Easter Weekend

"God sent His son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal, and forgive.
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives. Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future. And life is worth the living just because he lives."

We spent an incredibly blessed Easter weekend with family. Saturday we were able to celebrate with my dad's family, most of whom live in Illinois and we don't see often. It was so nice to be able to catch up and spend the day talking with each other. Sunday we went to my parents' church and then over to my grandpa and grandma's house for another family lunch. Luke and Avery are the center of attention everywhere we go. They are so loved by our families and it gives Mike and I such joy to watch them be loved on!

I am finishing up a Beth Moore bible study on the tabernacle and have been in awe of how much our God loves us and wants to dwell with us; I was especially struck by this during the week before Easter. God has used this study to teach me a lot about the history of the tabernacle and to remind me of how perfectly he has planned EVERYTHING. God designed the Old Testament tabernacle to be built so that He would have a way to be with his people. His glory filled the tabernacle, but it didn't stay there because the people were disobedient. Later, Jesus walked among the people and His presence was literally with them, but He couldn't stay either. He became the final sacrifice to forgive our sins. Now, God has sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. We get to be the tabernacle. We are inhabited by God's presence and His glory. We are called to daily sacrifice of ourselves in order to allow God to reveal himself to others through us! God has chosen us to show his glory here on this earth. How incredible!

Did you know that if you divide the Old Testament tabernacle directly in half (according to the specific measurements God gave), there are two perfect squares? At the center of each square is the ark of the covenant (on one side) and the altar of sacrifice (on the other side). The ark represents God's presence. The altar represents the sacrifice that must be made in order to come into God's presence. A perfect plan, made so long ago. Praise God for providing the sacrifice so that we can be always in his presence!