Jesus Christ is Risen Today!

We reflected on God's loving care to our family as we celebrated Jesus' resurrection today.

We were up early to help out at church, cleaning up after a week of hosting homeless families through Interfaith Hospitality Network.  It was barely light when I looked out the back door of our own home to see this touching sight:  Sara and Siobhan laying down peacefully together.

After church, Jim and Monique arrived with Charis and Kol.  Monique's sister Bekah and her husband Ed came, too, along with Kara.  We hadn't seen the grandkids in almost two weeks, and when Kol saw us he broke into a huge grin.  We sat memerized as he cooed and babbled to us.  What a change in two weeks, this speaking in "tongues of angels!"

While Kol took a nap later, Charis hunted Easter eggs with Zephyr's help.  Yes, really!  When Charis missed an egg under the picnic table, Zephyr pawed it to bring it to her attention!

It was Charis' first Easter egg hunt, but she caught on very quickly.  She decided the Easter basket was "too small" and ended up collecting eggs in a play grocery cart.

Monique tried out the little lawn chair I bought for Charis.

Jim showed us his broken ankle--and no, that's not Easter egg dye!  Since he wasn't very mobile, he elected to stay in the house and listen for Kol to wake up while the rest of us went out to the barnyard.

 Charis was quite impressed with how much the ducklings have grown, but she didn't think much of all the flies in the barnyard!  The ducklings had better get to work eating them!  This one completely buried her head in the water to get a drink.

And this one got IN the drink!

Finally we stopped at the chicken coop to collect eggs, and Charis asked to pet "her" chicken, Mercy.  Luckily the Naked Necks are more friendly than the Ameraucanas, so Mimi was able to catch Mercy and grant Charis' request.  Mercy is an amazing chicken and lays almost every day.  It's as if she knows that she is personally responsible for providing eggs for Charis' whole family!  (She would have been in Jim and Monique's freezer if she hadn't escaped and been granted . . . mercy.)


And that's a fitting parable for Easter Sunday!