Family... tied together by EASTER!

Gratitude Journal 4-24-11
1. Easter egg hunts
2. Beth's Easter meal! (delicious as usual)
3. Photos that remind me of precious moments...
4. Feeling welcomed
5. The gift of good rest!

'And they found the stone rolled away...

For the first time in ages my mother-in-law attended church with us today. She is almost 93 years old and now lives in an Assisted Living facility 30 minutes away. But today, we sat side by side. She allowed me to hold her hand through most of the 'preaching' - she could not hear and looked out the window in long distant gazes.

I wondered where she was. Visiting church services long ago? Reviewing previous Easter's with family and friends?

Secondly I noticed I was sitting between grandma on one side and my grand-daughter on the other. A chronological distance of over ninety years in the making. Harper was at ease, listening to the music and the different voices. She was attuned to the movements. She was more at peace than we had anticipated. It was almost as if there was an echo between her 'presence' and grandma's 'presence'.

Easter ties family all together for me!

My family was not all under one physical roof today - two more grands, son/daughter-in-law, sister/brother-in-law and family, aunts/uncles/cousins. Like millions of others we struggle with relatives far away and we long for greater time together. Visits always are too shot and too infrequent!

It reminds me of the message of the 'stone being rolled away'.

I may not have been physically present with many of those I love but I am thankful for the larger roof that covers us all... both near and far. It is Christ's LOVE! God's mercy and grace and the very gift of life itself is mystery. I don't know how the stone got moved away on that Easter morning - maybe God's hand itself OR the angels OR... who knows? I don't know why our family is 'our family' either! Why were we born at this particular time? Why are we related? Why have we been so blessed?

It is all mystery. It is not for us/me to know the answers now. Yet, in some strange way it is all about EASTER - all part of the EASTER message - ultimately all about the LOVE OF GOD!

Hallelujah!

SHALOM
J