April 6th, 2016
We went to church on Easter Sunday to celebrate with faces that are slowly becoming familiar to us. Though we only know a handful of names, its a welcoming place and we are grateful to have found an English-speaking church. We have attended five times now and are planning on settling in and trying to get involved. To those of you who have prayed for us to find a church, thank you!
When we were visiting churches, we went to this one three different times before we heard the pastor speak. I’m glad we kept going back because we both really like the teaching style of the pastor. The worship is simple yet beautiful, the congregation is small yet diverse and the teaching is deep and challenging. There is a focus on reaching out into the community that we appreciate. We sit at long tables which adds a good dynamic of facing people when you sit down, naturally pushing us out of our comfort zone. The pastor ends the service with an invitation for us all to put out our hands and receive the blessing. The first time I heard him do this, it tugged at my heart. I thought of our church family back home doing the same thing. Whispers came from my lips as I thanked God for this similarity and sweet reminder of the commonalities we have in the Body of Christ.
The boys haven’t connected with the children’s ministry. We hope they will in time. I do miss what they had at our old church…they do too. For now, they are staying with us in the service and managing to stay pretty quiet (which is quite the miracle for our boys). The pastor asked a rhetorical question during his sermon on Easter Sunday and S decided to answer it out loud. I guess that shows he was listening!
After church, we came home and attempted to take a family picture before changing out of our clothes. We set up the mini-tripod my Dad gave us and took this series of photos. Fun family photos…check! One rather annoyed cat…double check!
Then, it was time to break out the Easter candy! The boys thoroughly enjoyed their Easter treats from Dear and Pop Pop!
Its our family tradition to do an Egg Hunt each year. This year, the boys helped out. E labeled the eggs with the first letter of each of our names and then I filled them with candy and hid them in the yard. S filled Eggs for Adi and hid them around the house. I always play some great Latino tunes in honor of my own Mom who did Easter Egg Hunts for us as kids. We looked for our eggs in the rain because when Mama first started hiding the eggs, it wasn’t raining. So it goes here in Germany!
S found the Easter Eggs he hid for Adi and even opened them for her. By that time, her annoyance from our photo session wore off and I think she appreciated it…maybe.
Later in the afternoon, we joined my friend, Amy and her family for Easter Dinner. The food was delicious and the company was enjoyed! After we ate, the boys left the table to play and the adults chatted. I’m grateful for this gift of community as our friendship grows. I remember laughing out loud at one point as we shared stories. I still smile recalling what made me laugh so.
He is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed!
PS. The next day hubby picked up an Easter package from Grammy Julie and brought it home. Since he had taken Friday off, the package was probably sitting at the Post Office for a few days…sorry Grammy!! The boys were still elated to extend the fun of Easter for another day. =)
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