It was weird but I guess ours was as good as you can expect under quarantine.
The Easter service is my favorite so watching it online was a horrible replication. I think part of what makes Easter mass so great is that you can feel the joy in the air. The church is full, Lenten restrictions are gone, everyone is wearing their Easter finest, we've made it through a very long and dark 40 days, and we have come out victorious because our Lord has risen! And I love all the Easter music and the choir and it just feels so happy and joyous.
So watching Easter mass online brought me more annoyance than joy. It was just another reminder of all that we are missing thanks to this virus. I told my husband last night that even though Lent was over, it still felt like Lent - thank you COVID-19.
I have been trying not to focus on what we (and by we, I mean the entire world) has lost and I have been trying not to think about when this will be over and what other things we are going to lose because I'm sure getting back to normal is going to be a long process. Instead I am trying to remember that God can take a mess and make something beautiful out of it. I am hoping and praying that while the next year may not look like we want it to look, it will still be beautiful.
In today's Gospel reading, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary left the empty tomb "with fear and great joy" and that's kind of how I'm trying to approach this quarantine. While I am full of fear and uneasiness and hopelessness, I know that God can make it beautiful and that should full me with joy.
Should.
I'm still a work in process so I still working on the joy part but I'm trying! I just keep repeating one of my favorite prayers, "Jesus, I trust in you. Help me to trust you more."
The kids checked out their baskets and then we went next door for lunch with my mom and brother.
We had steak, twice baked potatoes, and salad. And for dessert we had this delicious Cherry Chocolate Chip cake that Sarah and I made. I made the cake and she made the frosting and frosted it.
After lunch we opened our baskets from Mom. Yes, my mom also makes a basket for me, my brother, and Dan. And I imagine when I'm a grandma, I'll be doing the same!
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| Not happy about posing with Easter baskets but doing it anyway for Mom. |
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| Again, not happy posing with Easter baskets but again, doing it for Mom. |
Last night we had a big storm blow through. In fact, it's still very windy today. There was a tornado warning at about 5:00 or so this morning. The winds howled all night long but luckily in our part of the county there wasn't much damage. In other areas there were a lot of trees down and power outages but we are fine here. The power went out a lot last night but would always come back on after a few minutes. I am always very thankful when we don't lose power for an extended period of time! It has stopped raining and I think the winds are supposed to die down by mid afternoon. I hope so because after all that I ate on Easter, I need to go on a nice long walk.
That's all for today but I would like to leave you with a picture of my hummingbird buddy. He has been visiting since April 7th. I'm hoping that more of his friends and family join him soon. I'm ready for the humminbirds to be buzzing around and fighting over the feeders!
7 comments:
Hummingbirds are so exciting to watch. I am delighted for you that they've been visiting. I agree with you about Mass online not being as good. In truthfulness, we only had our kids watch through the homily yesterday. Because their focus just isn't there and the adults did Vigil. That cake looks great, where did you get the recipe?
I'm so glad you had a nice, if not normal, Easter!
Lovely Easter.
Delicious looking cake!!!!!!!!
You have a beautiful family, my friend. : )
Stay safe!
Oh my gosh - I thought that feeder was like a silo or something. My perspective was messed up and it looked like it was off in the distance and it was some sort of tower thing. Hilarious. Now with a bird and a close up photo, it made sense.
Yes Easter was different. We were supposed to host. Instead I made a big brunch and a big dinner. We participated in Zoom meetings with both sides of the family. There was volleyball but the weather wasn't the best. We didn't color eggs and my version of baskets this year was Mini tossing candy in them as we watched My Cousin Vinny after dinner. Lame, I know.
That cake look delicious!
That cake looks good!
We are still under restrictions - not supposed to go to anyone elses house so we just had a zoom time with the kids and the grands which was fun.
I love the pic of you, your mom and Sarah. I see the resemblance!
I feel the same way about the Easter Mass and feeling like Lent is continuing! It’s hard to try and focus so I don’t miss out on the joy within all the fear.
Have you heard about/checked out Stacey Sumereau’s Be Not Afraid online retreat? It’s a bunch of different Catholic speakers and it’s free.
https://www.staceysumereau.com/
I agree with you on all points; it's very weird and NOT so much fun.
The cake looks am-a-zing!
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