Easter Sunday

Christ is Risen
He is Risen indeed!

After church Easter morning we drove up to Chattanooga to spend the day with my extended family.  All my aunts and uncles and my immediate family were present, along with my Grandmother.  It was pretty special.  And on the way home we stop for dessert and fellowship with sweet friends - the Rileys and Algers.  We left their house and drove into a beautiful rainbow - the perfect picture for how full our hearts felt.

Children's handbell choir at church

Okie clan with Riley clan

Beautiful rainbow on the way home!

Maundy Thursday

John 13:12-15

12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

"To wash the feet of a brother or sister in Christ, to allow someone to wash our feet, is a sign that together we want to follow Jesus, to take the downward path, to find Jesus' presence in the poor and the weak.  Is it not a sign that we too want to live a heart-to-heart relationship with others, to meet them as a person and a friend, and to live in communion with them?  Is it not a sign that we yearn to be men and women of forgiveness, to be healed and cleansed and to heal and cleanse others and thus to live more fully in communion with Jesus?"

- Jean Vanier (founder of L'Arche communities

Full

I am full!

When I'm older

When I'm older, Raindrop says between bites of oatmeal, I'm just going to do art all the time. I mean, I'm going to wake up first and eat breakfast.

That's good, Kelly says, to start your day with a healthy breakfast.

But when I get married, Raindrop continues, I won't be able to do as much art, because I'll have to lay down on my bed a lot.

Rest

As the world has exploded with color and fragrance, so has the air filled with environmental allergens.  This is something you would never think about unless, like Little Raindrop, it brings about a mysterious asthmatic cough that keeps you up at night and keeps you from breathing deeply during the day.  Today at Kilometer Kids she had to sit out for the second half of practice because she could not stop coughing.  As soon as she started to run, she started to cough.

It is so hard as a parent to sit by and watch the effects of the beautiful Spring on your daughter and feel so powerless to ease them.  And I know her issues are very mild compared to other children who are frequently hospitalized, etc.  But it is still so mysterious.

This afternoon I walked into Raindrop's room and found her sound asleep on her bed.  This is very unusual as she doesn't nap anymore, so I figured her body really needed the rest.  When I came in to wake her up around 4:30, she wouldn't budge.  I stroked her cheeks, whispered her name, rubbed her arms, and nothing happened.  I mean she was in a deep sleep.!  We didn't really have to leave until just after 5:00, so I decided to let her sleep another 30 minutes.  But when I came back in the second time it was the same thing.  I had to gently pull her off the bed, rub her legs and pull her socks on, and carry her into the kitchen where her smoothie was waiting for her.  But the entire time she was napping, I didn't hear her cough even once.  Her body was clearly craving much needed rest.

On a completely different note, since I've been pregnant I've probably been sleeping 12-14 hours a day.  Some nights I fall asleep around 8:00 and don't wake up until after 7:00, and I still can't make it through the day without an afternoon nap.  I wonder if our bodies are actually capable of storing up all the rest of early pregnancy to help with the sleepless nights of late pregnancy and the baby stage.  Well, that being said, it's already after 9:00, and I can hardly keep my eyes open...

Endurance

Today at art class we pretended we were Michealanglo painting the Sistine Chapel.  Last week we practiced drawing the hands from the Creation of Adam (which was pretty difficult for 3rd-6th graders to do). Today we velcroed the paintings underneath the tables and gave the students paints and paintbrushes.  It was amazing how many of them started to complain after just 5 minutes of laying on their backs to paint.  Their arms were sore from stretching upwards, their heads hurt from not having a pillow, and it was hard to paint well laying down and looking up.

I said, "Come on guys!  You've only been under the table for 5 minutes.  It took Michealangelo day after day hour after hour to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel - and it was a fresco!"

It made us all in awe of Michealangelo (even more than already,) but it also made me think of building up endurance to things.  He must have built up such a store of endurance to be able to paint in that way for so long, and that must have come bit by bit via practice and dedication.

It reminded me of life with Christ.  The time we spend now being in His presence builds up a store of endurance for the trials we face in this life.  I don't mean to sound worksy - just thinking about that gift of time in the presence of our Lord, and the way that blesses and guards us...

Early

It seems like Spring came earlier than usual this year.  My past association with the season of Lent is dark and cold - which couples well with the giving up and sacrifice of the season.  But the last few weeks have seemed warm and colorful.  It's as if the earth is giving gift upon gift, and I have to convince myself that it is still the season of sacrifice.  Resurrection is already happening around me, and I look forward to celebrating the fullness of this truth one week from today.

I am also celebrating new life inside me!  I have spent the last few months mostly in the cave of my bed hibernating in sickness, and just as the weather has warmed, my sickness has finally started to ease.  I have been able to walk outside with the children, picnic on the grass, and feel the warmth of the sun on my back.  And for all these gifts I am deeply grateful.

These two cuties asked me to snap their picture by the tulips this morning.  Little Raindrop is wearing the dress that Songbird wore for her baptism 4 years ago.  She has been waiting and waiting to open the bag of Spring hand-me-downs from sister, and today was the day!