An Easter Flower Gift

 

An Easter Flower Gift

O DEAREST bloom the seasons know, Flowers of the Resurrection blow,   Our hope and faith restore; And through the bitterness of death And loss and sorrow, breathe a breath         5   Of life forevermore!   The thought of Love Immortal blends With fond remembrances of friends;   In you, O sacred flowers, By human love made doubly sweet,         10 The heavenly and the earthly meet,   The heart of Christ and ours! -John Greenleaf Whittier

Easter is Hope: Images of Garden Valley Community Church

"The great gift of Easter is hope - Christian hope which makes us have that confidence in God, in his ultimate triumph, and in his goodness and love, which nothing can shake."  Basil C. Hume

Today I wanted to catch the Easter spirit in photo images at church. Our little Garden Valley church was busting at the seams with 80 people praising today.

 Cute shoes!

 Lovely dress

 Pastor Shane

Celebration!

Amen!

Sibling Assignment #127: Christ The Lord Has Risen Today

 Easter back in the day with Raymond Pert, Silver Valley Girl as a baby and me.

This month Silver Valley Girl is giving sibling assignments around the theme of April. Here is ours for this week. " This year, Easter falls on the first Sunday of April.  Pick one of your favorite Easter hymns, and write about why it means so much to you." I will link theirs soon.

I can remember Easter in church for at least fifty years. Our church used to be uptown in Kellogg, then we made the big move down on Cameron across the street from our house when I was in elementary school.  At both churches the girls all wore new dresses, hats, white patent leather shoes with new white socks, and sometimes carried a new purse on Easter Sunday. The boys were in slacks, white shirts and ties.  The organist was the same in both buildings, the choir robes were the same, the the opening procession every Easter was "Christ the Lord Has Risen Today."

Fifty years later I get goosebumps when I hear this song. When I was old enough to understand Maundy Thursday and Good Friday I remember a sadness trying to understand The Last Supper and the crucifixion if Jesus Christ. When our organist filled the church with the opening chords of this song and the choir marched down the middle aisle singing the song with the congregation I knew it was time to rejoice. I look forward to belting it out Sunday as we once again celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ at our Garden Valley Church. Enjoy the song with me a have a happy Easter.

Sibling Assignment# 94: A Vivid Easter

This week I gave the weekly sibling assignment.. " Describe a Vivid Easter". When my siblings complete theirs, you will find Silver Valley Girl's here and Raymond Pert's here. As many of you know, my brother has been ill for over a week and ended up in the hospital last Sunday. He has pneumonia and was released from the hospital yesterday and will be resting and recuperating this week before he returns to teaching. Thanks for your prayers , notes of concern, and positive thoughts. It means a lot.
A vivid Easter was today. As I drove up to our little Garden Valley Church for Easter services, I knew it was going to be a special worship service. First of all there were no parking places left. There was music playing out of the new steeple and when I arrived at the door I couldn't even get in because of all the people. Chairs had to brought in because the church was so full. We had over sixty people celebrating Easter today.
Now rewind.... the Garden Valley Church opened its doors again on Easter Sunday about twelve years ago for a church service. The people around in the area wanted to keep the church open. The church is surrounded by a large rural area of farms, ranches, housing communties, and homesteaders. The community cemetary is just behind the church. It is an old, historic building and when it was opened again there was no running water and it needed some work. We found visiting pastors, guest pastors, andwe ran church services ourselves. We organized vacation Bible school, had potlucks, hired a pastor part time, more people came, missionaries visited, we added a Sunday School building, had box socials, upgraded the portable "outhouses", did work on the building, had Christmas Eve services for the community around us,had a well drilled,dug a septic system, hired a full-time pastor, began a worship team, put in new carpet,and kept growing. Lots of prayers, outreach, fellowship, community building, faith, and love for God have brought us to where we are today. Over sixty people packed into our little church today, including a whole group of young children. It was not only the celebration of Christ's resurrection, but also a celebration of the growth and renewal of our own little church.

" A Healthy Church grows warmer through fellowship, deeper through discipleship, stronger through worship, broader through ministry, and larger through evangelism. " Rich Warren

It was also a vivid Easter because we sang every single one of my favorite Easter hymns. It was announced that our neighbor's prayers were answered. She and her husband moved next door to us when her mother died. They put their house across the county road up for sale and hoped a Christian family would buy it. Her prayers were answered. It has sold and the new owners are our pastor and his wife! They now will live in our rural community and can walk from their new house through the pine trees to reach the church.

Yes, it was a vivid Easter. During the service today JK requested to have this song played. I don't remember if I had ever heard this song performed by Dolly Parton, but it also made my Easter vivid. Enjoy! Happy Easter!

Celebrating Easter With Flowers

Weekend Snapshots: Spring Is Fickle!

It was warm and sunny on Saturday. JEJ and I enjoyed the sunshine, we worked in the yard, and I was able to finally catch the rabbits for a picture. They loved sunning themselves in the afternoon warmth.

These two rabbits are not Easter Bunnies. They are Rose Rabbits. Let me explain. When I was attempting to amend my soil... I mean sand ... when I moved to this house I read that rabbit droppings were an excellent cold fertilizer that can be added immediately to plants. Roses love rabbit fertilizer. We enjoy our two rabbits, but they are also workers. They produce the food that makes our roses (and other plants) grow. We have two males so we don't have to be concerned about a population explosion. Sherman and Barnaby (named for creeks close to us) have been loyal providers and have outlived our expectations and continue to give us fertilizer year after year. If we can figure out how to discourage Annie from sampling the rabbit droppings we will have a perfect system!

After a day of yard work and garden tours it was amazing to be able to sit at the table outside and have it warm enough to enjoy the evening sunshine while eating dinner.
What a difference this morning. Easter Sunday dawned with huge snowflakes falling. Celebrating Easter with a feast outside was not going to happen. I am glad the tablecloth is waterproof and I picked up the cushions before I went to church.

I know... don't fool with Mother Nature.... but come on.... this is getting old!

To find other Weekend Snapshots go here.

Sunshine Cake: A Keeper from the Recipe Box

A few years ago my friend GS baked this cake for a church potluck. It was a big hit and everyone asked her for the recipe. I made it again last week for a school potluck and the same thing happened. I whipped up The Sunshine Cake yesterday for our Easter Dinner. This is one of those cakes that tastes better after it sits in the refrigerator for awhile. As you can see- we decided not to wait until Easter. I wanted a good picture and before we gave some to our neighbor it needed a taste test. Right?It is very easy to make, tastes wonderful, and lasts in the frig.

Sunshine Cake

Mix:
1 yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1 stick butter or ½ cup oil
11 oz. can mandarin oranges with juice ( you can cut up the oranges if desired)
Beat 3 minutes.
Bake at 350 in 9x13 pan for 30 min
Bundt pan for 45-50 min

Icing
1 8 oz. container of Whip Topping
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
2o oz. can crushed pineapple, drained ( save liquid)
Mix together. Slowly add juice from pineapple until you get right spreading consistency.
Put on cake when cool. Refrigerate.

I had extra mandarin oranges and added them to the icing also.

Happy Easter!

" What keeps our faith cheerful is the extreme persistence of gentleness and humor. Gentleness is everywhere in daily life, a sign that faith rules through ordinary things: through cooking and small talk, through storytelling, sharing love, fishing, tending animals and sweet corn and flowers, through sports, music, and books, raising kids--all the places where the gravy soaks in and grace shines through. Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people. Lacking any other purpose in life, it would be good enough to live for their sake. "
Garrison Keillor