HAPPY EASTER!!!

This was a great weekend for so many reasons. We had our annual Tri-birthday crawfish boil. One of my dearest friends, Johnny, has a birthday 3 days before mine, so I think 5 years ago, we started the annual crawfish boil party. It was a hit, what's not wonderful about a crawfish boil?? For those of you not from Louisiana, I am so sorry for all that you are missing out on in this great state, crawfish boils being at the top of the list! A few years ago we added a third to our annual celebration, our friend started dating a girl whose birthday is 3 days after mine, so Michelle came into the annual fold.

Last year there was an Easter egg hunt added to the festivities, and last year I watched and participated. This year I decided to pass and hung out by the boiling pots while the kids searched for eggs, I am starting to know my limits, and beginning to allow myself to have limits and not feel bad for it. Overall the party was great fun, saw some good friends that I haven't seen in a while. I really appreciated Monica's true and honest empathy for my loss of O'Brien, and was grateful to have someone truly know how I felt.

My parents came for a while, which is always fun, my dad is a hoot, and everyone was glad to see him feeling well and in good spirits. My mom had a blast playing with the kids, chasing them, catching them on the slide, and lifting them up and down from the playhouse!! She really acts like a little kid with them and they think it's really fun!

Plus my sister was in this weekend. We celebrated Good Friday in rare fashion, as we had the awesome opportunity to go see Toby Mac at the Oil Palace here in Tyler. If you don't know his music, you should. It was so very much fun, and he brought back the old school by singing Jesus Freak and In the Light! Rene' and I sung like little children and made fun of Jake for his baseball sized arm where we believe he got bit by a spider (don't worry he reciprocates the teasing!). The energy in that place and seeing all of the kids so fired up for God was truly a blessing and brought me right back to being that teenager who KNEW what God did/does for me! A blessing to say the least, plus those kids are so stinking cute and hilarious!

Then today I went to church at home, and how I wouldn't have missed that for the world for two reasons, one being that I LOVE seeing my youth there as often as I can, and some of my ones who are off at college were there. The second reason is because our pastor (whom I like to refer to as 'Faith Healer Derek Joyce') had the honor and privledge of baptising his own daughter, MacKenzie this morning. That was beautiful, and I was so grateful to be there for it! My church in Shreveport is so special to me, and I miss being there every week and am grateful every time I get to be there!

Some of the members of the group Chasing Canaan participate in our contemporary service, if you haven't heard their music, you should so check it out. If you go and download their song Free, they are donating 100% (yep, all of it!!) to Haiti relief efforts. Anyhow, the point of that is to say that two of the members, both girls with AMAZING voices sang a song today that Britney wrote, and to say it was beautiful would be an understatment. God is doing and is going to do amazing things through this group!

Then we had family Easter/Birthday lunch at Bistro Byronz (pot roast is out of this world), which was fun. Afterwards, we headed back to my parents to have some strawberry petit fours, I'll say it Halleluja Lent is over, I gave up sweets and I'm thrilled to have them back, though I will say I will continue to limit my intake of them! And birthday presents, those were fun too!

So, good weekend! Another sweet story, my MIL called Friday to tell me that she had planted some Calla Lillies in her yard a few years ago, but they never bloomed and she had totally forgotten about them, but ONE bloomed, just one, and she said that she believes that means Miss Cala is coming soon to be with us! Isn't that beautiful?!?!

So, happy Easter to all, please remember the true meaning of Easter, nothing to do with bunnnies and candy, but ALL to do with the RESURRECTION OF CHRIST!!! AMEN!!!