Andrea O. Freeman

“He is not here! He is risen!” (Luke 24:6 NIV) Last night I was imagining from my tiny perspective, what it must have felt like to approach the tomb where they laid Jesus’ body, to see the stone rolled away. The quiet moments after the women had already been there and the angels had just told them that He was not there, He is risen! The hush just before Peter must have come upon the now empty tomb and peered in to see the cloths laying on the floor of the tomb where He was laid. I imagine the birds must have been stilled even, all nature quieted just for a moment, as everything awakened with the sun that morning to realize this man whom God had sent to bring about salvation for all mankind in a most extraordinary act of sacrifice and mercy-was RISEN! I find myself on my knees, just in awe of what has happened here, the experience these women, these disciples had, has left a mark upon this world that I cannot completely appreciate until one day I am in the presence of A

I had to remind my youngest child Chloe last night, how to approach the injustices of this life with kindness instead of anger. I got a heads up from her teacher earlier in the day that Chloe and another classmate had a conflict which resulted in some unkind words being exchanged. It’s a chip at a Mama’s heart when you are informed your child has spoken hurtful words toward someone else. The behavior was managed appropriately by their teachers, and upon arriving home last night, I had some time to talk with Chloe about the situation. The focus of our conversation was the uncommon response of kindness rather than responding in anger. For Chloe, it was a moment of what she could only see as an injustice done to her. So naturally, her human and emotional response was to retaliate with angry words. As I am typing those words, I have a vision in my mind of a crowd of people, their fists raised while holding up signs with bright bold phrases, shouting and chanting, emotions high, det