O Happy Day

Easter Sunday 2008
6:00 AM All three boys woke up because it is light outside. No other reason whatsoever.
6:15 AM Boys remember that it is Easter, they find their Easter baskets that Sara made out of old cereal boxes and filled with candy that came with my parents and one other package.
7:00-8:00 AM My 5 year old and I make "Easter Egg- Colored Pancakes". We eat them with Honey-Date-Middle Eastern Syrup and coffee made in a French Press.
9:00 AM Leave to the "Garden Tomb" to celebrate Easter. The English service was at 6:00AM and 9:30AM today and naturally 9:30 won our vote. (The Garden Tomb is where Protestants prefer to remember Christ's resurrection because it is a tomb outside in a beautiful garden and no church or altars can be found covering the site. Archaeology does give much stronger evidence to the tomb being in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and not at this site, but this is a great place for church).
10:30 AM Our service ends after amazing worship and a simple message. No dramas, no videos, no special music. Just singing, a simple message recalling the events surrounding Easter, some prayers, and then we leave.
11:00- 3:00 PM We relax at home with the boys. We have two neighbors stop by bringing Purim baskets. (It is customary to give gifts during the Jewish Holiday of Purim. It was really nice to have two neighbors think of our boys and give them gifts... keep kicking stones!) During this time the boys also filled tons of plastic eggs with candy while Sara prepared food for an Easter BBQ in the park. I just sat around eating chocolate bunnies and Peeps.
3:30 We went to the park near our house that overlooks the Old City of Jerusalem. We met two friends who are staying with us from California and 4 others who are living here in Jerusalem.
4:00- 6:30 PM We enjoyed Easter dinner with others who believe in the hope of the Risen Messiah while watching the afternoon sun warm the walls of the city of Jerusalem. Meanwhile the Arab kids swam in the fountain nearby and the Arab families relaxed and picnicked in the same park. (Jewish families prefer other parks... don't try to analyze it). Also during this time we hear fireworks erupting as all of the Jewish people celebrate Purim.
7:30-8:00 PM We attempt to unwind the boys and get them to sleep.
8:30-10:00 PM I walk through the old city with one of our guests and we marvel at the spectacle of Purim. To read more about this and to see a video from this night check my other site here

As I look back at this year’s Easter I will remember a few things (in no particular order). 1) My oldest son singing songs from the morning worship time all throughout the day. At night he said his favorite part of the day was singing worship songs. 2) The joy on my middle son’s face when he woke up in the morning and remembered what day it was. Then making pancakes with him in wonderful shades of red, blue, and green. 3) Sitting with family and friends on the grass while eating Easter dinner with the Old City of Jerusalem looming in the background. 4) Watching my boys search for Easter eggs in the park we play in each week. 5) Worshipping with my wife, our boys, and friends from here in Jerusalem and singing “Jesus is no longer in the grave” and thinking about the first Easter and how this song would have sounded then!

So we began the day and spent most of the day celebrating the life that Jesus brings. We sang "He Lives" and "Happy Day" and rejoiced in the hope Jesus brings. We rejoiced in a city that offers perhaps more diversity than any other place on earth; in a place where people fight daily and where simple conversations become political conversations. But it is in this city that Jesus came and died and it is here that he rose again. It is this city where the original message of hope began and where it continues today. Today we rejoiced in our Savior and I rejoiced even more when I thought that people in every corner of the world rejoiced with us. The only thing that was strange for us was thinking about next year. It is really going to be difficult to top this.