This weekend my wife and kids went up to spend the Easter holiday with my in-laws.  The kids enjoyed seeing their grandparents and I enjoyed some time alone.

I spent Friday inside...I had planned on fixing a section of fence around our yard...but with the unseasonably late snow I had an excuse to give the Playstation some attention.

Saturday was a day of work.  Our front landscaping around the house looked awful, so I spent the day re-doing it.  It was a much more laborious job than I had planned.  But now it looks good.  And I had the satisfaction of a hard day's labor, toiling with my hands in the dirt, and a job well done.  I don't have all of the plants planted...with the freezing every night it's not the best time.  But my work-in-progress is much better than it used to be.  Our landscaping has a new lease on life, and will eventually be even better.

Our Easter services were incredible.  We celebrated several baptisms and even had a 22 piece orchestra-ensemble along with the choir.  It made for an incredible time worshipping God and celebrating our second chances.

Second chances....

That's what the Christian faith is all about. 

I was still thinking about that when I got home Sunday afternoon.  I looked outside at my yard and saw the beautiful new creation out there.  Something I made...something I remade.  And I'm proud of the transformation that has come about.

I wonder if that's how God feels when we are transformed...when we are re-made.  Easter got me to thinking about this.  Faith in the resurrected Christ gives us the opportunity to start over with life...to be made new.  Like the landscaping, we're not quite finished.  There are seeds of growth and change still to be planted in our lives, when the time is right.  But we have a new lease on life, and we'll eventually be even better.