Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. On the way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside.

Mark 16:2-4

Surprises are on my Life’s Top Ten Favorites list, and Easter is a wonderful time for them. Can you imagine with me for a minute the sheer surprise of seeing Jesus after His resurrection?

I surprised myself one Easter when I decided, after a dozen years of marriage, to attempt making yeast rolls one more time. In the early years of marriage, my bread-making experiences ended up with dough and flour all over my kitchen and me—but no bread! I got so exasperated that I ended up throwing all the dough away. And I’ve thrown away many expired packets of fast-acting yeast since that time.

God has a way of maturing us, though, and when Kali was five, I decided yeast rolls would be a wonderful way to teach her about Jesus rising from the dead. Last month I told you about my good friend Daphne, who is a kitchen mentor and whose yeast-roll recipe is a favorite of Kali’s. Well, that Easter Daphne showed me how to make those rolls. It was a very hands-on experience, and Daphne assured me I wouldn’t fail.

Sure enough, on Easter morning I woke up my family, singing, “They arose! They arose! Just like Jesus, they arose!” Needless to say, it was an Easter our family will never forget.

I love that Jesus’ surprises for us did not end on Resurrection Day. In fact, some of His best surprises are yet to come. I can only imagine that day in heaven when we’ll be celebrating an eternal resurrection day of our own, because Jesus will have returned and taken all believers in Him to live with Him forever.

Together we’ll rise up and shake the floors of heaven with praise for Him!

Let’s “shake and bake” in joy and celebration that Jesus arose! Read Revelation 22:1-5 for a glimpse of what’s to come for believers.