I recently misplaced something. I knew it was on my desk…somewhere. I began looking for it, but then the phone rang. Then someone popped into my office to ask a question. Half an hour later I knew I had been searching for something, but I’d forgotten what it was. I had to mentally retrace my steps to remember what I was looking for and why.

This incident prompts me to ask: What or who are you looking for this Lenten and Easter season? Are you searching for peace and hope? Are you seeking God with all your heart?

Sometimes it’s fun to search for things. As a child, I hunted Easter eggs for weeks. I was relentless in asking my mother to hide them so that I could have the joy of finding them. We had Easter egg hunts inside the house and out. I found plastic eggs in the refrigerator, in the pockets of my clothes and around the trees in the back yard. There is joy in the search, but then it’s over.

Sometimes we approach Easter the same way. We walk through the season of Lent, reflecting on who we are and searching for God’s will for our lives. We wave palm branches on Palm Sunday and try to fathom the pain that Jesus endured on Good Friday. We joyfully celebrate Easter morning and the empty tomb that tells the world that Jesus has risen from the dead. It seems like the conclusion to the story, but it isn’t. Not really.

Easter is a new beginning, not an ending. It isn’t the end of searching for God and God’s will in our lives. Each year, we search anew for what it means to be an Easter people and to live as people who worship a risen Savior. I pray that your search continues to bring you joy!

Blessings,

Valerie