Easter Day

This Easter has been a little different for us in a couple of ways. First of all, the obvious...Noah. This is his first Easter and our first Easter with him! He spent his morning in the nursery, while we were worshipping the risen Savior in service. I look forward to when he can sit with us in church, and actually understand why we're there and what's happening. (I don't want to rush his childhood though, so I'm happy to wait!). The second reason this year was a bit different is because Matt and I participated in the practice of Lent. Matt fasted from red meat, and I from soda. We reflected on our first Lent last night... We felt that in one sense it seemed to be more about our abilities than Christ's. "I can do this...I won't give in...I can hold out." But on the other hand, we thought about Christ's sacrifice more than we had pre-Easter in years past, and we also felt that we were "more ready" to worship this Easter than we ever have been. We decided that although there were elements of Lent that didn't necessarily seem worshipful, it was definitely a positive experience. Although a human tradition, I think that if done with the right intent and spirit, the Lord might look favorably upon it as a form of praise and preparation in light of His work on the Cross.

On another note, I love a good reason to take a million pictures of Noah, and Easter is of course such a perfect excuse! We had a mini brunch after church today, as most of our friends have family in the area, but I was able to get some super cute photos of Noah! Thanks to the Moores and Todd for coming over and for putting up with my endless picture taking!

Thanks to Nana for the adorable shirt, tie, and hat! (Along with several other clothing items not seen in these pictures.) (We looked for pants to go with the outfit, but had trouble finding any that mama (me) liked! So jeans it was! Still cute though, right?!) Why so many parenthesises? I don't know!