the other half of Christmas is almost here!

spring is here, and along with the promise and renewal of new life that naturally comes with it, we are waiting with joyous anticipation the profound miracle of Christ rising from the grave. with His sacrifice comes the completion of the gift that we were given at Christmas. the arrival of a new baby, wrapped in rags lying in the manger, is triumphantly transformed into the risen Savior, victorious even over death!

the little girls can relate to the wonder of a newborn baby boy, but to explain to them the agony and despair of Good Friday is a difficult task. and how can they begin to grasp what Jesus really did for us when He died on the cross as our blood sacrifice? too many big words and concepts that they cannot begin to understand.

for now, we will celebrate that Jesus loves them. A and B are fully and deeply loved by their daddy, and that is their best introduction into the love of God. when they are older, they will be able to understand how much God loves them, because they are secure in the knowledge of how much their daddy loves them.

we will continue to build their foundation, and will teach these two little ones how much the Father loves them, and what He sacrificed for them.

even though Easter and Christmas are bound together as two parts of one story, for us Easter also reminds us of something else. this nativity set is a poignant emphasis. Dave brought it back from Haiti for me last year. for most of the last few Easters, Dave and M have been down in Haiti, serving as short-term missionaries with ARM. both Dave and M have had the opportunity to serve in the mobile medical clinic and construction teams.

i know that Dave has been profoundly impacted by what he has seen, smelled and observed in Haiti. although I've never had the privilege of serving alongside him, i feel as if I've been in the tiny town of Gallette. his descriptions and memories have almost become my own recollections. i hope to some day have the chance to travel to Haiti myself, and see the things that are only in my mind's eye.

M has a very compassionate and tender heart, and last year she was thankful to be able to assist in a more hands-on way with the mobile medical clinic. it was her second Easter down in Haiti, and being older allowed her the maturity and insight to better process all the experiences that she had and observed.

this is a picture of the gully, where most of the people that Dave and M were ministering to lived. these are just cement block houses, stacked one upon the other, much like Legos. there is no running water or electricity. no sanitation. no windows or doors, either.

we cannot begin to fathom the poverty that the majority of Haitians live with. but despite the daily struggle to merely survive, the people are sustained by their sincere and absolute faith in God. many times i have heard Dave tell us of the glorious celebration on Easter morning. despite the fact that their church is merely cement blocks and a tarp for a roof, that assembly of believers is worshiping a risen Lord with their whole heart, and with their loudest praise.

we who have been blessed with so much can surely do no less.

Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed!