The day after Easter.
The day after we celebrate Christ’s empty tomb.
The day after the celebration is a different sort of day.
On the day after Easter, parents often struggle to connect the dots between serving a risen Savior and caring for kids with special needs.
On the day after Easter, the gap between what is and what is to come can seem impossible to bridge.

On the day after Easter, we are like the disciples who went into hiding in a locked room on Sunday evening, even though Mary Magdalene had already brought them news of the resurrection. They didn’t doubt her witness. Instead, they allowed their fear of the Jews to crowd out their joy. In the same way, we allow the realities of caregiving to dim our delight in the One who died to set us free.

We are like the Cleopas and his friend on their way to Emmaus. Though they had been told of the resurrection earlier in the day, sadness engulfed them. Their gloom didn’t lift until after Jesus joined them, until after he took them through the Scriptures, until after he ate supper with them, and they finally recognized him. Only then did the reality of the resurrection sink in and restore their joy.

Because our circumstances and our reactions are similar to those of the disciples, their stories provide comfort and practical guidance for us in the following ways.

First, we need to cut ourselves some slack.

If the disciples who saw and touched the risen Savior struggled on the day of the resurrection, we should be patient when we struggle on the day after Easter. Doubts, struggles, and sadness are part of the human condition. Eventually the disciples moved beyond them, and so will we.

To read the rest of this post visit Key Ministry’s blog for parents of children with special needs.

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