If I had to pick a favorite holiday, it would be quite difficult indeed for me to choose between Easter and Christmas. I love the joy of Christmas that is intangible, not attached to any specific thing but rather in the air. I love the music of this winter holiday, the smell of yummy treats and fresh pine trees, and the lights that deck out neighborhoods in Christmas splendor.
But I love the cold spring air on Easter morning when I get up and it's still dark outside. One of my fondest memories is hiking up Mount Gilead, cold and tired and complaining. But when we got to the top and watched the sun rise through the redwoods as we sang hymns and sipped on hot chocolate, it made it all worth it. Side note: it's interesting that both of my favorite holidays involve early mornings, considering I'm definitely not a morning person.
But of course, the thing that really makes Easter my favorite is the resurrection of Jesus, and knowing a love so deep that He would die for me and a hope so great because I believe in a God who can conquer death. It makes everything else easy. What do I have to worry about if I have that kind of hope and love behind me?
This year, I actually didn't do any of the fun Easter traditions. No sunrise (unfortunately... alarm malfunction), no Easter breakfast, no coloring of eggs. But it was still amazing. God has been showing me some realllly cool stuff lately. Oh, I did get some Easter chocolate though... came home to find an Easter basket and three roses on my doorstep, courtesy of mine and Kelseys' neighbors.
Color of the day: canary yellow, the color of peeps, the surprise doorstep roses, and joy. Basically, this yellow is just an Easter-y yellow and Easter is just a yellow-y holiday.
Annnnnnnnnd we got an absolutely beautiful Easter surprise in our backyard! A little mama birdie built her nest in one of our outdoor lanterns, and one of her little ones came out of his shell. (and p.s. yes the baby birdie in the photo above is the one and the same that is living in our backyard... so precious!) Really makes ya stop and appreciate the beauty of life.
Well, this coming weekend marks the first of four things I'm looking forward to this summer! Stagecoach: two days of pure bliss a.k.a. country music festival with all my best friends out in the boondocks (is there such thing in southern California...?). Giddy on up, giddy on out!
