Grace & Peace

Life for me recently has been lots of:  tough domestic violence work, crazy family schedules, house hunting/obsessing, and second thoughts on moving to New Jersey. This weekend was a welcome respite from most of that, to my surprise.

It began by me deciding I would actually take the holiday time Catholic Charities grants for Easter weekend instead of working anyway. This included me not putting myself on call, even though there were empty slots.  It was a tough decision, but one my awesome (and may I add completely dedicated to the cause and hard working) boss advised me to consider in light of setting appropriate boundaries and spending time with my family at meaningful times so they would not end up hating my job and so I would not end up hating my job. Upon learning that same day that I now have to volunteer to cover a holiday shift of the safe house solo each year, I made my decision to take Holy Weekend off. Can I get an Amen?!

Molly also had lots of time this weekend, which is a miracle itself.  No track, no Madrigals, no violin, and not quite as much homework.  The kids' spring break was shortened to a long Easter weekend that mirrored mine. In all of her spare time, she decided that we would be participating in as many of the services our church offered during Holy Week that she could.  We once again attend a United Methodist Church, and being a seasonal sort of person, I wholeheartedly like that Methodists follow a church calendar and store a lot of faith in traditions surrounding holy days.  Maybe this can be traced to being born Roman Catholic, but this is deeply comforting to me.  Molly was not born Roman Catholic, so I don't know how to explain this kid's desire to participate in these services. Anna wanted nothing to do with a bunch of church services and I wanted nothing to do with dragging a 9 year old to a bunch of church services. Jeff was happy to stay home with her, and Molly and I went to Holy Thursday service. We also went to the stations of the cross on Friday and the Tenebrae service on Good Friday while Anna was at a play date. We also took Biscuit on a long walk uptown and got scones and coffee and hung out on lovely Main Street, and I maintain that many activities are soul-feeding and spiritual in nature.

The other magic ingredient this weekend was the actual springlike conditions.  Sunny, a little warm, and flowering trees, emerging buds, daffodils and tulips and greening grass everywhere.  It was so lovely Saturday that our family went on a walk around town (that included a stop for hot pretzels), and riding bikes to and from Anna's improv classes.  (Yes, Anna is taking improv classes. Her decision, over being in a traditional theater company this spring).

The classes are held on the charming grounds of a lovely old mansion in town. The grounds are especially pretty with all the trees in bloom.

We got up early to go to the sunrise service on Easter.  Partly because the girls had volunteered to be part of the service (Molly to do a reading, Anna to sing in a children's ensemble), and partly because in the past few years, sunrise services have grown on me.  In the past I seldom found Easter very inspiring, and it was a bit of a letdown for me. Sunrise services are outside and involve a pretty sunrise (usually) and there is not focus on dressing up.  They are smaller and more intimate and I find they are more meaningful to me.  The rest of my family seems ok with this, so that's what we did.  Then we came home and did our little family Easter egg hunt.

The girls also received big Easter baskets full of chocolate.  Lots and lots of chocolate. 

An Easter Biscuit:) He only tolerated this bow because he thought it might earn him a taste of some of the peanut butter smells coming from the basket in front of him....

Then we packed lunches, grabbed breakfast sandwiches from Wawa, and headed up to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation area at the northwest corner of NJ for some hiking (another what-seems-to-becoming-tradition of our family).

To discover for myself that there are mountains, clean water, clean air, and undeveloped land 2 hours away in this state is a very good thing for my tolerance of New Jersey and therefore my family's tolerance of me. The Adirondacks and Keuka Lake were 2 hours away from Syracuse, and Lake Michigan sand dunes and were 2 hours away from East Lansing.  Not sure if the Delaware Water Gap lives up to all that, but it is enough that I don't feel penned in on a crowded peninsula miles away from any truly open space.  (The shore does NOT count in summer when people are packed in like sea lions).

Anna is best on family hikes when the level of challenge is high.  Jeff did a good job selecting a hike with a difficult climb with lots of rock scrambling.

A few streams to ford keep interest and excitement alive as well.

A glimpse of another mountain and the Delaware River. It looks a lot different here than in Philadelphia.

A rewarding summit view. We stopped for lunch and as Anna said, "Peanut butter and jelly always tastes better at the top of a mountain."

 Not the Grand Canyon (last year's Easter hike), but still a great hike.

The way back was more meandering than Anna would have liked, but thankfully just as she was about to give up on us, we got to a lovely creek.

We followed it for the rest of the way back.

Yes, I took lots of these water pictures. It's been a long time since I have seen truly clean water in natural settings.  I'll be done posting them now.

It always gives a sense of accomplishment to see what you've done. When we got back to the parking area, we realized we were looking at the mountain we climbed. See that stripe of rock and pines? We were at the top of that.

A close-up of the summit. We ate lunch on that top outcropping. 

When we came home, we cleaned up and had dinner at "Bobby's Burger Palace, " a Bobby Flay restaurant.  We had fun and the food was good, but sorry Bobby, you might have a residence in our town, but Jeff and I think Jose Garces does a better burger.

We finished up the day with a big piece of Eclair cake (I somewhat successfully gave up sweets this Lent and this was the marker of the end of that) as I read one of Molly's Sharon Creech novels, Jeff played Settlers of Catan online, and the girls played with one of their Sims families on the computer. And Biscuit slept.  All together in the same room. While the sun set in the same Easter egg colors it rose in. 

An Easter weekend that quietly bestowed the grace and peace I needed most. Which, I think, is what Easter is about. Surprising us with the grace and peace we need most.