Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter!

 This morning Lulu and Levi woke up to their Easter baskets full of fun goodies.  We had an early start because we had to be in Seattle around 8:30am for our church service. 
 My mom drove with us and we made it to Quest Field where the Seattle Seahawks play football.  Our church Mars Hill Church rented out the stadium and 8 out of the 9 campuses (Albuquerque, NM is the 9th) came together to worship and CELEBRATE Jesus rising from the tomb.  And it was one amazing celebration! 
 We found our seats.  It was raining of course (this is Seattle).  But Mark found some great 48 yard line, covered seats that were on the 200 club level so they were even padded.  This entire worship celebration was free to everyone and the last count we heard was over 17,500 people attended. 
 Here was our view of the stage.  Mars Hill Church did a great job. 
 My brother Todd and his wife Stephanie came and celebrated with us.  They now live in Seattle and it's been so nice to see them so often.  We love you both so much! 
 Then about 7 min. before the service started the choir came out.  It was so exciting sitting in a football stadium knowing we were all there to worship and celebrate Jesus!  Goose bumps. 
 Then one of my favorite things was that instead of raising the famous 12th man flag that they fly at the Seahawks games, a Seattle Seahawks player came out and had them raise the Jesus flag.  This is a pretty amazing thing to do in Seattle.  Seattle is the most un-churched city and to be flying a flag that says Jesus is just unheard of.  Another goose bump moment. 
Then we had a great time of worship.  The band and choir were great. 
 Then Pastor Mark Driscoll came out and gave the powerful Easter sermon.  You can watch it HERE.
 Then after Pastor Mark was done they had more worship music and invited anyone who wanted to be baptized to come down.  They had 20 tubs and the last count we heard was around 500 724 (final count) people got baptized!  I was crying watching all the different people who were down there.  Young, old, men, women.  It was such a blessing to see them get baptized. 
 Here we are after.  My dad had to work so he couldn't join us.  We had a great time and it was unforgettable. 
 After church we headed over to my parents for Easter brunch.  My mom had baskets for Lulu and Levi. 
 Papa was there when we got there and Levi got to snuggle with him a bit.
 Then the kids got to do their first egg hunt.  My dad hid the eggs before we got there.  I remember when I was little we hunted for hard boiled eggs.  Lulu and Levi were hunting for candy filled and money filled eggs.  I hope next year I can join in.
 Levi found an egg!
 Papa and Grammie-goo with Lulu and Levi.
Here we are, all 5 of us!

I hope you had a wonderful Easter.  He Is Risen!

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" John 7:37-38

5 comments:

Christine said...

You captured the day beautifully!
It was a great day.

corners of my life said...

Such a great way to celebrate. Were those yellow choir robes or slickers?!

Not Just a Waitress said...

Happy Easter!!
Looks like you guys had a wonderful, worshipful celebration. :) :) :)

dee dee said...

Wow! Happy Belated Easter!
Dee dee

GT said...

Love this post! What a wonderful God glorifying Easter. Got choked up watching the clip of ALL those many people singing to the Lord in that stadium. Beautiful. Also got a kick out of seeing Mr Grunge in a suit. He cleans up pretty good. :-)