A Nontraditional Easter

Easter morning
This Easter we found ourselves alone.  My parents were on a cruise. My brother was spending the day with his in-laws. Marty's sister and her family were in Disneyworld.  Marty's mom was manning the restaurant on one of their busiest days of the year. And of course the one we were missing was Jack, Marty's father. This would be our first holiday without him.  I suggested a trip, worried about how Marty would handle his absence.  He was insistent that we stay home and get through it.  We still had two cows that had not had calves yet and we needed to check on the cattle. I thik I might have grumbled something not being real excited so spend Easter on the farm. 

I remember our pastor saying just recently in a sermon. "God doesn't always give us what we want, but he always gives us what we need."  Because we were not rushing around from festivity to festivity and from relative to relative, I had so much more time for reflection on Easter and Jesus' sacrifice.  This year, being the most horrific we have endured so far in our married life due to trauma and tragedy, could not compare to my crucified Savior's sacrifice.

What I thought we needed that Easter was a big celebration, and instead, God gave us what we needed. He gave us a quiet, reflective holiday, beautiful weather, family time, and a wonderful meal.  Our meal was very nontraditional. Although it was Marty's Mom's cooking, it was prepared for the buffet at the restaurant and we ate it there so we could spend a little time with her. It was delicious.

We spent the day with a lot of Mamas and babies but they were of the furry variety. Emma and I had a ball calling them and trying to get them to move to another field. They were a hoot. Our little runt named Runaway (he was named this because he was lost for close to three days when he was first born) was bringing up the rear and he was just "mooing" his heart out.  It was precious.

 Emma and I spent most of the day on the back of a tractor. It was so relaxing and so much fun.

 Emma got to feed the bull. She was a little wary but oh, so proud of herself.

 Reese got a game in his basket to replace one that was broken. He was super excited.

Before we left for the evening we got to see Marty's Mom and his grandma.  We had an Easter egg hunt in the yard and we took some pictures. Four generations are in this photo. We adore this lady!! She is an amazing woman!

I marvel at how God provides for us emotionally, physically, and spiritually. His ways are not our ways, but His ways are perfect. He knows what we need. Thank God for unanswered prayers!