Julia was cranky to the max on Holy Thursday, so we sadly missed out on that mass, but my mom watched Julia on Good Friday so Aaron and I could join my dad and Sarah for the service that evening. The reading of the passion never fails to move me, especially as I have to shout out, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" and realize anew that, through my sin, I really am a part of that crowd. That reminds me of one of the verses from one of my favorite songs, How Deep the Father's Love for Us.
Behold the Man upon a cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that left Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished
Hopefully next year, Julia will be better able to join us for the long Good Friday service, because I think she'd enjoy the veneration of the cross. She always loves giving a goodnight kiss to the Jesus on my Guatemalan crucifix hanging in her bathroom after she brushes her teeth before bed.
For the first time since seventh grade, I didn't make it to the Easter Vigil. It felt strange not going, but Julia simply couldn't have handled it. Easter morning, Julia was all dressed up and ready to go, but she got mad that we didn't let her watch the Sesame Street music video she was clammering for... so she expressed her displeasure by ramming her head into the back of the couch, splitting her upper lip and getting blood on her Easter dress. Luckily, I'd had the good sense to get some Easter photos of her the day before, so the staining of her dress wasn't too sad. And, fortunately, too, Julia was okay and the bleeding and crying stopped quickly. I promise you, I cared much, much more about Julia than her dress when it happened, even if I just typed about them in an order that makes me look like a horrible mother. Below are some of those pictures... compare them to last year's Easter photo shoot if you want your mind to be blown by how big Julia has gotten!
 |
| The unblemished dress on Holy Saturday. |
 |
| So busy throwing eggs. |
 |
| We love to laugh! |
 |
| Beautiful girl. |
 |
| So happy together! |
 |
| It's amazing how old Julia is looking these days, isn't it?!? |
 |
| My favorite. |
Easter morning mass was beautiful, and Julia was very well behaved, even after having such a rough start to the morning. It is such a gift to be able to worship God together! Christ is risen, Alleluia! I've been listening to Matt Maher's album, Alive Again, a lot in the car lately, especially with the commuting I'm doing this month, so the song, Christ is Risen, has become my Easter anthem this year. Take a listen if you haven't heard it (or even if you have). It expresses the Easter joy in my heart better than I can right now, I think.
We spent some quality skype time with Aaron's family, and then spent some quality time with my family at Meghan and Erik's house that afternoon. Julia enjoyed playing with plastic eggs, and we all enjoyed a wonderful dinner.
Aaron and I never got around to giving Julia her Easter basket until later in the Easter octave... Friday, to be specific. She got a couple "Melmo" (her word for Elmo) books and a pair of bunny ears from the Target $1 bin, some coloring books, some fat crayons, a set of 4 different pastel colors of Play-Dough, and six plastic eggs "filled" with one chocolate chip each (her beloved "coco"). She really seemed to enjoy her basket, especially the coco! ;-) Of course, her grandmothers both spoiled her with Easter gifts as well! I got some cute photos of Julia discovering her Easter goodies but my SD card is not in rural Oklahoma with me, so I'll try to update the post soon with those.
We took Julia to an Easter egg hunt at a local park on the Saturday before Easter. We were about 3-5 minutes late arriving, and, I kid you not, it was already over. Children in search of candy are vultures. It's probably good we missed it, because Julia likely would have gotten trampled in the stampede. She still had fun, though, wandering around the park and waving hi to the other children (or "babies," according to her), who just ignored her and continued rifling through their bags of newly acquired sugary treasure.
 |
| Staring at all the babies. |
 |
| Another favorite. |
 |
| Loving being outside! |
 |
| She didn't find any eggs or candy, but did find a heavy stick to tote around. |
I pray you are having a blessed Easter season, celebrating the resurrection!
- Regina cæli, lætare, alleluia:
- Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia,
- Resurrexit, sicut dixit, alleluia,
- Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..." - 1 Peter 1:3
Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
No comments:
Post a Comment