Leg of Lamb, Have Mercy on Me

Easter has always been my favorite holiday. Except for the year I attempted to roast a leg of lamb in a Pyrex pan at too high of a temperature. The pan exploded in the oven, shattering glass everywhere along with our dreams of lamb roast and mint jelly with a side of spring asparagus. Leg of lamb, have mercy on me: We made it under the wire to IHOP before they closed for the night. Pancakes were no substitute for lamb, but at least all was not lost that Easter.

That kitchen debacle notwithstanding, I love Easter. I still weep each year at Jesus' triumphant resurrection from the dead. After gloomy, somber Good Friday, and the dark, limbo-land of Holy Saturday, it's a sweet relief to celebrate the glorious resurrection of our Lord and Savior on Easter Sunday. Who, after all, willingly died the worst death imaginable for the worst people imaginable—a death that covered all humanity for all time so that we, sinners, could be free to love God our Father now and eternally. It's the crazy greatest story ever told. And it never gets old for me.

I know not everyone feels the way I do about Easter. In "Thankless for the Cross," TCW assistant editor Natalie Lederhouse shares a different experience of Easter, one that draws us closer to the holiness of God in perhaps a more subdued way.

Easter is all about new beginnings, and that's the theme of this week's issue. In this issue, Halee Gray Scott reflects on what it means to live in the power of the resurrection. Easter is more than a one-day event after all. Christ rising from the dead grants us access to this same power—to die to self so that we can live for God.

Elisabeth Klein, author of the TCW article, "How I Ruined My Marriage," returns to TCW with some practical help on how to start over after divorce. And TCW featured contributor Diane Paddison takes a close look at a different kind of fresh start—"Managing New- Job Jitters."

I am praying for you, dear readers, as the apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesians:

I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 1:16–20).

By Christ's death and resurrection, we have access to a mighty power, such that the world has never known. May each of us tap into this mighty power as we learn to love God and one another more fully.

Live powerfully!

Marian V. Liautaud

Editor

Follow me @MarianLiautaud and @TCWomancom

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