The Older Brother and His Bride

April had a little birthday get to gether at the Scharpf home.  I was working at that time but Ken took this photo of Kevin and Bonita.  Don't they look so sweet.  I am hearing rumros that Kevin is hired as one of the census takers that will come knocking on your door if you have not mailed in your census.   Hope he does not run into any angry taxpayers because taxes are going sky high......or the angry non tax payers because they are not being given more as was promised.  Pray Kevin only meets happy loving American citizens who appreciate that he knocked on their door.

C3Church & Very Special Servants in Ministry

Sommer and Dan running the children's church on Easter Sunday morning.  Their church is growing in the midst of  hardness in Asheville.  As fun and beautiful as Asheville is to visit, spiritually it is tough.  Joel calls it Bohemianville.  I call it a mission field.  Why do weirdo religions gather in beautiful mountain areas? 
If I needed to move east, I would choose Greenville, SC over Asheville just for the spiritual air I think.  Pray for Dan and Sommer.   By the way, Sommer is so excited because she gets her braces off in a couple of weeks.  http://www.c3asheville.com/

A Walk Through Our Yard Looking For New Life

I grabbed our little Fuji camera and took a stroll through our yard for signs of life -- checking to see what might be peeking up through the soil.    Yes, there were all though the grass, wild violets hidding along with last years pecans which the squirrels were storing away.   all kinds of 'unwanted' items in our grass -- clover, dandelines, wild strawberry plants and much much more. There were signs of Coneflowers -- not a lot, but a few.

And Mexican Petunias were coming up in the wrong place. They travel underground and peep up in the unexpected places.  There were corabells, redbuds, Japanese Maples displaying all their glory.
Last year we had a grove of banana trees.  In the fall, Ken gave several away.  The largest one which was stored in the garage for the winter did not make it.  However, we still have two very hearty musa banana trees by being kept inside the house.  Those two are now very happy to be outside once again.  COME ON SPRING .... COME ON NEW LIFE .....  RESURRECT, RESTORE AND RENEW!
Glory, Hallelujah, see the photo of the dead bananna tree?  I discovered a little shoot coming out from the root.  There is still life in it -- up from the grave it arose!

Times Have Changed -- The Meaning of Easter Has NOT

I love Easter.  A symbol of  promise, of life and a proof of love.   I love Easter for the God's Great Love reality; but I also love it because it is a time when cold and darkness break forth into light and beauty.    Back in the days when I had a new spring Easter outfit was nice -- but that was long ago.  I loved the waving of palms on Palm Sunday and the Empty Cross on display on Resurrection morning.  I loved the Easter songs, the Easter drama's and the giving and sharing among friends.
Today I live in a community where I don't see Easter bonnets and I attend a church where songs such as "Up From the Grave He Arose" are old fashion while the leadership come dressed in blue jeans and casual shirts.   By trying hard to not be traditional, how well we establish new traditions.

Then there is the issue of Easter baskets.  I did Easter baskets for my kids until they were far 'past grown'  -- the age where I was filling the basket with money or under panties or swimming suits instead of candy.  The Pops insisted "this is the last year" for  years.    Then there were the grandchildren baskets until that last year when grandkids were so big they fought over who saw the egg first-resulting in tears in place of Easter joy.     So now we celebrate happy resurrection day without chocolate bunnies.  And I leave the dying of eggs and baskets to my grown up children. 

However, I'm getting my 'payback' with things I appreciate big time.  April, Elijah, Lily and Rosie knocked on our door this morning to clean out our front flower bed and plant my flowers for me.  I love flowers but it is getting where I do not enjoy the bending/digging part of the work.   So my Easter gift was manual labor.  The girls gathered up the fallen sticks from the trees out of the yard while Ken and Elijah cleaned out the blanket of leaves to find hostas already up and hopefully elephant ears on the way.   April did the cleaning and arranging while planting the wax begonias.   All of this adds much joy to my Resurrection Day celebration.  Thank you sweet husband and dear children.

By the time the weekend celebration is done, I will have attended COTM twice, Covenant Church on line streaming and Asbury United Methodist.  With five Easter services, COTM had it's largest attendance of 17,000 people.  Loud, boisterous, booming songs, an excellent 40 minute sermon about conquering death, and invitation for salvations with a offer to spontaneously come forward  for water baptism by being dunked in temporality erected tanks.  Six hundred people responded to the water and over a hundred and forty children in KOTM gave their lives to Christ.   
At Covenant in Carrollton, the music was of the highest order of worship to God.  The pastor on video, greeted us from the empty tomb and then preached in person.  It was so touching.  Finally, at Asbury, we experience the traditions of our childhood Easter:  bell choir, orchestra, robed choir, magestic traditional Easter songs, candles and Easter lilies.     What a weekend.  Have I convinced anyone that Easter is my favorite holiday?