Easter In Limerick

Today was a very rainy day. It started raining last night and kept going until the afternoon. It cleared up for a little bit, then it went back to raining. In the evening, it stopped. When it wasn’t raining in the afternoon, the sun came out and I even saw a rainbow. It was a beautiful Easter rainbow reminding me of God’s promise to never flood the whole world again. 

God always keeps his promises. As soon as Adam and Eve sinned, God promised that he would send a Savior. That Savior would defeat the devil, pay for the consequences of all the sins ever committed, and win eternal life in heaven for everyone who believes in him. Today, we celebrate that God kept that promise. At Christmas, we celebrate that God sent his son, Jesus, to earth as man and God to live a perfect life as our substitute. On Good Friday, we remember that Jesus needed to die in our place as payment for our sins. Doing wrong has consequences. The consequences for not listening to what God commands is death. Jesus needed to die to make that payment for sin. On Easter, we celebrate that Jesus dying as the payment for the sins of the whole world was not the end, Jesus came back to life. He showed that he has power over sin because he paid for it. He has power over the devil because he fixed the relationship between God and his people. The devil no longer has power over God’s people because all the work needed to be done for their forgiveness is completed. Jesus showed that he has power over death because he came alive again after dying. We have the promise from God that because Jesus became alive again, after we die, we will live eternally in heaven. There will be no more sadness, pain, or death in heaven. There will be joy and peace because we are with our God who loves us.

One way that I was reminded of God’s love today, was by all the people he has put in my life. I was able to stream my home church service. I was able to share in the joy of Jesus coming back to life by texting my friends and calling my family. I was even able to share some of my Easter traditions with my good friend, Wibke.

Wibke and I went for a walk during the afternoon when it stopped raining. We each ate a piece of chocolate cake, she purchased from the store, as my egg bake was in the oven. The egg bake still needed more time in the oven, so I shared with Wibke Easter candy from the United States, like jellybeans and Peeps (thanks Mom and Dad for the candy). The egg bake still wasn’t done, so we went for a walk, drank some tea, and sampled some of my hard boiled eggs. Finally, my mini egg bake was ready to eat. It was fun to be able to share some food from home with Wibke.

I miss all my people back at home. I know that I am very blessed to be here in Ireland studying and seeing the country. I am excited to finish up my studies here, see a few more sites, and be home in a month. 

Happy Easter! Christ is Risen!