Hope

This may be the first Easter in my life that I didn't go church, (if you don't count the random April blizzards of my childhood that resulted in cancelled services.)  We even made it last year, with Mateo being only one month old and me still having to use a cane to walk.  (For those of you who haven't heard that part of the birth story, let's just say that nerve compression was a tricky side effect of the aforementioned two plus hours of pushing.)

Easter morning, April 4, 2010 at Iglesia Nueva Esperanza / Immanuel UCC


This year, however, instead of spending the morning singing our hallelujahs inside a church, we went for our first family bike ride.  Despite the past few days of rain, we were granted a reprieve this morning and had sunny warm weather that demanded outdoor activity.  Spring is finally getting underway, and I was so grateful to be huffing and puffing amidst the all the budding and blooming. 

Easter morning, April 24, 2011 on the bike path

There's part of me that very much missed the music and pageantry that comes with an Easter morning church service.  But there's a part of me that still felt the joy and pervasive sense of Easter specific hope that comes with breathing in the air of Creation.