Faith, Family and Friends

Easter 2022, at the apple orchard.  Rev. Rick Shilling at center podium.

This year will be a little different at the DeVos household for Easter.  Usually, my husband and I roll out of bed about 5:00 a.m., to attend our church’s sunrise service at the apple orchard.  Afterward, about ten of us—all bleary-eyed and coffee deprived—gather at our house for a wonderful breakfast, where everyone brings a dish, including two of our friends who raise chickens.  The eggs they supply are naturally turquoise in color, which is the result from the chickens being free-range and grass fed.  Talk about the ultimate Easter eggs!  We scramble them up then add them to the table where the rest of the feast awaits.  Once we’ve eaten our fill, we head over to our church to decorate the wooden cross out front with glorious flowers of every hue.  THEN, when that’s done, the traditional 11:00 church service begins.  Ahhhh, how I love the holiday…well, except for the 5:00 a.m. bit. But it’s worth it. This year, however, we have family coming into town, so we’ll skip the early service and only go to the traditional.  

Just as we’ll be doing, many people will be celebrating either Easter, or Passover, this coming weekend, and following their usual beloved traditions.  What a blessing it is to be doing this while surrounded by family and friends!  And, as my husband and I found when we moved here, after leaving old friends and family tearfully behind in Florida, what a wonderful blessing our new friends are in our lives, too, and ones that we’ve started our own new “traditions” with. 

No matter which celebration you’ll be taking part in, I want to wish each of you the blessing of sharing it with family, as well as old and new friends, alike.  But, most of all, I wish you an enduring and fulfilling faith that remains long after the celebrations are over and your loved ones have taken the road back home again. 

Peace and love,

Janie