Sunday, April 5, 2009

Not Exactly What I Envisioned

At church this weekend, they passed out invitations to our Easter services. My friend, Angela, and I grabbed a big handful and decided to walk the kids around the neighborhood and let them hang the invitations on our neighbors' doorknobs. We invited our other good friend, Marisa, and her girls to join us.

This is what I thought it would be like:

- My girls would be dressed up in cute outfits and smile sweetly at neighbors, inviting them to celebrate the resurrection with us

- A peaceful walk through the neighborhood enjoying the sunshine and time with good friends.

- A meaningful experience for all of our kids

Instead, this is what it was really like:

When it was time to go, I found my girls playing in the dirt. They were both dressed in pants that were two sizes too small and neither one had their hair brushed. At least my youngest princess remembered to throw on her crown before we left. She doesn't go anywhere without her plastic Ariel crown. Somehow they weren't the little girls in my vision. I shrugged my shoulders and had to ignore how they looked because I knew my friends were waiting for me.

So three moms, two babies in strollers, and seven kids set out to serve the Lord in our own little way.

All of the kids LOVED the idea of running door to door, but in their excitement they forgot to watch for cars and one of the little girls almost got squashed. Instead of the peaceful walk with my girl friends, we were frantically trying to push the strollers fast enough to catch up with the big kids before they got killed.....or killed each other.

It soon became a competition to see who could get to the houses first. We had crying kids, we had fighting kids, and one mini brawl broke out between two sisters at the door of one of the houses. One little girl stood and wailed on the porch until her mom sent her home.

All we could do was laugh. I can JUST imagine how inviting our church must seem to anyone who happened to look out their window. They had to wonder why there were strange children fighting on their doorstep.

It may have all turned out differently than I envisioned, but we did our best. : ) As we hiked up the hill to my house to visit, I smiled at the moms and said, "I'm sure Pastor Bob would be proud of us."

We didn't get our peaceful walk, but the kids did enjoy it and begged me to go get more invitations tomorrow so they could do it again. I'm not sure our neighborhood's up for another round of us. : )

One thing this did do was remind me that Easter is just one week away. It is my favorite holiday and it snuck up on me. I really want to spend some time this week getting my heart ready to celebrate and worship. If you live locally and want a church to visit I can recommend a good one! I can't guarantee that the kids will be well-behaved there, though. : )

I hope you all have a blessed Easter. I can't wait to celebrate that He is Risen!!!!

3 comments:

Kim said...

Oh, Becky what a trip! I was laughing so hard reading your post. All that matters is that you were serving the Lord, not how it all played out. That definitley sounded like a fun trip though. I pray many of your neighbors will turn out. Have a blessed Easter as well.

Sandy said...

Becky,
Thank you for your recent visit to my blog and for the hearty laugh over your little adventure. Thank you for the reminder that most things in life don't always turn out like we expect them to but to take it all in stride and do the best with what we have been handed. Have a blessed Easter.

Mom said...

Ha Ha Ha Ha, You are so funny. It is your expectations that make me laugh. I guess I've had enough experience with Halloween and the fighting over who gets to ring the doorbell, or grabbing a handfull of candy out of the bowl before the adult could put one in your sack, that I can just picture your little peace walk. Just pray for the Easter egg hunt. (and don't expect great things :))