Jamie Janosz

My niece, Sylvie, left the Easter bunny carrots and kale last night. She said the plate was empty when she woke up (hungry wabbit), her basket and Easter egg candy were left behind. I miss those days. My "little" is now not so little. At 17, she is too old for baskets, and we no longer await the arrival of the  bunny.  Easter feels a little less magical now.  Today, for us, celebrating Easter was about family and faith.  I ate too much food, snuck handfuls of chocolate eggs, and then had some long and rather difficult conversations with one of my family members who is going through an incredibly tough time. I pray that each of you had a good day - a day that was filled with moments of sheer happiness. But, even if you are facing difficult days, I hope you stopped to breathe in the real "magic" of Easter. Not the waiting for the Easter Bunny kind (although that can be quite special), but the Jesus conquering the grave kind. No ma...

Good Friday Synchroblog with Convergent Books About five years ago, my family traveled to Japan. When the last day arrived, we were reluctant to leave the tropical island. Standing on the shore of the East China Sea, my husband urged me to take a long last look. “After all,” he insisted, “we will probably never return to this place.” That day, I stopped what I was doing and carefully examined the exotic scene: the green moss covered coral reefs, the grey blue water stretching as far as I could see, the sea shells littering the white sand. I took a deep breath and concentrated…this was my last glimpse of Okinawa. Last moments are meant to be savored because they may never happen again. But all too often last moments have a way of sneaking up on us. We don’t realize they are the “last” until they are gone. In 1998, my dad died of a heart attack at the age of 60. His death stunned my family. There were no last moments. No last chances to say good-bye, to tell him h...

When my daughter was little, I purchased a set of Resurrection Eggs at the Bible bookstore to help her understand the Easter season. The set contains twelve plastic eggs – like the ones used for Easter Egg hunts – that crack apart to reveal a prize inside. The set is unique though in that it helps visually illustrate the Easter story for young children. My daughter loved it. Day by day we would read the Bible passage and section of the devotional. At the end, she would crack open the colorful egg to reveal what was inside. One day it was a tiny palm leaf, symbolizing Jesus’ triumphal entrance. A miniature crown of thorns made her wince as I explained that the wicked men hurt Jesus by pushing this torturous device onto his head. I saw the gospel come alive for her as we cracked open each of the eggs. The last day – Easter Sunday – was celebrated with church and Easter baskets. But my daughter was also excited to open that last egg. That afternoon, we read the passage and the ...