"Takin' Time Out"

Definition:  The most important and oldest festival of the Christian Church, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and held (in the Western Church) between March 21 and April 25, on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the northern spring equinox.

 

As I am “Takin Time Out” this week sipping on my orange spice hot tea, I am so excited we are about to celebrate Easter as this happens to be my very favorite holiday. What about you, what is your favorite holiday to celebrate and why?

I like the fact Easter is celebrated during the season of Spring.  A fresh new beginning, trees and flowers budding out…it reminds me just as Christ died (like the dead of winter) on the cross for our sins, he was raised from the dead (Like Spring a New Beginning) and HE lives and reigns.  The Christian Hymn, “Because He Lives” comes to mind as I am typing these words…

(Verse 1)
God sent his son
They called him Jesus
He came to love
Heal and forgive
He lived and died
To buy my pardon
An empty grave
Is there to prove
My Savior lives

(Chorus)
Because he lives
I can face tomorrow
Because he lives
All fear is gone
Because I know
He holds the future
And life is worth the living
Just because he lives

(Verse 2)
How sweet to hold
A newborn baby
And feel the pride
And joy he gives
But greater still
The calm assurance
This child can face
Uncertain days
Just Because he lives

(Verse 3)
And then one day
I’ll cross the river
I’ll fight life’s final war with pain
And then as death
Gives way to victory
I’ll see the lights
Of glory and
I’ll know he lives

Doesn’t something just resonate within you when you read the chorus…”Because he lives, I can face tomorrow, because he lives all fear is gone because I know he holds the future and life is worth the living Just because He LIVES!”  This brings back precious memories when attending a small church and on Sunday night the choir director would let you call out the number to your favorite hymn.  I loved when I got brave enough and would shout this out and we would sing it all in unison.  When I am fearful or things are troubling me I pull the hymnal off the shelf and read these words humming the tune and he fills my soul with peace, and tranquil thoughts sooth my soul as I say a little prayer…thank you Lord for sending your son, life is soooo good!

 

Easter was such a special time while growing up. We lived in a very small town with limited access to clothing stores, some years my mother would make my sister and me each a beautiful dress.  She was a wonderful seamstress.  There were other years I recall we would get to go on special shopping trips.  My grandma Nellie, mom, sister and I would pile in the car and either drive 50 miles north to Lamar or sometimes if the weather was decent and time permitted we head south to Amarillo which was a real treat as there were many more stores to choose from.  Looking back that was just a way of life for us, we would get up really really early drive 3 hours shop all day and get back in the car and drive 3 hours home.  Thank you Mom for all those road trips now that I am older I realize how AMAZING you are.      

 

Easter Sunday outfits always contained a frilly dress, ruffled ankle socks, new white patent leather shoes, white gloves, a cute little purse and a hat or bonnet.  Can you just picture this???  How about you do you recall your special Easter outfit?  When I had my own children I would try to find clothing that matched.  They were various ages but we all blended in our Sunday best and then I would buy them a second outfit to change into after church to hunt their eggs and be able to play in the rest of the day.

 

My mom was also a list maker she always kept it on the kitchen counter by the telephone.  Listed were all the things she needed to get done before the special event.  One year I wanted to help my mom and so I peeked at her list and on it were the words…”Trim Tonya’s bangs”.  I had long blonde hair but I always had bangs, my mom would take scotch tape and tape it to my bangs and trim a straight line with her sharp sewing scissors then peel the tape away.  It looked pretty simple, so I grabbed the dull scissors from the kitchen drawer, scotch tape and headed to the bathroom.  I crawled up on the counter with my feet in the sink and positioned myself in front of the mirror.  I took a long piece of scotch tape and pasted it on top of my bangs and began to cut with those very dull scissors.  Now the part I forgot was I cut on the top of the line and my mom always trimmed on the bottom.  I peeled the tape away and Walla I had trimmed my bangs, I crawled down off the cabinet and go running into the kitchen eager to show my Mom how helpful I could be and she took one look at me and began to cry.  Needless to say I didn’t have any bangs left I had cut so close to the hairline there were just little sprigs of cat fur hair jig jagged across my forehead.  Needless to say the bonnet I was to wear on the crown of my head quickly slid forward to cover my forehead.  We all survived and no my parents didn’t offer to pay for me to go to beauty school; they left that up to my dear cousin. LOL!

 

I am not sure when this tradition took hold but after attending church on Sunday, we always have a scavenger hunt on Easter, each child including the adult children is given a different color plastic egg and there are clues inside, they have to follow the clues and find their colored eggs and there is a prize at the end.  When the kids were smaller it was so much fun to watch them, now that they are older with spouses and children of their own…I find it very challenging to keep the clues and eggs placed in the proper hiding spot we have had to make half and half colored eggs along with solid colored eggs since the family has grown and I have had to make up a cheat sheet to keep track.  Hopefully they love makin memories and I have fun in doing it until one of them cheats or finds someone else’s egg and hides it in a different spot…we all have a good laugh!  This year I am a bit concerned as the weather has been much colder and I haven’t planted my flowers for Spring yet, so there are not bright colors for the eggs to blend into maybe I will buy real brown eggs and number them and just hide them in the dirt and bushes for a change…see how the kids like that?  We love filling those plastic eggs with candy and money; there is nothing better than tasting those yellow marshmallow peeps, and chocolate bunnies.  The colored eggs have become very bright and artistic compared to the simple colored dyes we used to have when I was a child, I can still smell the vinegar in all of our coffee mugs.  It’s all about tradition and makin memories.

 

Our Easter dinner always consist of the same menu year after year.  We have the traditional Honey Baked Ham, baked beans, deviled eggs, scallop potatoes, mandarin orange salad, pea salad, smothered peas and hot homemade rolls.  Yum, is your mouth watering yet?  I serve it on my Grandmother’s desert rose china as we only eat on these dishes once a year.  If I forget my kids always ask where are those pink flowered dishes, mom?  I laugh and change out the table settings.  Memories precious memories flood my mind of many a meals my Grandmother served on those special plates.

 

This week I had goose bumps, we were able to witness on this first night of Passover the total eclipse and afterwards the blood-red moon.  I noticed on Facebook, the famous Pastor Rick Warren posted a picture he took and his caption he put this verse, One day “The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.”  Acts 2:20.  WOW…how chilling!  We do not know the hour or time he will return but scripture tells us he will…Are you ready?  Have you made that commitment and been born again?  If not I encourage you during your “Takin Time Out”, study the word…do some soul searching, ask a Christian or pastor for guidance and help answer your questions and when you are ready, ask Jesus into your heart.  Your life will be forever changed.

 

This is the true meaning of Easter…God sent his son into this world as an infant child born through the virgin Mary on Christmas but the ultimate sacrifice he made was for YOU and ME by giving his life and dying on that cross, then buried in a tomb and on the 3^rd day he arose and he is ALIVE and well and we are waiting for his return…The Death, Burial, and Resurrection!  Happy Easter my friends…may your hearts be filled with gratitude, grace and joy…until next time…

Remember Ten Little Fingers

Ten Tiny Toes

On Christmas he came

On Easter he rose.