Easter, people

He is risen!


i am a church pianist. So it really can truthfully be assumed that i A. am a Christian and B. have had a very busy last week.


You know, i started playing at my church last June. i'd never routinely attended a Lutheran church before, so until this year, i hadn't ever attended an Ash Wednesday service, or Maundy Thursday, or midweek Lenten services. In fact, until probably January i wouldn't have understood the word "Lenten." But as i play at all of those things, i am really starting to understand where Lutherans are coming from. i try to pay attention to the different sermons and liturgy and rituals, and i really like them. My family says they are too "Catholic" and yes, i can see where some of these things i.e. receiving absolution and touching a cross on Good Friday seem Catholic and unnecessary. But the act of them is symbolic and confronts you in a different way than merely confessing your sins or looking at a cross. i, for one, don't think Catholics are that bad, either. (Sorry mom.) i mean, same God, right? If you believe in Him and work towards living for Him, i feel we're on the same side, even if our opinion on certain doctrines don't completely line up. Most of this will show up in various forms again in different posts. Bear with me. i'm trying to digest this.

i just feel grateful. This has been an incredible week. i've gotten to spend a bunch more time with people i absolutely love hanging out with, and have gotten to play piano for hours, but above all else i feel like God is revealing Himself to me in new ways that i might not have been exposed to had i not been in this situation.

i appreciate His sacrifice, and every day am more mind-boggled by it as my mind tries to grasp the concept.

In the meantime, however, i had SO much playing to do this week! We had Maundy Thursday service, which was neato, and then a rehearsal for Sunday directly afterwards, so i was at church playing almost constantly from 6-10 PM. Then Good Friday, also neato, was not so long and i was at church for only 2 hours. Then this morning i got to church at 7:30, rehearsed with the choir and then the band, then played 3 services. It was great! Granted, it was exhausting, but it was the good kind of exhausting: the tired you get when you get to spend hours doing something you love and feel great about doing. i'm already looking forward to rehearsing on Wednesday.

We had Easter with my parents and my aunt and uncle yesterday at my parent's house. Yum! It was ham and cheesy potatoes. My aunt always makes incredible desserts, and did not disappoint this time. She brought a cream cheese-filled pineapple upside-down cake, an apple crisp, and my favorite, an Oreo pie thing with cream cheese/whipped frosting layers alternating with chocolate pudding layers. What she does with that is use low fat and non sugar varieties of all those ingredients, and i swear you can't tell. It's still not good for you, but much better than regular fat and sugar.

Then this afternoon we had Easter with Kris' family, featuring ham and cheesy potatoes, which i can't get tired of, and also blue cheese chopped salad in the style of Outback, cream cheese corn, rolls, and i was in charge of dessert so i made these brownie skewers and lemon cupcakes with lemon frosting with strawberries on top. Unfortunately, being pregnant means that in general, any food i prepare completely loses its appeal to me, so i didn't try my desserts. People said they were good though.

David was so cute today! i didn't get any pictures of him myself, but my father-in-law did, so when i get them from him i'll post them. David was in a black pinstriped pants and vest, with white button-down complete with clip on black patterned tie. So cute. Plus, whenever he wears anything with a stiff collar like a button-down shirt, his cheeks look even chunkier. He was totally appetizing today. i really understand why old ladies squeeze cheeks. Cheeks are the best part of babies and little children!

i am very sleepy, and i'm sleeping for two, so i bid you a fond adieu, and hope you had a great Easter.

He is risen indeed!