Happy Easter.
I wanted to keep this one simple because the message is simple.
Today is the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. And I've been thinking about what that space in between actually means.
Good Friday is the battle. The pain. The loss. The moment where everything looks like it's falling apart.
Easter Sunday is the resurrection. The hope. The "there's something on the other side of this."
And here's what I keep coming back to. We don't get to skip Friday to get to Sunday.
The hard part is part of it.
Blessings and battles
C.S. Lewis wrote, "Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny."
I believe that. Not because it sounds good on a quote card. Because I've lived it. And I bet you have too.
The hardest seasons of my life have produced the most growth. Every single time. Not because the pain was good. Because what came through the pain was good.
And the thing I'm learning...still learning, every day...is that blessings and battles aren't opposites. They coexist. Sometimes in the same week. Sometimes in the same conversation.
You can be building something meaningful and struggling at the same time. You can be grateful and exhausted. Hopeful and uncertain.
That's not a contradiction. That's being human.
A resurrection mindset
Regardless of where you are with faith, I think there's something powerful about a resurrection mindset.
It's the belief that hard things aren't the end of the story. That there's always a next chapter. That what feels like death can become the beginning of something new.
I see it in the executives I coach. The ones who face their hardest season and come out the other side transformed. Not because they avoided the pain. Because they went through it.
I see it in my own life. Leaving corporate after 25 years felt like a death of sorts. And it's become the most alive I've ever been.
I see it in my faith. Jesus went through the worst Friday imaginable so that Sunday could mean what it means. And I'm grateful beyond words for that.
Your week
I don't know what battle you're in the middle of right now. But I want you to hear this.
The hard part isn't a sign that something is wrong. It might be a sign that something important is happening.
Don't skip Friday to get to Sunday. Stay in it. There's something on the other side.
And if you're looking for a simple framework to sit with this week, try this. I call it the 5 W's:
Wins — What's going right? Celebrate it. Even the small stuff.
Wars — What are you fighting right now? Name it. Don't run from it.
Weapons — What can you call on to combat the battle you're facing?
Wonders — What can you grieve or be amazed by?
Windows — What opportunities are ahead of you?
Blessings and battles. They coexist. And the people who embrace both — who don't pretend it's all good and don't pretend it's all bad — those are the ones who grow.
From my family to yours, Happy Easter. I'm grateful for this community and grateful to be standing shoulder to shoulder with you.
Talk soon,
Jon
Until next week,
Jon