A Little Piece of Heaven.....

Today was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day! Easter is my favorite holiday. This day being the day our Savior defeated the grave. I am so thankful that He is Risen!! The tomb is empty. This day for that reason is by far the most important reason to celebrate Easter. But there is also another reason I love this holiday so much.... The memories I have from childhood.

Every Easter, cousins and friends would come to church, everyone dressed in their finest: lace, gloves, bonnets, button up shirts (big deal for my brother back then). I can see us sitting in church, squirming in our seats, trying not to get in trouble but we knew when church was over, it was time to hunt eggs. It wasn't just about the hunt but being with your favorite cousins and friends that you only see once in a while. Granny would always stay for just a little bit to watch us hunt and then she would walk down to the house to get Easter lunch ready for the whole family.

Going to Granny and Grandpa's house is something I'll never forget, especially on this day. I can still see Granny standing out on the porch to see if the egg hunt was over, waiting for us all to slowly make our way to the house. Once everyone left the church and we made it down to Granny and Grandpa's, the feast was on. Big shade trees in the front yard, perfect to sit under while we ate our lunch. I can hear everyone talking and laughing having a blessed day. And of course, we (the kids) were fast eaters because what a better thing to do than to hunt eggs, again.

I'm trying to type without crying but the tears somehow keep making their way to my eyes. Even today, when it was just me alone, I sat and cried thinking of how I just wish I could of had an Easter Sunday with Granny and Grandpa and my boys. The boys would have loved them. Malachi was 2 the last time he saw Granny. I think of all the things they would have done with them like they did with me and my brother.

I was sitting there remembering our Sundays together and then I began thinking of the Easter Sunday they are spending up in Heaven. Grandpa walking without a limp, no cancer, and ears that can hear perfectly. Granny with a good heart and good legs to walk on. As I looked outside, the sun shining so bright and beautiful, the weather feeling amazing, I felt like there was a little piece of heaven with me here today. I felt like Granny and Grandpa were here and it was Easter Sunday like I remember. Because this morning in church, you could hear the downpour of the rain and I was expecting a dreary Sunday afternoon. In some ways, I think God just wanted us to have another Easter Sunday like we did when I was a kid. I wasn't with blood family but with amazing friends that have became our family. Everyone came over, we ate, the kids hunted eggs, and we just sat around laughing and talking just like we did under those shade trees.

Things aren't always the way we hope for them to be, sometimes they are far from the picture we imagined. But it's days like today that I believe God knows that sometimes we just need to go back home even if it's just with a reminder like a bright sunny Easter day.

Happy Easter!!!