The Good News of Easter!

Happy Easter to you!

I hope you’re having a wonderful time and you are ideally with family and are being indulged with lots of chocolate!!!

I love Easter and not just because it’s one time I CHOOSE to indulge in chocolate or because I see my family or even because we have a long weekend but because it represents the miracles of rebirth, regrowth, renewal and revitalisation.

I love how where I’ve been walking each day during the winter months and nothing is on show, suddenly daffodils and tulips are everywhere to be seen, shooting up so quickly and shining their beauty in the sunbeams, this just lights me up inside!  

Does it for you too, I hope so?

This helps me remember that whilst it appears that nothing is happening because it’s not visible to the human eye, there is in fact a continuous process taking place of rebirth and regrowth that’s hiding away until the time is PERFECT for it to appear in all it's beauty.

As you know, Easter is a time when Christians believe that Jesus was put on the cross with a crown of thorns crushed into his head to die for our sins so that we could be set free and forgiven from them.

This is the ultimate act of LOVE central to the Christian faith.

This was an excruciating time of suffering, when even before taking up the cross, knowing the trial that lay ahead of him, Jesus cried out to his father begging him to take this suffering away from him, which he didn’t because this act of love had to be carried out.

This humbles me each time I think of it because of what I went through, far less lovingly than Jesus!  When I had brain surgery I had to have 4 anesthetic injections in all 4 areas of my head, on the 2 temples at the front and both sides of the head at the back.   

The nurse obviously knew what was coming and each time the syringes went in she stood in front of me and said Lucy hold onto my 2 fingers, and if you feel pain just keep gripping them.  I clung onto her fingers for my life!!

Even though the anesthetic had mostly worked it wasn’t pain-free at all unfortunately which I realised when the doctor began to drill one screw each of the 4 points in my skull and then attach the metal helmet to ensure there was no risk of my head moving in the machine. 

As the helmet was being bolted on I remember thinking at that point that according to scripture Jesus had had a crown of thorns hammered into his head as an act of love for everyone on earth. 

I was extremely humbled at that thought because I knew there and then that I would not choose to do this again for ANYONE and it really hit home how much God loves ALL of us, sacrificing his pain to save others.

As the Easter story continues we learn that Jesus was miraculously healed of his wounds and scars, he returned to life and and was able to walk through the tomb entrance to live an eternal life.

When I saw this beautiful door in the ancient city of York a couple of years ago it made me realise when we are recovering we have the option to walk through the door too, believing for our healing however long it might take us, which isn't always over a 3 day weekend although I had always wished it was.

My healing journey has taken 10 years, and I never stopped believing, knowing Jesus promises to heal us.  I do have brain scarring and epilepsy so I might not be considered completely healed but I have been able to adjust my life to live a good and normal life, and know that I will have perfect healing one day in heaven.

That knowledge spurs me on to honour what I do, knowing that 'your body is your temple' and to make healthy choices each day to renew my body (bar the chocolate fest today!)

10 years on and this is me virtually back to my fullest possible recovery, practising my daily body conditioning and soaking up the healing properties of the outdoor sounds, air, and sun while I could in the UK!...giving the ultimate sense of revitalisation.

I remind myself that miracles clearly do happen, it might not be overnight for those of us recovering from brain surgery, injury and epilepsy but like those daffodils, I think there's a slow process taking place within us that we don't often feel or see but at some point we recognise how much rebirth, regrowth, renewal and revitalisation has actually taken place. 

When I walked into the kitchen this morning and the light was streaming onto our Easter treats I felt so blessed to be alive and so thankful for God's love. 

So lovely, I encourage you to choose to walk through the door too believing for your healing and take some time to recognise your own rebirth, regrowth, renewal and revitalisation.

I wish you the happiest of Easters and to enjoy your Easter eggs to the fullest!!!

Big love,

Lucy x