Easter Memories

Maybe it’s because of where I live, but it always takes me by surprise when Easter falls in March. The weather usually still feels like winter, and sun on Easter is rare; so many of the traditional Easter activities don’t fare well in western Washington. Call us deprived, but I don’t believe I ever participated in an Easter egg hunt as a child – and neither did my own children. We always dyed eggs and had Easter baskets; but besides a few cute decorations, that was the extent of our “traditional” Easter events.

But I have many other memories of Easter that remind me why we celebrate this day at all. Spending half of my childhood in sunny California, I remember many sun-filled Easters with outdoor activities. I remember early morning Sunrise Services at Tucker’s Grove Park before regular church services later in the morning. After we moved to a small town in Washington when I was nine, I remember a couple sunrise services at the new high school stadium . . . but they were cold and windy, and it was hard to really celebrate. When the services got moved indoors in later years, it was even harder to feel the same excitement as I remember in SoCal. I do remember joyful times as a high schooler or college student sharing breakfast with a large group of friends at our associate pastor’s house between the sunrise service and the regular church service.

I remember my Mom making a bunny or cross-shaped cake for dessert on Easter, and I almost always made a cross-shaped cake while my kids were growing up. We always had See’s Candies for Easter, especially chocolate bunnies and eggs. I still get some every year for myself! After I was an adult, a family favorite for many years in my extended family was my Dad’s special breakfast roll, which we shared together along with ham and fresh fruit salad for brunch after attending church services together. Now that Mom and Dad are gone and the extended family has scattered, I miss these traditions and our time spent together. 

I will always remember one Easter when I was 9 years old because it definitely didn’t go as planned. My grandmother had passed and we no longer lived near any other family, and we had been invited by a family in our church to share Easter dinner with them. I don’t recall any children around my age in their family, so my brother and I were outside playing after dinner. I was riding one of their bikes in a circle around the edges of their backyard pool, wearing my beautiful pastel plaid skirt, white frilly blouse, and fancy church shoes. Out of nowhere, their large dog ran out in front of me looking for a playmate. Yep, I swerved suddenly – and the bike and I both took an unexpected Easter swim! My parents were embarrassed and mortified, and so was I. I still remember the adult-sized sweatshirt I wore for the rest of the afternoon while our hosts graciously dried my clothes in their dryer.

By far my most meaningful Easter memories come from our many years of involvement in worship ministry at our church and the many special Easter services we participated in, some of which took place at the high school auditorium in our small town. Preparation for those services began weeks in advance with instrumental and choir practices; and setup usually started the day before Easter and included a dress rehearsal. During this timeframe, we also usually had a Good Friday service that required preparation as well. One year I also sang in a Living Cross community production in a neighboring city! It was truly the best of times, and I’m so grateful for the great memories I have from so many years.

On a couple of occasions, however, we were fortunate enough to have Easter fall on the same weekend as the annual Fiddlers’ Fest (which was always held at the high school on the first weekend of April)! When that happened, we had to do our dress rehearsal on Thursday evening and then tear everything down for their event on Friday and Saturday evenings – only to set everything back up again very late on Saturday night and come early on Easter morning to do another run-through before the service later in the morning. Even now, I’m exhausted just thinking about it!

In our culture, much of Easter’s true meaning has been lost. But I will still be at church on Good Friday and on Easter morning, because without the death and resurrection of Jesus there is nothing to celebrate. And for me there is nothing more important to focus on and to be thankful for. While spring gives us the opportunity to celebrate new life, only the message of Easter allows us to personally experience new life. May you spend this Easter week thanking God for his indescribable gift!

 

A Birthday Message

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been almost two years. Although a lot has happened in that time, it still seems more recent when I last talked to my Mom. Today she would have been 94 years old, but she barely made it to 92 before God called her home.

Mom was the queen of consistency and perseverance, and I learned a lot by watching her live her life. After my Dad’s passing, she lived out the rest of her life (over 13 years) on her own in her own place, and she was able to pass into heaven in her own home after less than 3 weeks of illness. She loved her independence and was content with a simple and uncluttered life. Hers was a disciplined way of living that was both practical and frugal. Mom was a very serious person and a deep thinker.

Raised during the Great Depression and World War II in an ultra-conservative home, everything was black and white for Mom. She struggled sometimes to make sense of the increasingly gray world that evolved during her lifetime. I can only imagine how scary and confusing it was for her generation to be raising children during the turbulent 1960’s and 1970’s in our country.   

But Mom considered raising children to be her most important task in life, and devotion to her family was her top priority – a commitment that also extended to her 5 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren. She was a true stay-at-home Mom by choice, and her love for home and family was instilled in me as well. Mom also was instrumental in the development of my love for both music and baking. I’m very grateful for my childhood and the values that were taught and modeled in my home.

Perhaps what stands out the most to me when I reminisce about my Mom is her tenacious, lifelong pursuit of God and her desire to grow in her relationship with him. Personal hardship sometimes made it difficult for her to trust God fully, but she absolutely never gave up trying. When she couldn’t make sense of God’s ways, she would lean on God’s words in her life verse, 2 Corinthians 12:9: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  In the last few years of her life, Mom would often testify to the sufficiency of God’s grace and his power through her weakness. I was blessed to see her relationship with God grow as she deliberately chose to trust him more fully.

Mom didn’t leave much behind in terms of possessions or money, because that wasn’t her focus in life. But her spiritual and family legacies remain with us and inspire us to walk as she walked and leave the same to the generations that come after us. Her birthday reminds me to cherish my loved ones and to keep pursuing God and trusting him until the end of my own life here on earth.

                                                                                          90th birthday party