Good Friday

Today is "Good Friday" and it really was a nice day. All of our family was at home today (Texas schools almost universally take Good Friday as a holiday). We cleaned house, played, kids swam (it was in the mid to upper 80's), the girls went shopping, and we got ready for a garage sale tomorrow.

Today is also Levi's Birthday! So he got to choose where we'd go for dinner and we went to Fuddruckers. After eating, I told them that it was Good Friday and that we had one special birth to celebrate and two deaths. Right away they all said something about it being Levi's birthday that we were celebrating and then with just a little thinking they remembered that this is the day we recall Jesus' death and burial. So we talked a little about that. I asked them how Jesus' followers must have felt -- sad, depressed, confused? Lani pointed out that Jesus' body hadn't been properly prepared for burial and that some of the women wanted to do that but couldn't because after sundown it was the Sabbath. I think we had a good teaching moment going. Then I mentioned that this is the day that Abraham Lincoln was shot (141 years ago today). Micah jumped in and told a bunch of details about all of that that he'd heard or read.

Personally, late last night I was thinking about how that was the night that Jesus ate the Passover with his disciples, how he agonized in prayer in the garden, how they couldn't stay awake with him, and what a struggle He was going through. Today I recalled several times that this was the day of his condemnation, the walk with the cross on the Via Dolorosa, the crucifixion, the words on the cross, his death, and finally his burial in the tomb. What an amazing sacrifice on our behalf!