Showing posts with label easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label easter. Show all posts

our new normal: week 5


The week of April 13, 2020

Easter Sunday kicked off our week. I worked hard to keep traditions because it not only made the day special, but gave me a lot of comfort to do the things we would have done despite Coronavirus. The day was pretty great considering it was just the five of us. G&G N came over in the afternoon and parked in the driveway for a bit so we could visit from a distance.

This was our first week back to school after Spring Break. We started on Tuesday, and we will continue to have our distance-learning school Tuesdays through Fridays. Our principal is adamant that teachers get to save Sundays for sabbath, for family time - not for creating videos and uploading content. A Zoom staff/faculty meeting on Friday confirmed that this was such a gift for them.

The weather was awful every day, in the low 40s, and we even had snow multiple days. We didn't get outside much. I took a 25 minute walk alone on Thursday, despite the biting cold wind, and it helped improve my spirits. I'm losing motivation to keep up with my routine on fitnessblender.com. Change can be good - I see more walks in my future.


Memories from the week:

Andrew was able to present his Colorado project via video and it was shared with his class.

I made efforts to keep the dining/school room organized.

We moved our newly planted seeds inside because of the weather (except for Andrew's lettuce).

While Home Depot and Lowe's are forbidden to sell paint, Sherwin-Williams provided all we needed to get the laundry room makeover going.

I ordered a new vanity for the green bath and some tile re-finisher for my chubby friends in the kitchen. (maybe some progress pictures in future posts)

Our next-door neighbors returned from Florida with the massive camper in tow.

And a huge, devastating low to end our week: GG (the one mentioned in this story) is in the hospital and is getting ready to meet Jesus. Her kidneys are failing, and her arteries and aorta are filled with clots. She's progressing toward her heavenly home and dare I say she is looking forward to it. The news brings me both great comfort and great sadness. I'm really missing my family this week.



















sweet treat

hosanna



















Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks yours
Everything I am for Your kingdom's cause

As I walk from earth into eternity

easter





 






more than an egg hunt


Every year I see the candy at the grocery store, I notice the photo ops with the bunny at the mall, and I watch the Easter dresses appear at the front of every clothing display.

But Easter is so much more than pastels and parties. At least at our house. Sure, we have all of the fun activities that come with the holiday, but we do other things that make it special.

We keep the tradition of decorating eggs with beeswax on the afternoon of Good Friday, and then attend church as a family that evening to remember the crucifixion of Jesus.









We spend time together for the weekend, enjoying one another's company, and hopefully playing outdoors to enjoy the tease of warm weather and sunshine. This time, we even made a trip to take in the library.










We wake early on Sunday morning for the sunrise worship service to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, and then enjoy a celebratory feast in the dining room later in the day. This year it was sit-down service for seventeen.

And yes, we have an egg hunt, so perfectly coordinated and organized and fun, with each child's color-coded eggs hidden appropriately for his or her age.




But when the weekend is all said and done, when the dishes are washed, the candy eaten (except for those black and yellow jelly beans!) and the "used car lot" empty from the driveway... when it's all over, it's just the beginning.

Because Easter is everything. Easter is the ticket into heaven. Easter means that God loves us enough to make it possible. Easter is the most important celebration of my faith. And to downplay it with colorful eggs and a big, white bunny is... well... it's secondary to what it's all about.

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son, Jesus. Anyone who has the Son, has eternal life; anyone who does not have the Son of God, does not have eternal life.
1 John 5:11-12

easter sunday

The Easter Bunny, in the flesh


Is 22 too old to be hunting for eggs?!?!?


Egg artistry




So done with Easter!

easter from across the miles

Here's some photos that Sarah and Doug took on Easter Sunday from Alexandria. Such beautiful weather, beautiful flowers and a beautiful couple! They had their friends over for church and dinner, and looks like some bocci ball in the courtyard...





Looks like ice cream on a cold stone...





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