We Are Easter People: Trust, Surrender & Faith

Who are the Easter people?

Lent is over, and Easter is here! Hurray! We can now crack the shell of our Easter eggs and eat to our heart’s delight!!

But what if there is more to Easter?

What if the best thing about Easter is that we now have access to the POWER of Jesus Christ - the literal power that brought the entire cosmos into being and continues to sustain it. Access happens when we decide to become His followers – when we become Christians!

Moreover, if you are a Catholic, you have access to the Holy Spirit’s power through the sacraments administered through our clergy, who are descended through the apostolic succession of Jesus’ established church:

“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it”

Luke 16:18, The Catholic Prayer Bible

What does it mean to be an Easter People?

The tomb is empty…

Jesus Christ has miraculously risen from the dead! Through this amazing miracle, Jesus shows us that His love is greater than the hate and sin that killed Him. Death doesn’t have the final word…Jesus does! He is a new creation. And He now invites all of us to become part of His new creation: to become His Easter People!

Baptism is the rite of passage to becoming an Easter person.

This often happens when we are babies but of course adults convert too. You will hopefully have seen adults received into the Catholic church this Easter. Hurray!

But then what?

We try our best to live in the love of God. This means that we try to remain in His Will for our entire lives. Many people will assume that this only means keeping the ten commandments….but there is way more to following Jesus!

Easter People Trust in Jesus’ plans for their lives



Part of being Jesus’ Easter people is to learn to TRUST Him with all our concerns. Why? Because He so obviously loves us to infinity and back! Therefore, He can be trusted with our lives! But do we really trust Him? And what does this look like?

Our God has proven His love for us; miraculously defeated death and is literally keeping the fibre of the universe ‘ticking’. Therefore, He can be trusted with every aspect of our lives! Only He has the big picture. Only He knows what we need to experience to mould our characters so that they are fit for Heaven! Only He knows what experiences we need to go through to learn how to forgive.

Examples from my Life



I am not perfect. I often find myself needing to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. So, this means that I have often not listened to God or lived according to His Will. However, I’d like to give you some examples from my Christian journey of times when I have listened to God’s Will for my life…..and also where He has shown me His Will without my asking!

1.   At around 26 years of age, I decided to leave my job at a bank and embark on a one-year PGCE (postgraduate certificate of education course) in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. In my heart I wanted to work with children and felt that becoming a primary school teacher was the obvious career to follow. I didn’t think to ask God about this as it just wasn’t something I did back then.

However, I failed the course and came back to my parental home. I fell into a slight reactive depression as I had never failed at a major exam before. I eventually came to realise that this was God closing a door. Becoming a primary school teacher was not part of His Will for me. God had something better for me. And as you know, He ultimately drew me into becoming a children’s author some thirty years later! Thankfully the depression didn’t last long. God healed me of it during a prayer meeting that I attended three months after it had started. So happy and relieved!



2.   When I was somewhere in my forties, I became attracted to a Spanish man whom I had met through a choir. No, this isn’t a photo of him! It’s a public domain image I found of a handsome Spanish man! I tried my best to be wherever he was, not just at the choir but also at his own singing gigs. I hoped that something would happen!

I took this to prayer and kept on asking the Lord if he was the one for me. I didn’t sense an answer either way. Then, quite out of the blue, something happened. While I was staying overnight at a friend’s, I slept on their sofa bed in their sitting room. When morning came, I opened the French doors to let in some fresh air. It was a Summer’s Day but a bit overcast. I started thinking about this gorgeous man. Within an hour, the skies became dark and the wind ‘whipped up’. Then out of nowhere, both doors slammed shut! I felt God was giving me a literal ‘closed door’ to my hopes that this Spanish man was ‘the one’. ‘In my spirit’ I felt God saying an absolute ‘no’. I listened. God has someone better suited for me. I came out of this disappointed, but I continue to trust in God for the fulfilment of this desire of my heart.

3.   At 58 years, COVID caused me to lose my first administration job at a nursery school. I wanted to stay in a similar line of work and to get a job as a receptionist in a secondary school. It was a difficult time for anyone looking for work. When I prayed to God, a picture ‘dropped into my mind’s eye’. It was an image of a small group of schoolchildren, around 10 years old, with one sitting in a wheelchair. I remember thinking that this picture was from the Lord, though I couldn’t be sure. Maybe it was just my imagination and my desire expressing itself? I remember a friend saying to me at the time that there was no point applying to schools. It was true that lots were closed due to COVID, and kids were having lessons online. But I wanted to be a school receptionist. My friend’s negativity actually made me think, “Well I think God is asking me to do otherwise!” I applied for the school receptionist job I found advertised and got it over 100 + candidates. I am still working at this school, and one of the students uses a wheelchair! This job is a part of God’s plan for my life! Every day has its challenges, and some days have been very difficult, but I know that I am where God wants me and that He is helping me every step of the way.

