This past weekend began with my family joining in on the worldwide day of fasting and prayer held on Good Friday where people of all faiths around the world came together to unite their prayers around the issues the world is facing with this pandemic.  It was such a beautiful way to kick-off the Easter weekend. 

Then today, for Easter Sunday, my family all put on our Sunday best clothes and held a Sacrament service in our home.  We sang hymns, partook of the Sacrament, and then my husband asked me if I’d share a spiritual thought about the Atonement and Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ.  In those thoughts I talked about the love I have for my Heavenly Father and Mother for giving the power to our older brother, Jesus Christ, to redeem us from the demands of justice, and offer each of us the ability, if we do our part, to return to live with them again someday. I expressed that as a parent myself I cannot imagine how heart wrenching it must have been for our Heavenly Parents to allow Jesus Christ to carry out his atoning sacrifice in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross at Calvary for us. I also expressed how grateful I am for our older brother, Jesus Christ, who loved us as his brothers and sisters so much that he willfully endured unspeakable pain for us and he willingly sacrificed his life for us. He did that for every single one of us, giving us the opportunity to be together again as an eternal family someday. I feel so blessed that we have Heavenly Parents and an older brother who love us so very much…it is humbling to even think about it. And it reminds me how important it is for all of us to continue to unite together worldwide in offering prayers of faith – we are all brothers and sisters who need our Heavenly Father’s help to get through the difficult days ahead.

I’ve had the lyrics of a song playing over and over in my mind today. The song is titled, I Stand All Amazed:

I STAND ALL AMAZED ( by: Charles H. Gabriel)

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me

Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.

I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,

That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.

I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine

To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,

That he should extend his great love unto such as I,

Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.

I think of his hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt!

Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?

No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,

Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet.

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me

Enough to die for me!

Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

Before we head into this new week ahead watch the one minute video below that plays words of advice spoken by our older brother Jesus Christ #HearHim

~Amy Rees Anderson (author of the book “What Awesome Looks Like: How To Excel in Business & Life” )