Little Postcards from "Holland": Have you Heard the Good News?

Have you heard the good news? Have you heard the good news? Jesus has risen, he is alive. Have you heard the good news? Have you heard the good news? Jesus has come back to life again. Every time I think about Easter, this song comes to mind. It is a song I learned many years ago in children's choir at church, and I still remember most of it. I remember a lot of those songs that I learned all those years ago. I sing them all of the time. Before we were married, Tommy was always amazed that I could remember them and he didn't mind me singing. Now, I think he just gets annoyed by it. But I still sing them, especially to John. He loves them. I don't have the best singing voice, but he doesn't care. He still smiles and giggles when I sing. I'm not sure that is a good thing though.

For the past several years (I can't remember how many exactly) we have made it an annual tradition to spend Easter weekend at my parent's house. For those who observe lent each year (not us), you are not supposed to eat red meat on Friday, especially Good Friday. So many people in Louisiana choose Good Friday to have a crawfish boil. Because there is such a high demand for crawfish on that day, we choose to do our crawfish boil on Saturday. We also boil shrimp just for a little diversity. We spend most of the day outside. Mom and Dad have a really nice patio area between the side of their house and the outdoor kitchen. So we sit outside and visit, while the boys, usually my dad, Tommy and my brother Jimmie, get the crawfish and shrimp ready and begin to boil. All of my family is there. It's one of the few times each year that my mom has all of her chicks in the nest at the same time. And with the addition of spouses and grandkids, it makes for a hectic but exciting weekend.

In the past, we have chosen to get up early on Saturday morning and drive over to Kinder, instead of going on Friday. Mainly it's because that means we only have one night without a nurse for John. I end up sleeping with him, and let's face it, who really sleeps well when they have their kid in the bed with them? Add to the fact that he has a monitor that alarms everytime his oxygen drops below a certain level, and you get a night of very restless sleep. This year, we decided to bring our nanny, Kirstin, with us. She had never been to Louisiana and so we were excited to show her some of our crazy traditions. Also, it was helpful to have an extra set of hands for John during the day. So because of the extra help, we decided to go over on Friday afternoon.

We got there in time to start grilling streaks for dinner. Jimmie and his crew didn't come over until Saturday, so it was just us, mom and dad, Carrie and Jennifer, and Jason for dinner. We sat outside and enjoyed the nice weather, along with the mosquitoes. Okay, so maybe it wasn't such a good idea to sit outside, but I still enjoyed it. When we have steak and potato for dinner, John gets to have a baked sweet potato. Add a little butter and cinnamon to it, and you have one of his all time favorite foods. That boy ate every bite, and let me tell you, it was not a small potato.

Saturday morning, we had a good breakfast. That was good because that was going to hold us over until the crawfish and shrimp were ready mid afternoon. Jimmie and Chrystal and the kids got there around noon on Saturday and we all had a lot of fun, visiting and playing outside. John was in heaven getting to be outside most of the day. I did have mom put him down for a nap because I knew he would be exhausted if he didn't have one. Mom is the nap fairy and can get that kid asleep faster than anyone.

After a fun day on Saturday, we all went to church on Sunday morning. We heard a great Easter message and the choir that mom directs and dad sings in, sang several songs. What a great way to celebrate Christ's resurrection. Easter dinner was dad's famous roast with all the trimmings. What a fun time we had. We left shortly after lunch for Texas. We were all pretty tired when we got home. John was asleep by 7:00 that night and slept for 12 hours. Tommy and I were both in bed with the lights off by 9:30. John came home from school on Monday and took a 2 hour nap, and still fell asleep by 7:00. That's how much fun he had. By Tuesday, he was caught up on his sleep and ready to go the rest of the week.

I always enjoy our Easter weekend. It's so nice to have a nice family gathering without the stress of buying gifts for everyone. And it's always in the same place, so there are no decisions to be made over who is going to host.

Thank you, Jesus, for dying on the cross and rising again so that I can be forgiven for my sins. Thank you for making that sacrifice for me.