This spring has been weird….toilet paper shortages, closing of non-essential businesses that are essential. Pastors preaching to empty pews. Nursing homes closed to visitors.
This Easter will be different. One we never forget. Ten years ago, my family celebrated a different Easter too.
We didn’t attend a church service that year. We didn’t search for new Easter ensembles to wear. We didn’t sing “He Lives” with our church family. We didn’t hard boil any eggs. But it was perhaps as my sister calls it the “sweetest” Easter ever.
It was the last Easter we spent with our Mom. At the time, I just wanted God to take my mom. She had been in pain too long…The Cancer had ravaged her body. I asked God to please take her home on Easter. He didn’t.
I didn’t realize at the time but He had given us a wonderful gift.
That day, Mom had her best day since we’d flown home from college. She took each of us aside to tell us how much she loved us and to always put God first….it was a difficult day but looking back it was a great day! She passed away 6 days later…
In the midst of our pain, there was joy….
So many people are hurting right now…But in the midst of it all, it doesn’t take too long to find joy. Joy looks like stuffed animals hanging in windows for bear hunts. It’s disguised as folks hunched over sewing machines making masks. It’s found in communities banding together “separately” Or honking vehicles thanking medical staff. It’s my favorite post office clerk greeting me by name. It’s a colored picture in my mailbox from a neighbor kid. It’s the little things I take for granted each day.
When we finally go back to “normal,” I hope I never take for granted the joy of sitting in a church service, a handshake, or a hug from one of our great kids at church. I hope I don’t take for granted the opportunity to work out in a CrossFit class, or a quick eBay thrift store run, or an activity at a nursing home. I hope I don’t take the little things for granted either…I hope I’m a more grateful person!
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