Christos anesti! Christ is risen! My neighbor, Gus, taught me to say this at Easter. I can say it to him now but it would be premature, as Greek Orthodox do not celebrate Easter for a week or so yet. Different calendar for them, I guess. Anyway, he taught me and I love it!
The day began with sunrise worship at 7:00 and I left with plenty of time to spare. I took my egg souffle which was baked last night along and the chocolate crosses for the kids at church. My souffle was placed in the oven to hold it until breakfast.The chairs were still being set up when I arrived so I went into the church to put the crosses in the mailboxes. When I came out, my friend, Maggie O. was coming up the sidewalk. Yay! She brought her sister, Mary, and friend, Shirley with her. A few years ago Maggie and her daughter had joined us for sunrise worship so she knew what to expect. It was 'warm' out, low 70's and quite humid, didn't need our sweaters at all!
We had a baptism at the sunrise service and I was glad of it especially for our visitors. This young couple are our newest members having been confirmed and accepted into membership a couple of weeks ago. They waited to baptize their son until family could come down.
Next we had Easter breakfast which was wonderful. My favorite was the sausage gravy and biscuits, made by Judy C. I sat with Maggie, Mary, and Shirley and had a wonderful visit. At one point, Shirley asked me who the lady was at the buffet line, she looked so familiar. When I told her, Shirley realized LuAnn was her cousin!!! They had a great reunion and spent the rest of the time catching up with each other. They hadn't seen one another since about 2001 or 02, at least it was in this century. Funny how that happens, living in the same town and all that.
Centerpieces made by the preschool kids and staff
I had to excuse myself from our visit to go rehearse with our little choir. We had grown from three ladies on Thursday to 8 people plus my goddaughter, Sarah. Adding a male voice, Paul's, was great, as he is a strong singer. I sang solo on the first stanza of "In Christ Alone", being nervous in rehearsal but sang more confidently in the service. I had given Terri the head's up that we were singing this hymn in the service because it is special to her, used in her dad's funeral. It helped calm me to sing out in her direction plus praying for courage. It worked, the solo and hymn went nicely.
We had 30 non-members in worship for the Festival Service, not all of them first time visitors. I couldn't keep up with greeting everyone between the choir rehearsal and recording attendance. Before the procession of the cross, the choir sang "Were You There?" so I had to be in position about 5 minutes before the service. Busy busy morning!
Justin was not able to join us for worship, still feeling the effects of the flu. I texted him at one point and he was awake, reported that the sweats had stopped but he was still quite weak. This would certainly mean no Easter buffet for him, so it was only Nancy M. and Nancy W. with me at the table. We got royal treatment and enjoyed our meals. The other two ladies liked the accompaniments very much while I went to the carving stations to get prime rib and ham, plus a roll and mashed potatoes. I did have a giant carrot chunk but none of the other sides were really for me. Seafood is not my thing, but I certainly did not leave there hungry! For dessert I took a slice of French silk pie which I simply could not finish. The best part of the meal was the time with my friends and seeing so many people I knew, including my "fiance", Bob, and his family.
Haley, our waitress, took this photo for us. In the background, beyond the man in the brown suit is Bob. Every time I talk with him he claims to be quitting The Club, but he keeps showing up!
It was a busy and full day, in more ways than one, for me. Justin was starting to recover, but still felt feverish a bit, and weak. He found that having caffeine helped with his headache, and did eat some of the beef and broccoli I got him the night before. He would have none of the chicken and rice soup I ordered for him, though. He wanted egg drop soup but I figured the chicken soup was the way to go for a sick guy. No worries---I'll eat it!
