Too familiar.

Is that us? So familiar with the Easter story that we don't really connect? We know the facts in our heads, but they don't penetrate our hearts. Like three-year-old Emma listening to her six-year-old sister Ava:

AVA:         Easter is when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Then they put him in the tomb for…

EMMA:     (Interrupting)…forty days and forty nights (said with rolled eyes, as if exasperated from rehearsing the story yet again).

AVA:         No, Emma. That’s Noah! Jesus was in the tomb for three days.

EMMA:     (Still unimpressed) Yeah—three days.

If the Easter story does not affect us or rolls off us, just like Emma's rolled eyes, we've got a problem. So, what’s the solution?

This Holy Week, take time to pause. Stop the hamster wheel of life and sit still for a few moments.

Next, ponder. Ponder the sadness Jesus felt locking eyes with His friend Judas, who kissed Him in the act of betrayal. Ponder the humiliation of Christ's trial, the fists on His cheeks, the whip on his back, the thorns on His head, and the nails in His hands and feet.

Finally, pray. Can we not make time to say thank you to our Savior? Can we not spend some moments on our knees expressing our heart's gratitude?

O Lord that lends me life lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.

—William Shakespeare