Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday turned out to be a blast. My mom and dad were both up in Seattle helping out Heather's little family of four, so the rest of us siblings were left to fend for ourselves for the holiday. Brent and I decided to take the initiative and invite my younger brother, older brother, sister-in-law and niece over for Easter dinner. In my mind, this was kind of an initiation event for me; it would be my first time ever hosting a major family holiday on my own.

I spent all of Saturday cooking and cleaning for Easter and watching Lost with my poor sick Brent.

On Easter, instead of two morning services, my church offers three, the first starting at 7 am. My family has a tradition of attending that sunrise service, going to breakfast someplace nearby for the second, and then returning for our Sunday school classes for the third service. Although Brent was feeling too sick to attend the early morning service with me, Hunter and I planned to meet up for the first service at 7 am.

I got out the door on Sunday morning a little late, and was greatly perturbed when I found myself behind what I thought was a dillydallying car. It was going WAY TOO SLOW for a Sunday morning when you're late for church. I got out from the behind the car into the lane next to it, slammed my foot down on the gas and roared past the car through an intersection. As my car was gaining speed, I felt a little conviction, and I asked myself, "Would God want you to be on time to church so badly that He would want you to break the law by speeding there?" It was a rhetorical question that I didn't want to answer, but before I had time to slow down, a cop on a motorcycle pulled up right behind me and flashed his lights.

So, yeah, I got my first speeding ticket. 51 mph in a 35 mph zone. Ouch. Lesson learned.

Church was really good. I always look forward to John MacArthur's resurrection sermons, but this year his Easter sermon was a little different from normal. He took us first to 1 Peter 2:21-24, where it says, "For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps." John's question for us was this: In what way is the death of Christ an example to us? We cannot die for someone else's sins; what aspect of Christ's death are we to repeat?

John answered in part by saying that Christ's death, in the sanctifying sense, must be repeated by all Christians. He answered in more detail by taking us to the gospel accounts of Christ's suffering, and showing us Seven Lessons from the Words of Jesus on the Cross. I won't go into detail for all of them, but I thought some of you would enjoy at least getting the main points:

1. He died praying for forgiveness for those who were His enemies, Lk 23:34.

2. He died focusing on His evangelistic mission, Lk 23:43.

3. He died expressing compassion, caring for those who belonged to Him, Jn 19:26-27.

4. He died understanding the seriousness of sin, Mt 27:46.

5. He died understanding the suffering of being human, Jn 19:28.

6. He died having completed the work that God gave Him to do, Jn 19:38.

7. He died trusting in the promises of God, Lk 23:42.

After the service Brent met Hunter and me and our good friend Masha at Denny's for breakfast. We were all about to get an Everyday Slam for $4, but the waiter informed us that for $3.99, we could get an All-American Slam that came with sausage AND bacon, not one or the other. So of course we all ordered the meal with more food for a penny cheaper.

Brent and I rushed home after the second church service to put last minute things together for the Easter celebration. Hunter and the Hays' arrived promptly, and we all played games and chatted while the ham was cooking. I think we finally sat down to eat at about 3 pm, and this was the feast that was before us:

And here are the deviled eggs:

Thanks to suggestions from Aunt Missy and Cynthia, these deviled eggs were quite the success. Aunt Missy provided meticulous directions for boiling and peeling, and Cynthia gave suggestions for the filling. I must admit, this time around I was nervous about ruining the eggs, so I went with the most simple ingredients possible: egg yolks, mayonnaise, and salt. That was it. No paprika (mostly because I didn't have any), no nothing. Blending the mixture with a hand-held mixer made the filling the PERFECT consistency, and the simplicity of the mayonnaise and salt gave the yolks a most delightful tangy taste. Next year, now that I'm confident with my method, I'll have to try new seasonings and toppings.

Enough about deviled eggs. As for the rest of the menu, we had a half ham (Btw, who needs pre-spiral sliced ham with brown sugar coating that costs $40? I got my $8 ham from the grocery store, and that's just what it was: a ham. Nothing on it, not sliced, and it was WONDERFUL. Because HAM is wonderful. You don't need any sugary coatings for it.), cheesy potato casserole, spinach salad with strawberries, pecans, feta cheese and raspberry vinaigrette, rolls (thanks to Hunter), a delicious Russian salad with rice, corn and crab meat (thanks to Vika), and clementines (thanks to Harrison and Vika). It was quite the feast. I was stuffed after my first helping.

Eventually we brought out the desserts. I had prepared these creamy lemon crumb squares (very good, maybe a bit too tart?) and dark chocolate covered strawberries with coconut. Some friends from Harrison and Vika's church had sent them with a box full of gourmet individual desserts as well, because Brent and I had invited them for Easter but at the last minute they weren't able to make it. The memory of the dessert display just made my mouth water, as I sit typing this. Everything was so enjoyable and delicious.

We played games for the rest of the afternoon/evening, and then when we were all gamed out, we chilled in front of the first Harry Potter movie.

Oh yeah, and much of the day was spent by munching on this little girl:

When her cuteness catches me off guard, she makes me want to start a family. NOW. Precious babies can be dangerous.

Church, breakfast out, chillin' with sibs, Easter feast, games, fruit desserts, lazy movie, munchable baby...aw, it was a GREAT Easter.

Oh wait...there was a speeding ticket somewhere in there. It was a GOOD Easter.

Nah, the ticket didn't affect it that much. It was a GREAT Easter.