May the Day be Long and Sweet

It’s been a long time since I was excited about Easter.  From a spiritual perspective, I always am thankfully excited about Resurrection Sunday.  But Easter as a holiday has been very flat for a long, long time.  I reminisced about my childhood Easters on Kingdom Bloggers this week.  You can read it here.

Earlier this week I told you about sewing at midnight for my children.  I’ve told you about the Easter that my oldest son Nathan was dedicated to the Lord.  Easter does hold many precious memories.  However, I honestly can’t remember when was the last time we really celebrated the holiday of Easter. 

I am preparing to grill out tomorrow.  I always have to remember that here in the south if you say you are going to Barbeque it means something entirely different.  My daughter and her children are coming.  Our other two children that live in the area will be here.  I’m excited.  I bought some treats for the kids. Shh, don’t tell them.  I have hamburgers and hot dogs for the grill.  I’m making potato salad just like my mom’s.  I’m making a pasta salad.  We’ll have strawberry shortcake for dessert.  And will wash it all down with sweet tea.

I hope the day is long and sweet. 

Preparing to grill out reminds me of my mother.  My older children may remember the lazy summers on her deck or the joyous gatherings with my step sisters.  My mother loved to cook out.  It seems there were times when she really came alive.  This was one of them.  Like me, she loved to have her family gathered on special days and ordinary days.  I miss her.

Tonight will gather to worship in a tradition foreign to me.  I’ll watch my daughter follow her heart and become a Roman Catholic.  It’s rare we all gather to worship.  I pray the Holy Spirit moves tonight and melts the sadness from the hearts of my family.  It’s been a rough week, a very rough week.  I understand we’ll gather in darkness.  I know we’ll hear of the Light come from Heaven.  We’ll reflect on the glorious burst of life that brought Jesus back from the dead.

It’s going to be a good Easter.  I see new life and new hope all around me.  It’s been a long time coming, this sense of newness and hope. 

Christ has come.  CHRIST HAS RISEN.  Christ will come again.