Leftovers

I'm not sure I remember the remnants of Easter staying with me as much as this year. The tangible evidence of Easter still lingers at our house, and that part is not that unusual. Blue and yellow eggs still sit in a basket (I have a toddler who considers them a new toy). Marshmallow bunnies (ok, ONE bunny) and pastel M&Ms have yet to be eaten (thank goodness).

It's more about what is going on the inside. Perhaps it's the post others are making concerning after-Easter reflections. Or maybe it's just me catching up on the reading! Reading what others have written can create a domino effect in the soul---if our soul is open and willing to be "knocked over."

I've found it's not a bad thing to be knocked over. Sure, you could see the humility side of being "dominoed," but what about the element of being knocked over in awe?

For example, I was caught up by the thoughts in Beth's post on the LPM blog. Spot on to the character of God. And yet, it will surprise you.

My typical MO is to switch over to the next thing. At this point of the year, I'm all about passing out the Coppertone and probably over-willing to take in the smell of chlorine. But I hope that your heart and mine can slow down enough to take in all that we encountered last weekend. The leftovers.

What leftovers is your heart enjoying?

love,

New Easter Tradition for the Fam

...and all you need is a flashlight for each person!

In this case, we used 1 flashlight and 2 headlamps (which can also prove to be fun). I'm sure Josh was wondering what I was doing when I asked him to find 3 flashlights. I told my son we had a "new Easter game." Need I say he excitedly followed? The three of us went into our master bedroom and turned off all of the lights. We told lil H, "Before Easter, it was very dark. But then when Easter came, the lights came because Jesus is Alive!" All three of us flashed our lights all around the once-dark room, excitedly repeating, "Jesus is Alive!" I just love this toddler stage of repetition when they repeat something like this!

When the kiddos get older, we will move this tradition to midnight on Easter-eve. For now, finding a dark room and turning out the lights works just as well. :) Besides, I'm not even up at midnight these days!

Happy tradition-keeping and making to you!

Liz&Me

I felt honored to be pictured with this one. Her nickname is "Lizzie," but that's what she says the Lord calls her when he speaks to her-- in such a close way that I could never call her that name myself. But I just fell in love and laughed my head off with Liz Curtis Higgs--the keynote at the Mt. Hermon Writer's Conference last week.

I had her sign this children's Easter book, The Parable of the Lily. I asked her to fill in the blank: This book belongs to "Paisley." My daughter's first book, and I know she'll be blessed by it.

A Liz children's book featuring blonde pigtails...how could I pass it up?

Seems a little weird to me......

...to be spending part of Holy Week in Las Vegas! As soon as we left the writing conference, Josh had a client/work meeting in Nevada. The quiet, majestic trees I had just left in the Redwood Mountains seemed to create a more complementary setting to where our hearts desired to be for the week. However, two things have changed my mind a little this morning. One, is the article here posted by JA. The noise and clamor are absolutely appropriate to the confusion of this week. Holy Week is about remembering the darkness and the suffering, so we all the more appreciate what happened on the third day.

Secondly, I've learned the value of seeking. You see what you seek (or what you want to see). Sometimes this is with the senses of faith, but sometimes it's with actually eyes. In my case, it was ears. I could hear the birds chirping high above these albeit beautiful buildings, attempting to reach sky status.

With this in mind, the sparkly scenery looked brighter, and the weird ways of the world were put in their place.