Easter People Surrender their dreams to Jesus

So, how can we pass on to our children how to SURRENDER everything to God? How can we teach them how to TRUST in Him with His plans for their lives?

Puppy Prayer

What if your child asks you for a puppy and you would love for him/her to have one, but you don’t have the money? This could be a great moment to teach your child how to trust in Jesus. In prayer with your child, you could ‘give this desire for a puppy’ to the Lord and pray with your child:

“…yet, not my will but Yours be done”.

Luke 22:42 The Catholic Prayer Bible

You are showing your child that God cares about everything that your child cares about. You are showing that God and is listening to your prayers and that you expect Him to answer. The answer will, of course, be one of three possibilities:

1.   Yes.

2.   Wait.

3.   I have something better for you.

(Please also see Praying for the Desires of Your Child’s Heart: Trusting God’s Plan)

If God reveals to you or your child that He wants your family to have this puppy, then that is great… the timing, however, is always His! Maybe God will reveal His Will to you while praying or through an unfolding of events.

Perhaps He will suddenly provide the money; perhaps someone will offer you a puppy for free? Trusting in God is part of being an Easter people. We trust in God for everything. We walk by faith and not by sight.

God might also say, ‘no’…because He has something better for your child. This will be hard, but over time we may discover the reason for this. Of course, we may never know the reasons for everything in this life…and that’s where TRUSTING in God comes in. We continue to trust because we believe that He is a GOOD GOD.

Easter People Surrender their fears to Jesus

This works in a similar way to surrendering our desires to the Lord. For example, your child’s class are going to do some indoor ‘rock climbing’ but he/she has a fear of heights. Pray together with your child every day:

“Lord, we give this fear of heights to You. Please heal (name) of this fear in your perfect timing… but not my will but Yours be done”.

If the fear is still there, one week before the outing, then obviously speak with the teacher. See if there is some way that (name) can be closely harnessed to an adult and give it a go. Let the Lord surprise you!

Throughout my life, I had been in awe of the process of giving birth, but the one thing that was holding me back from applying for a midwifery course was my own fear of the pain of labour. You see, I had had severe period pains in my teen years and beyond, and I think that this was the root cause of my fear. I knew that I couldn’t support a labouring woman unless this fear was somehow resolved. Having tried for the third time to pluck up the courage just to ask for the midwifery course application form and ‘bottling out’ – I completely gave up on the notion.

Then God did something outstanding. Two months after ‘giving up’ I woke up one February morning to find that 95% of my fear had just disappeared…evaporated! I couldn’t quite believe it! A few months later, the fear hadn’t come back, and I felt that it had gone for good - so I finally applied for the midwifery course! Now, had I given the Lord my fear earlier, maybe He would have healed me earlier – I will never know! But what I am saying is that the God of the universe is bigger than all our problems put together. If He heals you directly that is wonderful (ie through a miracle). If God wants to heal you indirectly through counselling, that is also wonderful. But being crippled by fear is not how God wants us to live. Only TRUST in GOD drives out all fear.

Have a listen to this short video by Matthew Kelly about fear & trust:

Fr Mike Scmitdz also has some really good points about surrender & trust:

Helping your child learn to trust God



1. During your evening prayer time this month, give thanks to God for experiences in your day. Encourage your child to do the same. This will help everyone remember that God only gives us good gifts.
2. Show your child the video below. It explores the word TRUST. Tell them you are going to watch a short video together that explains what TRUSTING in God looks like:

3.   Then please give your child an example of how you gave God a particular desire or fear (SURRENDER) and how you TRUSTED in Him for the answer. Give an example of something you asked God for and then received, for example your job/car/spouse. Also give an example of a time when God said, “I have something better for you”. You could also mention the scripture:

“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him”

Lamentations 3:25, The Catholic Prayer Bible

4.   Tell your child that tonight, as a family, you are all going to give Jesus something that you want or something that you are afraid of. That is, to SURRENDER it to Him. And then we will all trust God with the answer - whatever it is - because He knows what is best for us.

5.   Then together pray to the Lord:

“Lord Jesus, I trust you with this. Give me more trust in YOU.

Show me what You want. Not my will but Your Will be done”.

6.   Often it takes several times of praying this type of prayer before we can really SURRENDER and TRUST Jesus. Trusting anyone takes time.

7.   Then play this video and everyone can join in! It will encourage all of you to TRUST Jesus with every detail of your lives.

The more you surrender your desires/fears to God, the more at peace you will feel. Check how everyone is feeling about their surrendered desire/fear once a week.

I hope that you and your family will find surrendering your hearts’ desires/fears and trusting Jesus for His answer to be a time of growth, perseverance and peace.

The Lord’s Peace be with you all.