Christ Is Risen!

Snapshots of my Easter celebration:

The Sunrise Service is always stressful for me. I never know if our teens are going to get there on time (6:30) to run through things before the service begins at 7:00. Today they did a fantastic job. They spoke slowly and clearly. They had some great ideas for the service, and it went really well. I was very proud of them.

During the Sunrise Service I was standing in the back running the sound system. A 3 year old boy was sitting right in front of me, and he was turned around watching me. He couldn't figure out why I was in the back. When his mom told him they were coming to church, he said, "Good. I get to sit up front next to Reverend Mom and talk to her." He always sits right beside me for the children's sermon. I told his mom he needs to learn it's the front he's watching, not me....

I had a conversation with a young man who has a very difficult year-- his wife left him for another man. He was devastated. Here is where he's at with the whole thing now: "I look at it this way, I had 25 good and happy years, and then one bad year. I can't complain."

I was surprised to find that Easter had triggered some of my grief. I was expecting Thanksgiving and Christmas to be hard, but not Easter, so I was surprised to find it harder than either of those. Between services I looked over at a man who was standing there looking troubled. He lost a parent this year, too. We talked about our grief and found comfort in the knowledge we weren't alone.

This congregation can sing, and they sounded magnificent this morning-- we had a big crowd for the main service. I got to see lots of young adults who were home to celebrate. It was wonderful to hear about their school and work away from Tiny Village.

Throughout Lent, we have been talking about foundations. Today we began to talk about transformation. During the children's sermon, the cross we flowered at the Sunrise Service was lifted up on the foundation we built. One of the women told me after the service that that was so powerful it moved her to tears.

I love being a pastor. Today was a day that reminded me of how much I love it.

Daughter is sitting beside me with her head on my shoulder as we spend the afternoon watching DVD's. We began with Three Mo' Tenors and are now watching The Sound of Music. She finally managed to turn it around yesterday, and actually took care of some laundry and the upstairs bathroom.