A Resurrection Feeling

Easer Eggs

Yesterday, I was talking to my friend and tour expert, Anne, about the upcoming pilgrimage I am planning to the Holy Land. We were exchanging stories of our Easter celebrations–mine here in Maryland and hers in New Jersey. Anne made the comment that “the entire day truly had a Resurrection feeling to it.”

Those words kept coming back to me over and over throughout the day.

A Resurrection feeling.

They took me back to this time last year, and I was amazed by how right Anne was. It is as if we have all experienced a true resurrection…

Last Easter, I cried all the way through Mass. Yes, Ken and all of our girls were with me. No, the miracle of Easter was not cancelled or diminished. But watching the Mass on television and missing out on all of the Holy Week services, not having Communion, and not being able to gather with the 50-60 family and friends we traditionally celebrate with, especially my parents, was extremely difficult.

Fast forward one year… This Easter was perfect. The Holy Week services were not the same as they would have been without COVID, and we only had 1/3 of the amount of people gathering for our family dinner and Easter egg hunt, but the point is – there were services, and we did gather.

Flowers in bloom

The sun was out, the flowers were in bloom, everyone was well and happy and ready to celebrate, and isn’t that what Easter is really about?

The SON was out! A new life was blooming! Despite the darkness of the passion and the crucifixion and the days in the tomb, it was time to celebrate new life and renewed hope!

With the lifting of restrictions, the opportunities to gather with friends and families, and the feeling that things are getting better, there truly is a resurrection feeling. We are all emerging from the darkness, reaching out to others, welcoming people back into our lives, spreading good news throughout the world.

We are experiencing the same resurrection experience that the Apostles and disciples did. And we now must choose to act in one of two ways. We can continue to cower in fear, unsure of the messages we are hearing, doubting that God is with us, living without faith. Or we can follow Peter’s example following Pentecost and begin telling the world the Good News. We have been given the gift of resurrection!

May we all experience this wonderful RESURRECTION FEELING. May we all experience the sun rising and the Son rising. May we all embrace this new life we’ve been called to, this new awakening, this renewed hope.

During this Easter week, may your lives be blessed, your hearts be opened, your darkness brought into light, and your sense of hope be resurrected.

Sunrise over Jerusalem

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What I was writing about a year ago this week: Making Lemonade.

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Amy Schisler is an award-winning author of both children’s books and sweet, faith-filled romance novels for readers of all ages. She lives with her husband and three daughters on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Her books, Picture MeWhispering Vines, and Island of Miracles are all recipients of Illumination Awards, placing them among the top inspirational fiction books of 2015, 2016, and 2017. Whispering Vines was awarded the 2017 LYRA Award for the best romance of 2016.  Island of Miracles has outsold all of Amy’s other books worldwide and ranked as high as 600 on Amazon. Her follow up, Island of Promise is a reader favorite. Amy’s children’s book is The Greatest Gift. The suspense novel, Summer’s Squall, and all of Amy’s books, can be found online and in stores. Her latest novel, Island of Promise, was recently awarded First Prize by the Oklahoma Romance Writer’s Association as the best Inspirational Romance of 2018 and was awarded a Gold Medal in the Independent Publisher Book Awards 2019 for Inspirational Fiction. It is the 2019 winner for Best Inspirational Fiction in the RWA Golden Quill Contest, Best Romance in the American Book Awards, and a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award of Fiction. Amy’s 2019 work, The Devil’s Fortune, a finalist in the Writer’s Digest Self-Publishing Awards and winner of an Illumination Award, is based, in part, on Amy’s family history. The third book of Amy’s Chincoteague Island Trilogy,  Island of Hope, was released in August of 2019.

You may follow Amy on Facebook at http://facebook.com/amyschislerauthor, Twitter @AmySchislerAuth, Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/amyschisler and at http://amyschislerauthor.com.

Amy’s books: Crabbing With Granddad (2013), A Place to Call Home (2014), Picture Me (2015), Whispering Vines (2016), Island of Miracles (2017), Stations of the Cross Meditations for Moms (2017), The Greatest Gift (2017), Summer’s Squall (2017), Island of Promise (2018), The Devil’s Fortune (2019), Island of Hope (2019), A Devotional Alphabet (2019), Desert Fire, Mountain Rain(2020).