2009 April 11

While I have enjoyed the many ups and downs of our vacation to Texas, I have decided that I never again want to go on vacation the week prior to Easter. I was very careful when planning our trip to make sure that we would be with family for Easter so that we could go to church and worship our Lord. I didn’t want to be camping or in the middle of nowhere for Easter Sunday. I am certain we will have a wonderful and special day as we celebrate our Lord’s resurrection with them.

But, being away on vacation this week, I’ve been kind of off the radar. I’ve been out of my routine and haven’t spent the time I would like focusing on and preparing for this special day. I would have loved to have done some Easter crafts and projects with the kids. I really feel like the crafts and projects help to create a sense of anticipation and excitement as well as focus on the day. We did read the Easter story in the hotel the other night on Good Friday. And we’ve been talking to the kids about how Easter is coming and why we are celebrating. While the same could be true if I had spent the week at home, I don’t feel like this year I have personally spent much time in preparing my heart for worship. I think that is largely due to missing church on Good Friday. The Good Friday service at our church is by far my favorite church service all year. I love the time spent focusing on confessing our sins and worshipping our Lord, who took the consequences of MY sin by dying on the cross. I love the visual reminder and the often creative approach our pastor takes in helping to personalize the message. He always drives home the fact that MY sins nailed him to the cross, that He died FOR ME. It blows me away time and time again.

I’ve spent some time reflecting on that this evening as I sit at the computer while the house sleeps around me and I am glad for this quiet time. I hope I can keep a right perspective tomorrow as I scurry to get three kids dressed nicely and out the door while also visiting with our cousins and their two kids. I hope I don’t fret more over getting the girls hair just right then I do the condition of my heart as we prepare for worship. I hope I remember the reason for the season.

He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed! I hope you join me today in worshipping our Risen Savior!!

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Besides taking in the beautiful scenery (of which there was much) at Guadalupe and Big Bend National Parks, we really enjoyed being able to just be together (most of the time). Each day at Big Bend we took a very, long picnic lunch. One day we went to the western portion of the park and enjoyed a leisurely picnic. I thought it would be fun to make our own ice cream in coffee cans using a recipe I had found online. This was a lot of fun. I gotta admit it wasn’t all that cost effective since I first had to buy the cans of coffee, just for the cans, but we had a great time. (Yes, $9 in sunk costs right there… if I had been at home I am sure I could have gotten an empty can from a friend or something, but we had no spare room in our suitcases for empty coffee cans). The kids enjoyed rolling the can back and forth and then Scott and I took turns kicking it up and back across a field to really get it working. I was so happy it worked! (We would have had a very disappointed circus crew if it didn’t work)!