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!
