April 4 Easter Sunday

Emma and I attended the 11:20 service at Calvary this morning. This is our last Sunday with three services--beginning next week, there will only be two--at 9AM and 10:40AM. Beginning this evening, Pastor Jim is away on study break for the next 5 weeks and then he and his entire family are being treated to a three-month vacation by Calvary Church. It's been quite a difficult year--2020 and now into 2021--with the pandemic and pastor himself getting COVID (as well as Lisa and all 4 children). The elders felt the family needed to get away "to play" and "have fun" for a nice long vacation. What a great idea and how nice Calvary is able to gift Pastor Jim and family in this way. I support it 100%!

The fact that JESUS IS ALIVE means more this year to me than it did last year. I hope it means more to me all the time. I think I understand a tiny bit more of His love this year than last. It certainly has been a good year of Bible study and new friendships formed through Monday Night Bible Study. The more I study Scripture, the more REAL God becomes. What a difference He makes in my life!

Emma and I picked up Kaity over at Diana's and went over to eat lunch with Jesse. He had roasted a wonderful side of beef and vegetables. I brought rolls and fruit/dip. We ate until we were quite happily stuffed. After our meal, we played some games of JENGA--the first time I've ever played the game. Evidently, Emma and Kaity have played it quite often. Here are some pictures:

Emma got the game all set up ... as Kaity watched ...

I love these pictures of these girls ...

Kaity lost the first game ... or was it the first TWO games?

Then it was MY TURN to lose ...

And finally, Emma lost the last game. It's very cool how this game works!

This is Kaity's new "microphone", an Easter gift from her mom. It's very interesting what it can do to a person's voice. It was wonderful to hear Emma and Kaity laughing as they tried it out together ...

So ... Emma and I came back here to finish up Matt's card, and then we just hung out a little bit before I took Emma back home. I'm thankful for this day with Jesse and the girls. My focus for the coming days will be getting ready for Matt's birthday on Saturday, as well as my upcoming trip to Florida.