Easter

He is Risen!  Easter was a quiet affair this year.  Last year I went down south to see my daughter (Mandy) and son-in-law (Matt) and spend Easter at his family’s house (the Ruffner’s).  Following sunrise service at the Ruffner’s church (Grace Baptist) and then morning service at Matt and Mandy’s church (Copperhill Church), we went back to the Ruffner house.They hosted an Easter dinner with family and friends.  It was a loud and boisterous family get-together celebrating the season.

This year, I didn’t go down south to see the kids.  I’d been down the weekend before and they were planning to come up in two weeks for a baby shower.  I had also agreed to be part of a drama at the beginning of the services at my own church (River Oak Grace).  I rose early to get to church for a quick rehearsal before services.  I ran to Starbucks during the first service to get some coffee and then sat through second service to hear the sermon.  It was our first outdoor service of the year and was wonderful, the message and the fellowship. 

Following the services, I went to my parents’ house for lunch.  Mom had prepared a pot roast and we sat around the table and ate and talked, my mom, two sisters and I.  Dad sat in front of the TV and ate while watching the Masters.  My great-niece, Kyla, who is six, was spending the day with her mother’s family, so the house was quiet.  No Easter egg hunt, no candy, no reading Green Eggs and Ham over and over again.

I went home after we’d sat and talked a while.  I’m grateful that I have my parents and sisters so close.  We spend quite a bit of time together and have fun, laughing, talking, eating together, going to the movies.  We can drive each other crazy sometimes, but we’re family, so get over it.  When I got home, I decided to read a few blogs and learned that Steve McCoy had lost his mother to cancer just this last week.  My heart hurt as I read the post.  I was taken by a comment he had made in the next post about "the more love and joy you have in your family, the more you are set up for great suffering if/when someone dies."  It reminded me of my family, so I tried not to think much more about it. 

I’m grateful to have my parents, period.  I’ve been extremely grateful they’ve been around for my daughter to know.  I never really knew my grandparents.  They either died when I was young or lived far enough away that we didn’t visit often.  There was also the language barrier; they spoke Spanish, I didn’t.  But my daughter has been fortunate enough to have her grandparents close by and involved in her life since birth.  She was grandma’s girl from the first day of her life.  Grandma was the first family member to hold her, even before I held her.  After 15 hours of hard labor, I was exhausted and required some medical attention before I could even really see her.  The nurses cleaned and wrapped her up and then took her out to the waiting family to ask who wanted to hold her first.  They placed her in my mom’s arms and that was it.  There has been an amazing bond between them ever since and for that I am grateful. 

I will now get to experience that with my own grandchild, due this summer.  I’m looking forward to that bonding moment.  Ultrasounds seem to reveal a boy, so I’m looking forward to holding my grandson, Maseo.  Mandy wants her grandma there as well, what grandma’s girl wouldn’t?  This will be the fifth great-grandchild for my parents, but the first from grandma’s girl. 

So, this Easter was quiet.  It provided time to reflect on God’s graciousness, His mercy.  It provided time to reflect on the many blessings for which I am truly grateful.  I am looking forward to next Easter, though.  There will be a little one to join in the celebration, a little one to show off to friends and family in all his Easter finery. 

Quiet is nice, a refreshing change from the usual holiday noise.  Maybe it was like this on the day before that first Easter morning; quiet, nothing going on, a "pregnant" pause perhaps. Then THAT morning’s sun rose and "BAM!"  Nothing has been the same since. 

And now, my grandbaby is on the way.  I know when he arrives, life as we know it will change completely.  Nothing will ever be the same.  I can’t wait.  I want to whisper in this precious newborn’s ear how earnestly we have waited for him, much like the earth has groaned for Him.  I want to whisper how much I have loved him without having seen him, much like I love Him without having seen Him.  I can’t wait!!  He is Risen Indeed!!