April 23 – “Resurrection Day”

Long day ahead.  Resurrection Day Sunrise service on the beach this morning and regular communion service at 10.  Christ is risen.  He is risen indeed.   We had our Easter family lunch yesterday.  Josh and Christi couldn't be here, but everybody else made it.  Grand occasion.  Brisket, potato salad, beans, corn, all by Nana.  Chocolate pie by Aunt Christina.  We almost missed the chocolate pie.  She forgot to mention that it was in the fridge.    The big event of the day, if you don't count getting to eat that brisket and chocolate pie, was the annual dyeing of the Easter eggs.  It has been a family tradition for a lot of years now.  And whoever happens to be around the Saturday before Easter is always welcome to join us.  And one of the unusual things Chris does every year is saving one of the dyed eggs.  Not in the refrigerator.  She has a basket or two of Easter eggs from years past over on the counter.  As long as they don't get broken, the insides slowly rot away, leaving what appears to be one of those china collectable eggs.  A lot of her old ones even made it through Hurricane Ike, although the dye job is no longer discernable to the naked eye.  I'm sure Chris knows what each one says, though.  And what happens if one of them breaks?  We found that out when we lived in Denver.    Chris and I were in the front yard when the boys came dashing out the door as fast as they could run, screaming and gagging.  It seems they had been playing a rousing game of indoor soccer, and one of the goals ended up right in the middle of the bowl of old eggs.  One after another they started popping – no, exploding is a better word for it.  The rotten egg stuff ended up all over the walls and floor and other eggs.  Needless to say, Chris made the boys clean it all up.  I stayed outside.  There is nothing that smells quite as nasty as rotten eggs.    After the dyeing we headed out to the front yard.  To everyone's surprise, the Easter Bunny had been delivered to our house on a fire engine, and he had hidden eggs all over the yard.  The kids had a great time looking for the treasures, and we only found 2 after everybody left.  Hope that's all.   A rousing game of wiffle ball spearheaded by Jachin continued throughout the afternoon.  Aunt April proved to be quite impressive with the bat.  Kel later sort of challenged Seaside to an afternoon of softball with Faith Bible Church some time.  That would be fun.  When everyone finally departed for home and naps, we noticed that it was very quiet.  The calm before the Resurrection Day storm.   John 11:25-26 says, "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'"   Father … yes.  Amen.