Easter Getaway

This weekend we took off to Palm Springs and spent two nights there. Lane loves climbing around in Joshua Tree National Park and swimming so we took him to do both. Saturday we went up into the park and stopped off in 29 Palms where Lane was born. We only stayed there long enough to get cash out and some snacks and off we went up into the park. I was hoping that the park would be blooming. It was a little bit. Most of the Joshua Trees were blooming which is a big thing up there! We let Lane jump around on the big jumbo rocks and then we hiked to Barker Dam, which had quite a bit of water in it. Later that day we went swimming and today we went up the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway for lunch and a great view of the Coachella Valley before coming back home.

Blooming Joshua Tree
Barker Dam
Lane loves to swim.

We came back and Lane did a little egg hunt by himself. Nothing like a lone egg hunt, but he had fun finding ALL the eggs.

I knew that Easter was going to be a hard day for me. That's one reason why we did our little trip. Easter has taken on a new meaning to me. I know the pain of seeing my own son die, I understand so much more what a sacrifice it was for God to send his own Son to die for us. Never has the meaning of Easter been more real to me.

March 25th marked 9 years since my mom died. Another hard day, but different now. Over the years I have become so thankful for my mom. She taught me so much. She was an amazing Christian influence in my life. The thing I am most thankful for recently is that she taught me how to be a good wife and mom. I am so thankful that Case has her and she has Case in heaven, although honestly, I'd rather have them both here. At one point after Case died I had a very real image in my mind of my mom running as fast as she could to the gates of heaven to sweep Case up into her arms when he got there. It brings me to tears everytime I think of it.

The last couple weeks, I have grown impatient with my grief. They say that happens. I know that it will never go away and that I won't feel better for a long time, but I am tired of feeling sad. I used to be a productive person, now I can't seem to get much done. I used to feel happy and sometimes I do, but not without an underlying sadness. It's normal to feel this way, I know, but I am tired of it.

I hope everyone had a good Easter. What a wonderful gift we've been given, hope, forgiveness, grace. I will not squander that away, I will be thankful for Jesus' life and death and resurrection. Because of His sacrifice, I have the hope that I will one day see my sweet boy again.