Happy Easter!

He has risen indeed!

It has been another special Holy Week and Easter Sunday, worthy of recording in the ol' blog.

I said a tough good-bye in Paris to my sweet sisters and mother last Monday (this trip of a lifetime will merit its own post as soon as I can get my act together :) ), and I rode the Eurostar back home to London thinking about the week ahead.

Our last night together

Tuesday was a bit of a recovery day and then Wednesday we all headed into the city for our church's "Messy Easter" day. It was really fun! Lots of play and crafts for the girls and then an Easter egg hunt through those historic church pews.

On the hunt

Then Robert got to share the Easter story with over 75 children their caregivers from our local community (most of those in attendance were not members of our church).

As a picture of placing our sin & yuckiness on our savior all of the children got to smear paint all over Robert dressed in a white sheet. What an important picture for us all!

Then on Good Friday we picked up our long-time friend, Tucker, from the airport and headed to Oxford for a little time away.

We enjoyed the sights of Oxford on Saturday and headed back to London that night to be ready for Easter services on Sunday.

Walking around the colleges and gardens in Oxford

Thanks to Grandma the girls had beautiful new Easter dresses to wear. I could just eat those two up!

Church at Westminster Chapel was wonderful and encouraging - filled with the hope and excitement of the resurrection we will share with our Savior. Any other pregnant women out there find it near impossible to make it through a Sunday morning without weeping??

After a little nap through a rainy afternoon, we enjoyed Easter dinner together.

I actually braved lamb this year and I have to say it exceeded my expectations! The lamb leg wouldn't fit in the slow cooker so I practically covered the whole cooker in tin foil and prayed for the best :)

Dinner, just like the rest of the week, was another reminder of God's faithful provision in all things. Even these little unmerited things have a way of reminding me of the most important and unmerited thing, my eternal redemption - God's Riches At Christ's Expense (as I remember Pastor Rob explaining GRACE to us one Sunday).

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said."