thirtysomething...

Easter is one of my favorite days. Flowers are blooming, people are smiling, and David goes to church. Unfortunately this Easter, David didn’t go because he went last week for Palm Sunday. So, off I tread to my, I mean God’s, local Baptist church in Headcorn. During the announcements they announce that the Easter Parade will start at 12:00 with singing and balloons. We would walk down the High Street, Main Street for the Americans, announcing the risen Lord.

Home I go full of the excitement of a parade but tinged with the sadness of going alone. When I get home the words just pop out of my mouth, “Hey David, do you want to go to the Easter Parade?” Would you believe he actually said “Yes”? Okay I confess, I neglected to tell him we would be part of the procession. I also left out the part about the balloons, singing, and announcing the risen Lord.

We head off to the church, but half way I start feeling a little guilty and tell David that I’m not quite sure what is going to happen. I don’t remember being in an Easter Parade, but I can definitely imagine it is something David is not going to enjoy.

Anyway, all the parishioners from the local churches are gathering. There are several large banners, small flags for each person, and balloons with Bible verses attached. We march in a procession three blocks down to the Village Center and form a semi-circle. We launch into song, singing 12 glorious hymns the last being Jesus Christ is Risen Today! Hallelujah! A prayer is said at the end and then we launch our balloons with the attached verses.

So what really happened…. Somehow David and I are near the front, but on the back row. About song four I notice a couple of people on the other side pointing at various people in the group one of which being David. I start thinking… they are pointing at people not having fun. My mind starts racing and six degrees later I have come to the conclusion that I have ruined this wonderful witness opportunity by being selfish and inadvertently tricking David into keeping me company. But by song six I have calmed down and have begun to focus on the moment. David starts to look a little more alive and I’m waving my flag and singing with all my heart. I notice the other guy not singing on the back row who also got pointed at getting more into it and smiling my way. Then a mother with a small two year old girl walks by and David and I stop them to give the little girl one of our balloons. You should have seen her face light up and would you believe purple is her favorite color too! Through songs ten and eleven, David focuses on untangling my remaining three balloons. Song twelve comes along and it just happens to be the song I was singing as we walked to the church from our house. We end the parade and David releases the balloons…. You read that right David releases the balloons. I had another brief panic attack thinking the balloons were doomed because they were sent off by a heathen. I quickly regroup, bless the balloons as they fly away, and hand out two remaining verse tags to some passerby’s. They ask what church we are from and I say we are from all churches in the village. The gentleman says oh you are from an American Church…notice the tinge of disappointment. I quickly counter, yes I’m American, but these people aren’t. I introduce my friend and we have a brief bonding moment with the gentleman who asks us to sing another song. As David and I head home, I thank him for attending and I apologized if he was miserable. David surprisingly said he tried not to look too frowny and was glad he could go if it made me happy.

As I contemplate those brief thirty minutes, I’m reminded of the joy of just living and being a child of God. Thirty minutes of sharing the spirit, respecting a husband for who he is, marveling at God’s small wonders, and experiencing the wonders of his creation with strangers.


Editor's Note: Names have been changed to throw off the NSA, and to make the day better, I did see an old Morgan on the way to the torture, and a DB9 on the way home.

I'm working on photos from the past few weeks. It's been kinda hectic, as you can see from the delay between the last posts. All will be revealed shortly.