The festivities started with our traditional egg decorating and egg hunt at Jenny's house. Each year since they were about five, the kids have gotten together to color eggs and hunt for candy filled plastic ones. Since Dylan's diabetes diagnosis, Jenny's been more creative in deciding what to stuff into them. One year, it was "Carrot dollars" they could use in her store. Another year it was clues that led to a reveal of a day at Boomers. This year, Jenny and Darrenn made clues for different areas that contained three eggs. After deciphering the clues, they had to find an egg and move on. The eggs contained money, Disney pins and certificates for movie nights and other thing. It was great!
Saturday was the pancake breakfast and easter egg hunt. Once again, Tim and Darrenn split the Easter Bunny duties. My dad took the photos and Regan helped out by being his test model while he was getting the lighting right.
Finally Sunday was the big day. I was so excited that two families we have been inviting to Revolution for some time now actually came. THAT WAS SO COOL, and such a God thing. I love that God was already working in their hearts and I just needed to lay in on the line. In each case, I decided to stop simply being polite and issuing a "It's no big deal if you can't make it apology". I told them straight from my heart how I felt and how much they and their families matter to me. I desperately want them in a place to grow in their faith and to be in a community that works towards that goal.
Here is a copy of one of my emails: I know we have invited you guys many times and I know you are busy. I don't want you to think we are harassing you with all the invitations, but I wanted to take a chance to just tell you what's on our hearts.
We have been friends with you guys for many years and obviously, we care about your family. I know you grew up in church and have a relationship with God, and we would love to see that grow and to see you guys surrounded by others who can support you in your faith or even in those "searching for faith" times. You are a great mom, and I know you want your children to have what you had. I know you want them to believe in God and have a relationship with Him. It makes it easier to pass on those values when you are surrounded by a community of faith.
We honestly want what is best for your family, and we personally would love to see you give our church a chance! I think it would be a great fit for you guys, but even more important than which church you may or may not attend, is your relationship with God. We all struggle with life in this world and I know I would have a very hard time holding onto my faith without the support I get from other Christians.
Anyways, I'm not trying to put any pressure on you. The invitation is yours to respond to with a "yes" or a "no", and it won't change our hearts towards you at all. We care about you guys, and we hope you can see the value in learning more about God, His plan for our lives, and His love for us in a community of other believers.
This is not to pat myself on the back, but to encourage others to lay it out there. Time is short and the stakes are high.
I don't know what the future holds for these families, but I am praying for them and for God to keep working in their hearts.
After the AMAZING service at Revolution, we came home for our annual family Easter dinner where the Peeters and the Lasch family eat till we cannot eat no more. Of course we had an egg hunt, but the big hit was the egg toss. The record was set a few years ago with an egg being tossed from our garage to our street - about 100 feet. This year, Tim and Alvin almost broke it. Unfortunately a tree broke their egg first! The Bambricks, Paul McKenzie, and Rick and Laurie Hallbeck joined us, making the day even more fun. What a lot of laughs!!
Tim's brother, Scott, catching the egg.
Dawn Bambrick jumping out of the way of the egg!
Alvin Velarde making a spectacular, textbook catch!
Tim with the infamous tree right behind him.
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3 comments:
If that tree wasn't there we would still be going. Nice picture of Dawn running AWAY from the egg. It was a great weekend and it gets better every year!
Papa got some great pictures, huh? And as Dad said, it was a lot of fun!
Great Post, and a fun day - thanks again for hosting at your house! Had fun capturing the action
Dad
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