Easter has officially come and gone, and while I am definitely happy to get back to the normal rhythm of life, I am so excited about all that God has done and is doing through Easter 2008. There are already numerous stories of lives being changed, and it is always a beautiful thing to watch. There was so much going on during all of last week and Easter services in the kids tents were awesome, but I think my favorite part of the entire morning was being in service (even though i got fried) and seeing all of the people come down to the prayer tent after the invitation was given (yes, i kept my eyes open!). Yes, I love kids ministry, and I think it's vital, but at the same time, just imagine how life-changing it will be for the children of the people that accepted Jesus. Their whole world just got rocked. Imagine being a 2 year old and having your parents marriage restored. They might never know (although hopefully one day they'll hear the story) but their life will never be the same. Wow. It is such a privelege to be a part of the very large team that worked on Easter. God is faithful to bring the people, and our volunteers are faithful to carry out the labor...and boy was there labor! We had four 30x30 tents, one 40x40, and two 40x60s! All together we had 762 kids on Easter morning...add the 384 from Good Friday, and we had over 1,000 kids over the course of the weekend. There are certain moments when I'm very humbled to be a part of this amazing team, and this weekend was one of them. Sometimes I still can't believe that I get paid to do this!
Easter was also the anniversary of Alex serving in Children's Ministry. It has been a joy to watch him grow and develop as a teacher and leader over the last year. He pours himself into this ministry in such a self-less way, it's amazing to watch. I am consistently in awe of his servant's heart and desire to serve our Lord. I am lucky to be marrying such an amazing man! God is so good!
Easter at the Pacific Amphitheater has become somewhat of a tradition. This past week has actually been full of traditions...the Wednesday night set-up with volunteers, the Good Friday services, the continuous prayer walk from Friday to Sunday, and of course Easter morning...then...there's the family tradition of getting together at my grandparents' house and eating together. Planning a wedding has also made me look at traditions, only most of the wedding traditions really have no importance to me, and I have begun asking myself, "What's the point?" I understand that some things hold meaning, but should you feel pressured to follow a tradition just because tradition says you should? The more I think about it, the more I want to buck traditions that mean nothing to me.
1 comment:
thank you for sharing your Easter experience!! It truly is amazing to think of how many families will be changed by parents coming to the Lord! Yay, God!!
My thought on traditions is that sure, it's cool to move away from them if they mean nothing to you, I just have learned thru experience that you have to be careful not to hurt feelings of those who do find those traditions meaningful in some way; it's a delicate balance. I find that it's always fun to start new "traditions" but at the same time, I want to respectfully acknowledge those that are important to previous generations. I say it's cool to buck off some of them, as long as it's not goin to personally offend/hurt someone you care about's feelings. And I guess you have to choose your battles. Someone's always going to dislike something you do, I guess it just depends on who that person is, and how much you value their opinion.
Sorry for the novel here-- heehee!
Post a Comment