Easter

I am so grateful for the long weekend we have had these past few days--Friday especially was so relaxing and refreshing. Landon played golf with some friends and clients of the Texans and I lounged around the house and did A LOT of work for school. I now have the rest of the year all planned out and am all caught up on grading, so I am thankful for that.

And I am so grateful for the opportunity to spend time with my family on Saturday and Sunday. My brother came in from Abilene and we were just all at my parents house. I think I appreciated it more than in the past because I know that in a couple of months Michael will be in Michigan for college and Matthew will be somewhere not in Houston--possibly in Colorado--working. And man, those places just seem so far away. I've gotten spoiled having them so (relatively) close to me. I keep telling them that eventually they need to move back so we can all raise our kids together! :)

While Michael and my dad worked on putting a new engine on his car, Matthew, my mom, Landon and I went to this Asian grocery stores--Matt is on an Asian foods kick (and I've been on that kick for the last 10 years or so) so we had fun looking around and trying some things out. It was definitely an interesting experience--so many things we'd never even heard of and so many things that we had no idea what they were!

That night we all had dinner together and then sat around and talked. And tried out our desserts from the Asian grocery store--Pocky, red bean cakes and white bean cakes. The Pocky was good...the bean cakes were interesting. :)


And most of all, I am so grateful for Jesus, who suffered and died on the cross for us. We watched a video on Sunday at my parent's church that really touched me--it reminded me how real the day he hung on the cross was and how real the pain and suffering was and how real his love for us was, for him to stay up there, instead of calling ten thousand angels to get him down.

That afternoon after church we hung out with my family, ate gumbo and enjoyed our Easter baskets--we each had one. :) And then, as Matthew headed back to Abilene with a friend and Michael headed back out to the garage to work on his car, Landon and I loaded up and headed out to the Woodlands to visit one of his CPS moms who is in jail and to look at houses and neighborhoods around where he works. As I sat in the waiting room of the jail, waiting for Landon as he talked with his client, it made my heart so heavy to see all of the families, and especially the children, going to visit their family in jail on Easter. It was another good reminder of how blessed we are--especially for the little things that I take for granted, like having my family with me on days like Easter. And a good reminder to keep all the families with loved ones in jail in our prayers--for them to either come to know the Lord during that time or to be comforted by Him and their relationship with Him deepened.