Easter and Other Stuff

We had a great weekend with Charlie & Rachel here (Melissa's bro and his wife). After our traditional Saturday morning breakfast of biscuits and berries with scrambled eggs, we took the kids to the Caldwell Zoo and then we all went to Clear Springs in Tyler for lunch.

After that, Charlie and I brought the kids back to Mineola while Melissa and Rachel went shopping (of course). They got home late and I had Vivian in bed and almost had Garrett down when they walked in the door.

Today was an early morning. Melissa had to be at a church in Tyler by 7:30 so she had to be up before 6 to get ready and leave by 6:45. Charlie, Rachel, the Kids, and I all gathered up and went to the 11:00 service at the church where Melissa was playing. The service was a traditional Methodist service, complete with the liturgy. I have come to really appreciate the liturgy when it is presented with purpose and passion (there's that "passion" word). Without the two "P"s, it can become meaningless. The same goes for contemporary worship services. They can be completely hollow and shallow if the elements of worship are executed by rote and without any cognizance of the significance of the moment. Anyway, the sermon was pretty good. The pastor spoke about the first words of Christ after his resurrection. He told the women, "Do not fear." The sermon was about three types of fear:

• Healthy Fear (i.e., the healthy fear of heights that keeps you from jumping off of perilously high objects)
• Unhealty Fear = worry= faithlessness
• Needed Fear (awe and reverence for God)

Jesus was obviously speaking of the second fear, because the scripture (Matt 28) goes on to say that the women went back with fear and joy to tell the others.

We came back home for a traditional non-kosher Easter lunch and then lay down for a nice nap. After nap time, we went to hang out with our peeps, Lee and Ann, along with David, Kathy and Dawson (Garrett's BF and worst enemy all-in-one). It was nice to just sit around and enjoy each other and a good dinner. I can see why the early Church met together so often. I wish we could see each other more.

BTW - if you want to join us (at least in spirit) for Saturday morning breakfast, I recommend Pillsbury freezer biscuit dough. To make the berries, just put some frozen berries in a saucepan over medium-low heat and add some pure maple syrup (not Mrs. Butterworth's) and about a teaspoon of freshly-grated lemon zest. The berries will give up a bunch of juice and you'll have an excellent berry "compote". Spoon that over some open-faced buttered (real butter of course) biscuits. Yum! It's definitely an one-a-week kind of meal at the most.

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!