a pictorial journal
ON THE BRIGHT SIDE
APRIL 4TH, 2010
It's SUNDAY!
Today is Easter Sunday, commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus, the most joyous festival of the Christian year. Because it means whosoever can live forever.
I’ll be off to church as usual this morning. It will be mostly sunny here but a little cooler that the past few days.
Some of my family will be there too and we’ll be singing praises and saying Alleluia the Lord is risen. As we had our family celebration yesterday, the rest of the day will be a much quieter day for me.
May the JOY of Easter Day be with you today and always!
HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!
THINKING
Easter was never intended to be just one day. For most families God gets an hour on Sunday, and we get the rest of the day to hunt eggs and feast on sweets.
Today: Pray that you always know the value of forgiveness
NEW IN THE KITCHEN
Easter foods are primarily those of Easter Sunday, the day on which Jesus rose from the dead, a day of special rejoicing for Christians, who rejoice too at reaching the end of the long Lenten fast.
As Christianity spread, the egg was adopted as a symbol of Christ's Resurrection from the tomb. For centuries, eggs were among the foods forbidden by the church during Lent, so it was a special treat to have them again at Easter. In Slavic countries, baskets of food including eggs are traditionally taken to church to be blessed on Holy Saturday or before the Easter midnight Mass, then taken home for a part of Easter breakfast.
The Russians, during the reign of the tsars, celebrated Easter much more elaborately than Christmas, with Easter breads and other special foods and quantities of decorated eggs given as gifts. The Russian royal family carried the custom to great lengths, giving exquisitely detailed jeweled eggs made by goldsmith Carl Faberge from the 1880's until 1917.
The eggshell tree is one of several Easter Traditions carried to America by German settlers especially those who became known as Pennsylvania Dutch. They also brought the fable that the Easter bunny delivered colored eggs for good children. Easter is an especially happy time for children and many Easter customs are for their enjoyment.
PRAYERS
Great Comforter, bring the spirit of Easter joy and love into my life. When the hour is dark, give me the gift of faith and help me find a way to move forward and be a presence of hope. Help me to know that your resurrection brings peace to me in every hour of my life.
Amen
Please pray for God's protection of
our troops and HIS wisdom for their
commanders.
Lord, hold our troops in
your loving hands.
Protect them as they protect us.
Bless them and their families for the
selfless acts they perform for us
in our time of need. I ask this in the
name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
AND bless our Police Officers, Firefighters
and Paramedics and EMT's
AMEN
AROUND HOME
The week ahead is my final work week. Not that I won’t be doing any work at all after that, but as far as being a working woman away from the home those days will soon be over. I’m so excited and looking forward to my new life.
I can be thankful that I did have a job for all those years, but I won’t be sad to say goodbye to the office and long hours that took me away from home and from family. Hopefully I will have many wonderful days ahead.
FAMILY
More things to do to celebrate Easter. Celebrating Easter is all about family, faith and, usually, food It is a blessed time for the faithful to celebrate the life, death and resurrection of the Savior... and a magical time for children to enjoy chocolate bunnies, marshmallow chicks and jellybean-filled Easter Eggs
Stuff hollow plastic eggs with one chocolate heart, because Jesus came to give us a new heart toward God. Then hand them out to friends, neighbors, or people you meet during the day.
You might include a note inside with the passage from John 14:1
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. – Jesus
Maybe this year it would be great to honor nature's yearly rebirth by spending some quality time with it. Go on a birding trek or a tree-identification hike and take along some trash bags so that you can pick up litter along the way.
I’m sure I find more things to share as we rejoice and celebrate the season of Easter.
COUNTING THE DAYS
Often called the white-robed apostles of hope, lilies were found growing in the Garden of Gethsemane after Christ's agony. Tradition has it that the beautiful white lilies sprung up where drops of Christ's sweat fell to the ground in his final hours of sorrow and deep distress. Churches continue this tradition at Easter time by banking their alters and surrounding their crosses with masses of Easter Lilies, to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and hope of life everlasting.
78 DAYS UNTIL SUMMER !
12 DAYS UNTIL CAMPING SEASON BEGINS
5 WORKING DAYS UNTIL MA RETIRES
Keep looking ON THE BRIGHT SIDE of things.
A little smile, a word of cheer,
A bit of love from someone near…
Love,
ma
Pictures mostly taken by ‘ma’ and courtesy of the camera provided by my ‘babes’
1 comment:
Hope you have enjoyed this Easter Day! Sound like you and your family had a wonderful time! It's been a quiet day for my husband and me after a wonderful Easter service at church. We, too, had Easter lilies placed around the front of the church in memory and in honor of loved ones.
Your last week of work! Yay! As a retiree, I know how that feels! Hope it goes fast for you!
Post a Comment