Best Palm Sunday EVER!!!

The past couple of weeks of my life have literally been a whirlwind for me.  Between co-leading my middle daughter's Girl Scout Troop and getting ready for the dance we had for them, running my oldest daughter to piano lessons, working on music for our Wednesday night program for our church kids, meetings at our church,  and watching my number 1 ranked basketball team (Kentucky Wildcats of course) continue their winning streak to the final four (now Championship game) I've been a really busy momma of late. However, 2 weeks ago today, I got some of the best news I'd heard in a while from my extended family that live an hour and a half east of us.  My uncle gave his heart and life to The Lord!  This is a man that has had many prayers go up on his behalf for years!  God had gotten ahold of him and wasn't letting go!  The following Sunday (a week ago today) he was baptized at his church and my dad went to support him.  He is a NEW man in Christ and my dad said the change in his heart and life were VERY real.  To sweeten the deal, my aunt gave her heart and life to Jesus the same day as my uncle's (they are brother/sister-in laws) baptism!  My dad called to tell my mom and when she told me, my eyes were instantly filled with tears of joy!  God had welcomed two new people into his family of children!  This whole past week has again been a week full of activity and life in our household.  It has flown by with activities with my kids, Easter Egg hunts at churches, meetings, dr appointments, etc.  I literally couldn't wait for Sunday morning to roll around!

Spring Break started in our household Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.  We began our celebrations with pizza for supper and family movie night in which we watched Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked.  My kids LOVED it.  My youngest girls proclaimed it was the BEST DAY EVER!  In my heart, I was saying to myself, "no, Sunday will be the BEST DAY EVER!"  We continued our celebration with a Community Egg Hunt/Family activities at my parents' church in which both my sisters and my brother and their kids and spouses came to enjoy the festivities, then we enjoyed just hanging out with each other at my parents' house and watched our beloved Wildcats make their way to the Championship Game.  It was truly a GREAT game, but again, (although I was loving watching my team win) I knew the best was yet to come.

Sunday morning (today) I got up to my alarm without groaning (this is truly a magnificent feat in and of itself for those that know I'm not a morning person) and began getting ready to go to my grandparents' church.  I got my girls up and ready and we managed to make it out the door on time, despite a wardrobe malfunction when my middle daughter tried to untie the ribbons on her pillowcase dress and one got pulled through and had to be re-strung.  We picked up my parents and made our way to the church.  My papaw is a baptist preacher.  The church he is one of the pastor's of is a country church in the hills of Eastern Kentucky.  The music is non-instrumental and the preaching is totally led by the Spirit of God himself.  We began to sing the hymns of the church.  Some were outlined, others, we all sang together.  The harmonies of the voices singing blended together beautifully.  If you've never been to a service such as the one I'm describing and you ever have the opportunity to go, I would HIGHLY encourage you to do so.  There is no written order of worship, the people hug and ask blessings on each other, the music is simple, but I honestly thought to myself as we were singing today, "This is what we will sound like in heaven!"  No instruments to cover the beautiful praises being sung to our God, beautiful harmonies blending together tuned just right.  The preacher brought the message.  No typed sermon, no sermon outline, much shouting Amen, much pounding the pulpit or the floor.  The very words God laid on the preacher's heart were spoken and received by our ears.  My aunt went to the front of the church for everyone to take a turn hugging her and welcoming her to the family of God/Church family.  Tears were ready to pour from my cheeks as I thanked God for saving her soul.  My mamaw and papaw were beaming with joy and eyes full of tears.  Another lost child had been found.  At the end of the service, we all walked across the road to the creek across from the church.  My girls were very confused as they'd only ever seen an indoor baptistery.  We  walked over to the creek and watched as my papaw and uncle walked down into the creek with my aunt, prayed over her thanking God for what he's already done in her life and what he's going to do, and baptized her into the family of God.  I turned around and there stood my uncle that was baptized just a week ago.  Tears in his eyes and I could see the change in his heart and life all over his face.  His whole countenance was completely different.  We spent the rest of the day with my extended family and I can't remember a better Palm Sunday EVER!

                                            The creek where the baptism took place.

Today begins the first day of Holy Week here in our community.  I soooo look forward to Easter Sunday.  Not for the new dresses my girls will be wearing (actually hand-me-downs but they are new to them and they look fabulous!), not for the Easter baskets my girls will be getting from the Easter Bunny, not for the wonderful Easter Dinner my mamaw will prepare for us and we'll pitch-in to help with (there are more than 50 of us when we get together after all).  I can hardly wait to stand and sing praises to my God for raising Jesus from the dead 3 days after he was crucified in a horrific death!  I am soooo thankful for the one, true God I serve and the amazing way he loves us and wants only the best for us!  I'm thankful to be part of an amazing church in which I'm privileged to raise my children in to know the love of Jesus and to live it out for them the best I can each day.  The past 2 weeks in my family have been amazingly blessed!  I truly can't wait to see what God has in store for us this week and see how He's going to move in my heart and through my family and friends...  I don't think there could possibly be a better Palm Sunday EVER!  :)