One of the happiest Sundays of the year is just a couple of days away… Happy Easter you guys! How do you celebrate? Our traditions are kind of a mash up of my Catholic heritage and Handsome’s straight line Bible upbringing. From my childhood, I remember a version of Seder meals, palm fronds burned into ashes for crossing ourselves at Lent’s onset, purple satin, and the weekly, suspenseful countdown culminating in a jubilant Easter Sunday service. I remember lots of white flowers always and a huge, towering wooden cross.

   Handsome’s heritage is based on passionate preaching. Beautiful, strict adherence to the gospel and sincere wonderment at the prophecies that led up to Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection. They have used the same tall cross wrapped in white satin for years. They also fill the church with white flowers which are always sent home for in-laws, friends, and far flung loved ones.

   Did you notice the satin and flowers? Our lives before marriage are filled with uncanny connections like this. And for the handful of dogma differences between the faiths, both of our incredible families in their own ways lay out delicious feasts and shower the kids in candy, egg hunts, frills, and love.

   In our marriage, then, we have learned to do a lot of blending, and Easter-time is when these hybrid practices are most evident. I like to roll out the Jewish remembrances and Old Testament stuff, which he tolerates with a smile. And he really, really, really loves his chocolate Easter bunnies. Like, so much you guys.

   Anyway, this Easter without the kiddos we are not dyeing eggs or filling baskets with fluffy pretty things. I think we’ll light a big bonfire here at the farm and cross our fingers that some of the chicken eggs hatch. Some of them are due, after all, and we do tend to get baby chicks ever year on Easter Sunday! One of our roosters named Peep was hatched two Easters ago. I am certain he has sired many chicks by now.

   Sunday we will be at church and then with both of our big beautiful families, taking pictures of nieces and nephews, filling up on ham and sugar and love. In the mean time I am so happy to dig through old photos and memories and share a few glimpses of Easter Past…

One of our personal traditions has been to cover the front door frame in paper then paint it red, to symbolize the sacrificial blood required for the Passover. Of course this is to facilitate the message about Jesus being the ultimate sacrifice. Here is one of many front door paintings over the years, this time in 2006.  xoxo

Look at those sparkling dark brown eyes! And I just love “good morning” hair on my girls… Makes me want to snuggle them and inhale their sunshine perfume! Easter morning is when solemnity ends for us. The waiting is over because the stone is rolled away! We are all candy and color and fun, pomp and circumstance! (Egad! Looks like I was hoping for a resurrection for that poinsettia!)

 
   If springtime is when the earth reawakens, then Easter is when my spirit does. No doubt about it, witnessing so much spontaneous life all around us grows more amazing every year. If seeds can sprout just by sitting on top of damp soil, untended and unwept, then surely Love can spark in even the dimmest relationships. Surely healing can be delivered to withering bodies. Love is what makes this happen, and it is the most powerful force of all. When something is promised to you, however unlikely it seems, trust it. When you have heard that whisper that everything is gonna be alright, then stop railing against the circumstances and just be ready for it.

Happy girl in white lace gloves at Grandma and Grandpa’s house for a big cousins egg hunt! 2006 She has downright infectious laughter and can squeeze the air out you with one of her famous hugs!

They wore their dresses and bonnets all day long!

Our first Easter at the farm, 2008. Our house looked so different before the fire that happened a few months later! This pretty girl is my baby offering a very solemn Bible reading before our traditional sader meal of grape juice and unleavened bread. We usually do this on Good Friday.

Another door painting for Passover. Look how much the girls grew! Over the years they memorized our unique traditions. If I almost forgot the foot washing, they let me know! Admittedly that part is pretty nice.

In 2008 we were blessed with a set of adorable pygmy goat twins just in time for Easter. We packed them up  in a basket full of baby blankets and took them to church! (I resisted the intense urge to dress them in Easter frocks… sufficed with lacy blankets instead.) There was much baa-ing and giggling during service, and all the kids wanted to hold them. This is one of the hidden benefits of attending a small church. You can bring your goats if you feel like it.

My beautiful first born. The artist, the feeler, the animal tender. She watched over those goats all of that very long, happy Sunday and let Spice (this gray little girl) nap on her whenever she needed it. I love you baby. xoxoxo You amaze me in so many ways.

Here is my gorgeous little sister Ang with her baby and my little buddy Kenz. The baby goats were a handful, but they did not lack for attention that Easter!