Pages

"I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born." Isaiah 66:9

Sunday, April 4, 2010

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!!!

7 comments:

  1. (((HUGS))) Nice to hear you made it a great weekend and stayed positive and aware of your limits. It all sounded so wonderful!

    Love that your MIL had one calla lilly come up for Cala!

    Thanks for your support today and always :)

    Love to you xxxooo Nan

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh man how I love crawfish boils!!! They are so much fun and amazing food...makes me hungry just thinking about it!!

    I went to the TobyMac/Skillet concert a couple of weeks ago and LOVED it. One of my friends begged me to go with her :) so I decided to try it out. I knew many more songs of his than I thought I would! He puts on an awesome high energy show and my all time favorite part, like you, was Jesus Freak and In the Light! We sang along at the top of our lungs and then listened to old school DC Talk on the 2 hour drive home (concert was in Tallahassee). We even bought matching Toby shirts - she turned me into a Toby fan!!

    Happy birthday!!! Glad to hear you had a fun weekend!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello My Kindred Spirit :)

    So glad that you had a great holiday, as its always good to feel good. I realate to your saying you know your "limits" and I think its good to realize when not to push yourself. Often, I think I cause myself more pain by trying to endure situations that I know will ultimately bring me pain. I'm gonna make a note of "knowing my limits"

    As for Sean's mom and her Cala analogy...trust her, as she has a gift for knowing things :)

    Regarding bulbs, you should have many of your own showing up, as I swear you have turned into a Dutch woman :) Send pic's as they emerge! I have to see the fruit of your labor.

    The crawfish boil soulds amazing and just chalk it up to jealousy! Glad the concert was rejuvenating and soul inspiring, as we all need a dose of that to perk us up :)

    Here's to a good week and take time to be good to yourself.

    Many Hugs and Love to you,
    me
    PS HAPPY Belated Birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm delighted that you had such a wonderful Easter! It definitely sounds as though you had a blast...and deservedly so! My best friend is from LA and is always talking about LA cooking but has yet to let me try it! I'm going to have to have a little chat with her!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am so glad to 'read' the joy in your post! I know you are still missing little O'Brien (at this point, I hate to say it and will keep praying it's different, but I have a feeling someone thought he was precious --how could they not--and didn't make too much of an effort to find you and return him) but so glad you had so many happy things this weekend. It's so nice to have some lift in your heart, isn't it?!

    So, don't know how far away your MIL is, but next year, when that Calla blooms again, you will have to find some way to make sure your little Cala is right beside it and we all get a picture!

    TobyMac/Skillet were just up here a couple of weekends ago, but missed it...glad you had fun and SO glad there's some sunshine in your life!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Im glad that you had a good weekend, and that you got to spend it with family and friends. I hope this week is just as wonderful. Thinking of you:0) Hugs and Love

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sounds like a wonderful time! Happy Easter and Happy Birthday!

    I'm sure you could have guessed -- I LOVE crawfish boils! YUMMY!!

    P.S. So sweet about your MIL and the calla lillies. <3

    ReplyDelete