ללא חלל

There are a lot of people who dread weekends like this. Going to church, twice, then having to see family who they don't even like. Many don't want anything to do with Jesus, let alone their own family. There's only one way I can put this. It sucks. It sucks a whole freaking lot. Hating interaction with those who love you, even though sometimes they may seem like they don't. I'm glad I am not one of those people, because I don't know what I would do with my family, blood or not. My immediate family is something that I couldn't be happy without. All of my aunts and uncles and cousins each have a special place in my heart for different reasons, and without them there, there would only be a void, and that void would suck away all the happiness I experienced with them. And I know that's true because it has happened once before.
For those of you who don't know, I had an Uncle Steve, and he was a wonderful man. He grew up happy, joyful, and he walked with the Lord. He was a maestro on the guitar, and his voice reminds me a lot of my own, but with less of a Montanan accent. He had many excellent dogs as well, and the only one I can remember was Charlie, a big ol' German Shepard with nothing but love to give. I remember running a path around the pool so I could jump in and he would catch me when I was no more than four. One of my parents' fondest memories of him is one night when they sat around a lake and he sang and played Harvest Moon by Neil Young, and they still say that too this day it's some of the best music they've ever heard. Though he certainly had his flaws, and one flaw in particular became his downfall.
He was an addict. He became addicted to alcohol early in his adulthood, and went through rehab five or six times. Just when we thought he was free, he was chained back up, right where we didn't want him to be. He lost his wonderful wife and two amazing young daughters when he lost control of himself. She didn't want to be around him when he was in that state, and she didn't want their children to remember him as a drunkard. There were many times that we had no idea where he was, and my grandfather always had people keeping tabs on him, just so we knew he was safe. There was one month where he was AWOL, no where to be found, but this had happened before, so we were less than terrified.
We don't really know how it happened, but we found him, down to nothing but bone and muscle, in the woods of northern Michigan. The only way we could identify him was by his wallet, which had his ID in it.
Just rewriting what I know is bringing tears to my eyes, because I miss him. And I don't know what I'm going to do when I start losing the rest of my family as well. But I'm going to have the best moments I can with them now, so I don't have to regret not having them later. All this goes to my extended family as well, and by my extended family, I mean my close friends. And I have a LOT of close friends. Kane county Spotlight is an entire family of its own, and then I can break that down in to smaller families that I'm a part of. I love you all. But there's one place in my heart that I've always had, that even though at one point, I should have had a void there, but I didn't, and that is for Jesus.
Jesus has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember being upon this earth. And every time Good Friday comes around, and I watch the gut-wrenching crucifixion of Jesus Christ, I really don't feel very sad. Yes, of course it's depressing to watch the Son of God get obliterated by the ones he came to save, but I don't think I've ever cried watching these things, and I think I know why.
I know Jesus died to save our sins, but that's pointless without the resurrection. I know that when Jesus dies, he comes back in three days time. I know that Jesus lives. I don't just know that in my mind, I feel it in my heart. I feel his love telling me, "Dude, it's all good. I'll be back. I promise. If I can deal with this, you can deal with what you're going through." I remind myself that every day. No matter what is going on around me, that I can't have suffered more than the Son of God did.
I know that Easter dinner is most likely over for many of you, so I just ask that (if you believe) you thank our savior for the punishment he faced, so that we don't have to, but also to thank him for rising, so that we know that we can rise over whatever feels like death to us.

Have a happy Easter friends.