Anyway, there was confusion about whether or not there would be Sunday School this morning, so we just went to the service at 10:30. Unfortunately when we left the house, one of my rear tires was nearly flat, so we went to the gas station to air it up & pushed ourselves late arriving at the church. We still got there on time, but once we got the kids checked into their childrens' church area & made our way to the sanctuary, we saw a few people & talked a bit on the way...and voila, we were late. We walked in just in time to hear the last 2 praise & worship songs. That was a bummer because I had really been looking forward to the P&W time....my favorite part of a church service. Anyway, we got in on the last bit of that, then the pastor preached. We really liked his teaching.
Since we left this church in late 2004, the (then) pastor has left & they hired the new guy who we heard today. Larry's met him a few times and I've interacted with him on Facebook, but today was the first time I've actually seen him face to face. I was impressed. He brought a very good sermon. The worship leader came back on stage & led the congregation in a couple more songs before the service ended. Poof. That quick, it was over. It was odd to be in a service that ended at 11:45. We're used to being in the church building til somewhere around 12:30 at least. It's a nice change.
After speaking to a couple more people on the way out (we were swarmed by people eager to welcome us back), we were the last ones to pick up our younger kids from the childrens' church room. Oops. Thankfully the people working in there knew us & understood what was going on, so no one was upset. (Whew!)
On the way home, we asked the kids for their opinions on the church. Of course, we were only there for 1 service, so it's hard to get any sort of impression of the church based on that....but everyone was happy. Well, almost. Samuel is not happy that we're looking for a new church. He doesn't get that we can't go back to the 'old church'. He wants to just keep things the same. He's not a big fan of change. None of us are, but we're learning as we go. He would've said that Disneyland was "no fun" this morning, so when he told me that he didn't like this church today, I wasn't really surprised. We're going back on Wednesday night. It will take a while for all of us to get used to doing something new. Nothing is set in stone yet as far as where we'll go to church long-term, but today was a good first start.
We came home & had a YUMMY lunch of ham & cheese sandwiches & devilled eggs with lemon fluff for dessert. I had a HORRIBLE headache so after we ate, we had some quiet time & I zonked out. (poor Larry spent 2 hours at Walmart having our TWO rear tires fixed while the rest of us rested.....yes, by the time we got home the OTHER tire was also flat...we picked up a nail going to/from church today in the tire that was fine this morning!) When I got up, Larry got home. We hid eggs (in the living room because it was raining outside) & let the kids hunt them and then followed that up with a Bible lesson with the Resurrection eggs. For supper we had a roast with potatoes & carrots and rolls and then made our Resurrection rolls for dessert. They included yet another Bible lesson. I love applying truth to everyday things...and the Resurrection rolls are YUMMY!
All in all, it was a GREAT day! Here are the pictures!
First...these are the eggs the kids dyed yesterday.
Overnight, they magically turned into devilled eggs. YUM! I swear, I could eat this whole plate!
This morning, the kids woke up to these baskets:
Yes, I realize they all look a lot alike. They all know that there is no Easter bunny. We never pretended that he was real from the time they were tiny babies on. They know what Easter is REALLY about but this is just a fun thing we do. They told us last year that they liked getting a new magazine, so we decided to stick with easy baskets this year!
Getting ready for church:
Savannah took this one of Larry & I. Boy...it's not flattering. Of course, if you're shorter than the subjects you're taking a pic of, it just can't turn out good, can it?
These are the Resurrection Eggs that we use at Easter to remind the kids of the real meaning of the day. Each egg contains one item that represents something related to Jesus's death & resurrection. There is a little book that goes with the eggs. You read each section to describe what's in the egg & there is Scripture to go along with each one. We love them!
These are the Resurrection Rolls (prior to baking). You take a big marshmallow (Jesus's body) & roll it in melted butter (the oils used to anoint His body) and cinnamon/sugar (the spices used to preserve his body) and then roll them inside a crescent roll (the cloths used to wrap his body). Then you cook them in the oven (the tomb). When they're done, the marshmallow (Jesus) is gone, but you can still smell & taste it (Him). It's a fun & tasty way to teach kids about Jesus's burial & resurrection.
I hope your family enjoyed Easter & that you were able to remember the real reason for the holiday --- not the bunnies & candy & baby chicks, but the bodily resurrection of Jesus that our faith is built on! God bless!
2 comments:
This was an enlightening post. I know lots of people, including myself, who know the real meaning of Easter. Most of them still tell their kids about the Easter bunny, though. I loved the magazines, too. That's very cute.
The picture of Dad and son was adorable. I loved his little suit. ;o) I also don't see anything un-flattering about the pic Savannah took of you two. You look gorgeous!
Have a good week.
I'm glad y'all had a great day! We didn't get much sleep because Baby Bear was up and our plans to try a new church didnt happen :(
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