Wonder

Easter Sunday is a day of wonder and today for me "wonder" was noted in numerous ways.

I've often mentioned that the church we attend is little. Our community is surrounded by big, I mean, mega-churches. They are filled to the brim, overflowing with believers. Our little church is, well, little. The people who attend like little, I guess; otherwise, they wouldn't go there. So this morning when I arrived a couple moments late for the Easter worship celebration, I had a moment of wonder when I learned that all the bulletins were gone and the place was packed. Lots of people brought friends, neighbors, spouses, and family members that do not usually attend. At greeting time, I was able to say hello and hug people that I don't usually see. The candles, flowers, and the purple cloth draped on the cross all added a lovely touch. Our music team did a fabulous job considering that their leader, George, is in the hospital dying of cancer.

The foremost wonder today is the resurrection of Christ, which the New Testament notes was documented by 500 eye witnesses. As a college instructor who believes in research and evidence, that's important. Much of the message of the preacher today was "Search the Scriptures."


On a very personal note, another wonder today was spending time with our daughter and her family. We love our kids very much. We have a son and a daughter. They both live in our community. We really don't see them nearly enough and currently it seems almost like we have no children at all (that's a little dramatic--it's a mom's version). I'm 61, our daughter is 42, her daughter is 22 and her son is 19. I think our daughter's life has probably had some strange emotional twists, turns, and bumps in the road the past several years. At moments she has gone extremely quiet. For this mom the silence has been deafening.

Two years ago right now our daughter had taken in her niece, Desiree, and Desiree's little son, Tristan (our granddaughter and great-grandson). When Desiree moved-out abruptly in July of that year our daughter surely was wounded. So the past two years we've experienced the emotional after-shocks of all of that. I'm certain my daughter has been right to the edge emotionally. She most likely has had to take a step back and contemplate all that has happened and also deal with the reality that her own children are grown. Even though they continue to live at home, they no longer need a mom like they once did . . . those are cold facts that most every mom encounters at some moment.

So this week we sent our kids and grandkids Easter greeting cards with gifts enclosed. Gifts seem as appropriate at Easter as Christmas . . . Easter is a gift, right?! Anyway, our daughter responded to the greeting cards with the desire to spend this day as a family celebrating. We invited them to come to our home for a barbecue, swim, and sit in the spa. Daughter thought that would be nice. Then we woke this morning to rain--the patio and sidewalks were all wet. Hmmmmm! Not good.

So after church I sent a text to our daughter regarding today's meal and some questions. She responded and mentioned her concerns about the weather. I replied with the idea that her dad and I would love to treat all of us for a fun and delicious meal at a restaurant and give them a "rain-check" for barbecuing another day, and that's what we did.

We drove north 15 or so miles to Victoria Gardens to eat in a lovely restaurant and then walked to the cultural center to show them the outside of the library building. That's where Mr. Fun captured this photo. Then we drove home to our house and all enjoyed a pot of coffee and fun moments with our three pooches.

Now as this evening draws to a close, I realize that "wonder" was not only in the photo, but it has permeated our entire day.

Good night from Southern California.
Rosie (& Mr. Fun, and Chloe, Mitzi, and Max), aka Carol

P.S. Another "wonder" was that almost every store at Victory Gardens was closed today; only the restaurants were open. The stores were observing the Easter holiday. That is a "wonder" because it seems that anymore America hardly acknowledges most anything that is connected to Christianity.