someone who would come to save the world. And many years later, another Son would climb up a hill, carrying wood on His back just like Isaac did, to give the ultimate sacrifice for all of us - Dad, Mom, and Izzie too. And on this day, many, many years ago, that promise was fulfilled, when like an empty Easter egg, Jesus' tomb was empty because our Lord had risen. And while Izzie might not have been able to grasp all of the nuances of the story, it sure was a powerful reminder to both Mom and Dad.

Today, Izzie experienced her first Easter Sunday. We took her to the early Eastside service because a member of our small group was giving her testimony today during that service. Normally we just strap her on with a sling whenever we go to the Westside service, but since it's hard to get anywhere on the Upper East Side from our place via subway, we put Izzie into her carseat and cabbed over. Izzie always falls asleep when we travel via car, and today was no exception. Also working in our favor was that we went to earliest service today, and Izzie is a totally dependable sleeper in the mornings. As a result, Izzie slept through her first Easter church service...which was great for Mom and Dad! We parked her in her seat in the family section, and never heard a single peep from her from beginning to end.

Here's a photo documentary of Izzie's journey:


Izzie getting ready in the morning to go


Izzie "listening" to Tim Keller's Easter sermon on Mary Magdalene


Izzie on the way back from church


Still asleep once we got home...

In a few years, Izzie will be able to participate in the Redeemer Easter Egg hunt (in Central Park, no less). Our friend Jane is one of the Sunday School teachers and egg hunt coordinators, and she told us it was a total blast. Before they let the kids run out, they did a countdown, and once the ropes were cut and the kids could run out and start egg hunting, they played Chariots of Fire over a speaker. LOL!! Seeing as how Izzie can't really move on her own yet, she probably wouldn't be able to find any eggs if she went this year. One day in the future, Izzie, one day...

And to Izzie...even more important than the Easter egg hunt, one day, you'll be able to make it through an entire Sunday Easter church service without sleeping. By then, you probably will have heard the story of Jesus over and over again. You may even be able to recite it from memory. If you're as smart as we hope you are, you might be a Sunday School all-star, and answer all of the questions correctly. You may get a lot of Easter eggs and other assorted prizes. But even years after that, when you finally are old enough to understand who you are and what you need, Mom and Dad will be praying hard for you every day that you will be able to fully understand and accept what this day means. And even though that's a journey you'll have to take one day, we promise to do everything we humanly can to help you along the way. For now, we're praying every day now that one day in the future, God will call you like he called Mary Magdalene, and that you will be able to embrace the truly moving story that every now and then still brings your parents to tears. Amen.