We love because He first loved us.: April 2011

Easter Sunday is coming to an end here in Kitale and I have to admit that today was a little more difficult than I anticipated. I knew it would be hard to handle being away from my family on this holiday. The Butler family is all about Easter. For as long as I can remember we've always celebrated Easter with more enthusiasm and spunk than most families. It's the time of the year we all gather together to both celebrate and remember. It's a time to rest in the knowledge that in death comes life. That's the story of Jesus, and a theme that's been more prominent in my family over the last few years than I ever imagined possible. (That's an entirely different blog post if I ever feel confident enough to gush about that portion of my life online, but that's not very likely. This subject is much more of a one-on-one conversation kind of thing.) Over and over again, God has shown me that in the midst of death He brings forth life. I am so thankful for the life God has given me through Jesus Christ. That he has relentlessly chosen to love me, despite all things, because that's who God is. I want to share with you the lyrics to one of the songs I've grown attached to during my time in Kitale. It's called Your Love Never Fails. I love singing these words to God because he's shown me that His love is tenacious.

Nothing can separate
Even if I ran away
Your love never fails

I know I still make mistakes
But You have new mercies for me everyday
Your love never fails

You stay the same through the ages
Your love never changes
There may be pain in the night but joy comes in the morning

And when the oceans rage
I don't have to be afraid
Because I know that You love me
Your love never fails

The wind is strong and the water's deep
But I'm not alone in these open seas
Cause Your love never fails

The chasm is far too wide
I never thought I'd reach the other side
But Your love never fails

You make all things work together for my good

I'd like to encourage you to take some time to meditate on these words, remembering that His love never fails. It never fails.

On a different note, here's something my mom wrote a few years ago about our family's Easter tradition:

If you’ve joined the Butler family at Easter, you know that we are big fans of gathering together to celebrate. I’m positive the kids in our family would surely call Easter our family’s biggest tradition. We love gathering family and friends and having a big day of food, fun and fellowship.

This year, as I’m putting away the plastic eggs and continuing to clean colorful confetti out of the house and sidewalks, I find myself wanting to acknowledge the inspiration for this annual family holiday. Her name was Shirley Butler, my mother in law. Ed and I both have fond memories of family Easters as children; however, neither celebrated Easter as grandly as we do now. We wouldn’t miss it. I’ve often said that sometimes two plus two equals five . . . it’s momentum that often blossoms something normal into something much larger.

Granny’s first granddaughter, Lauren, was born on Thursday, March 31st. That year, in 1983, Lauren’s first full day on earth was Good Friday and we came home from the hospital just in time for Easter Sunday lunch. Thanks to a capable, loving husband and excited brand new father, who could then, and 26 years later still can enlist the troops, our first family Easter lunch came off as a big hit. Grandparents, aunts and uncles arrived that Easter morning to be on the “Welcome Home” and “Happy Easter” fun committee. Each Easter just grew from that big day forward in our lives.

Grandma Moore, Aunt Peggy, and Aunt Linda particularly jumped right in and helped us celebrate. The next year, Lauren was just old enough to venture out to the backyard and proclaim with each and every colorful egg: “UH OH!” - and now years later our family has another set of little girls to share the excitement.

My favorite moment of this Easter actually came the morning after the big egg hunt in our front yard. I was tipped off that the Easter bunny might have visited our mailbox and there might be something hidden there still. I ventured out with Olivia, the youngest of the great granddaughters, to investigate the mailbox. We pulled open the door together and both looked inside. Olivia looked at me with surprise on her face and reaching in she pulled out not one but two confetti eggs! Giving me one and keeping the other for herself, Olivia knew just what to do. She deliberately poked one of her tiny little fingers into the pastel tissue and turned the egg upside down. She and I left a thin trail of confetti all the way back up the driveway. And, I thought, mission accomplished. My family loves Easter just like this little girl’s great grandmother did]\ Shirley hadn’t been with us on Easter for eleven years now. She died in March 1999 just before Easter.

And now, instead of letting Easter take a back seat to other holidays, I cherish the tradition that my husband, Shirley’s youngest son, and she began.