I normally try to post holiday ideas and celebration tips early so people have a chance to plan and tweak things for themselves. This, however, isn’t going to happen this year. I have heard it said that time moves fast as you get older; and while I know that isn’t possible I am feeling like sometimes it might just be.

I have struggled with Christmas and Easter for as long as I can remember. It seemed like no matter what I did, something was amiss in my celebrations. I have tried dozens of ways to make Easter feel weighty as in my mind it should. Yet, it always seemed like I missed the mark. As Easter pasts have come and gone, I would find myself thinking this holiday is the crux of my faith. Christianity would be nothing without the resurrection of Jesus from the grave, but my attempts to honor and celebrate this felt flat and lacked the sense of Holy wonder I was wanting – until now.

My family and I traveled to Israel this past fall, and the one thing I wanted to buy myself was a Seder Dinner set. My church had done a teaching on the Seder dinner years back and it had stuck with me. God’s timing is amazing. The women’s ministry in our church decided once again to do a teaching on Seder this spring. So with my new Seder plates and the teaching fresh in my mind, my family did our first Seder Dinner together.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was blessed. As we sat at the table with my husband leading and me and the kids repeating, the Holiness of the Easter season hit me. Out of nowhere I was moved to emotions. With tears in my eyes I sat at the table silently thanking God for the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. My heart was overwhelmed at the goodness of God. How He knew our family needed this moment in the fall when I purchased the Seder set, and how we needed instruction on how to do the actual Seder, and most of all how we needed time in the busy Easter weekend to connect as a family and with God.

For those of you who don’t know what a Seder is I will offer a quick, brief explanation. It is the Jewish passover celebration. It is the dinner Jesus had with His disciples in Matthew 26:17-30, Mark 14:12-26, Luke 22:7-39 and John 13:1-20. It is a recounting of the story of Moses and the Israelites being freed from slavery (Ex. chapters 6-13).

For me it is reminding myself while I have never been an actual slave, sin in my life has held me captive in many ways. I am reminded of the power of the cross over sin and darkness. “There is a path to freedom” still echos in my mind as I type this.

Easter is forever changed with a truth I have always known and believed for years but is now etched on my heart in a new, powerful, love-filled-way.

Jesus is our Savior. He is our redeemer. In Him we are free. He alone can touch your heart to know truth at a deeper level. However you celebrate Easter, may this be the year that your celebration turns from tradition to heart felt knowledge. And a truth that will truly set you free!