Hello, God. It's me, Mara.

You know, Lord, "D.S." shared about both Palm Sunday and Easter!

She said, "Thinking back some years ago about Easter time, we remember that we stood in church on Palm Sunday watching the children parade through the aisles, waving their palm branches. It was enjoyable watching the youngest ones hold onto a 'cord' secured to their Sunday School teacher so they could follow her through the jam-packed sanctuary because they were too small to see where they were going; they could hardly walk through the crowded sanctuary without her. It reminded a few of us that we should, in the same way, faithfully follow Jesus.

"Once inside, it was hard to miss a barren wooden cross, about three feet high, covered with chicken wire, it was set up in the front of the altar. At this church, at the appointed time, while singing hallelujah hymns, children and adults took forward cut blossoms from yards or floral shops to 'Flower the Cross.' Old rugged boards were typically transformed to hold beautiful, multicolored bouquets that adorned the sanctuary throughout the worship service.

"And then one-year, things were different - it was still wonderful, but leadership had changed things. Again, a flowering took place, by children and adults as they brought forth blossoms, and placed them on the cross. After that recessional, then to the outdoor altar, which was a prelude to the egg hunt.

"Everything about Easter says, 'Spring!'; flowers that decorate the church, cherry blossoms, Easter lilies, eggs we color, chickee's that hatch, bunnies we cuddle. We also remembered that Martin Luther once said, 'Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.'

"I love John 11:25 (ESV) 'Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."'" (Thanks, D. S., for sharing about Jesus.)

Love, Mara