Happy Easter!

Spring is here. The trees are starting to put out their leaves and the grass is greening up. What I can see through itchy eyes looks really pretty.

RETIREMENT. I want to recognize a retirement here, at least a semi-retirement. Bill and Anna Chatman live across the field from us. They are fine people and Mr. Bill has been raising the crops on Mom’s farm as well as Jackie’s farm for practically my entire life and has done an outstanding job. This year he has decided to retire, at least from the row crops (corn, wheat, and soybeans), though he is going to continue with the tobacco for a while longer.

I wanted to mention Mr. Bill here because he is one of the men I worked with on the farm when I was the age Ben and Nate are now. He was also an example to me of what a man should be as men were a bit scarce in my home. He does not know this, but Mr. Bill is one of the reasons I write the Swann Family News. His part of it came from a well timed conversation we had when I was returning a tractor and field mower. He mentioned that he had kept a diary and that he and his family enjoyed getting the old books out and reading what they had done in the past. On behalf of my family, including those not yet born, thank you, Mr. Bill, for that nudge, and for your example.

ZINGER. Yesterday Ben and I pulled into the driveway after the Good Friday service at church during a big downpour. Neither of us were too excited about running through the rain and mud to the house. As he looked out the windshield he said, “It’s raining.”

“It’s pouring,” I replied.

“The old man isn’t snoring,” was his comeback.

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“Well,” he quipped, “you’re still awake!”

TEACHER’S CHOICE AWARD. East Robertson High is doing something new this year. Thursday night they held an award ceremony where each staff member got the opportunity to recognize one student for something special. Jenna was nominated for an award by Ms. Kevi Moore who had the following to say when the award was presented: “Jenna is an awesome young lady who is kind to everyone she meets. She is very helpful to all students, and she is a great Christian example.” What makes this so special is that Ms. Moore does not teach any classes that Jenna would take. She only knows Jenna from observing her in the halls at school.

PROBLEMS. I’m still trying to figure out what’s happened over at Mom’s house. Last weekend the poor woman had no end of problems. The first she noticed was the washer. It overflowed a bit when draining water. Then the same thing happened with the dishwasher. Next the TV quit receiving about half the channels it normally gets, and they happened to be the channels she likes to watch (we were cord cutters long before it was in vogue). Then there was the hot water heater. Next she noticed the microwave had died. Finally, one of the garage door openers quit working.

I’m currently suspecting some sort of power surge for most of these problems. Fortunately some of them were easily fixed. The breaker for the water heater needed to be reset and fixing the garage door opener was just as simple. The microwave was old so we just replaced it. We called a plumber for the drain lines, but I suspect the logic board in the washer needs to be replaced as well. The TV had me most perplexed as it was mostly working right, but since it won’t get the stations with Billy Graham, Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Hal Lindsey, etc. it wasn’t getting the job done for her. In the end I get her a new set. Now she picks up more stations than we do!

EASTER ACTIVITIES. I have always found it interesting to hear what different folks do to celebrate Easter, and Vicki has read a few things that people have shared on Facebook this year. Looking back some of our customs have changed a bit. For example, we used to have joint Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services with other churches in the community, currently we do not. Our kids used to hunt Easter Eggs. They’re a bit old for that now. Otherwise things are about the same.

Last Sunday we had a “He Lives!” celebration complete with an Easter Egg Hunt at church. We had a cold snap going into last weekend but it wound up being a perfect day for the festivities, and the event was well attended. We were all involved to varying degrees helping Vicki. (The boys and I ducked out and took Mom to Tesha’s for lunch while part of these activities were going on. We did happen to drive back in time to see all the kids actually hunt for the eggs.) We had a Good Friday service at church yesterday, and will have our Easter service tomorrow. This will be followed by an Easter dinner with Mom.

One really special thing we did as a family last night was to have a Passover Seder. We had done this a couple of times at church about ten years ago and it was a very meaningful experience. Our family has been doing a weekly Bible study for the past several months so we decided to have our own Seder meal this year. Now, someone who really knows what they are doing here would probably chuckle at our attempt, but we did the best we could with what we know. The boys even attempted to sing a couple of the blessings in spite of the fact that we had no idea what the tune should be. Our meal lasted two and a half hours and we really enjoyed it. If you’d like to read the Haggadah we used I am providing a link below.

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Spring_Holidays/Pesach/Seder/H4C_Passover_Seder_Print.zip

For myself, the Seder meal has enriched how I view Communion significantly. I had a lot of questions with no satisfactory answers about this for most of my life. There are things that make sense to me now that no one could ever answer in Sunday School. I could try to explain that here, but I think it takes experiencing the Seder meal to really see the beauty of the Christian ordinance.

At any rate, I hope you have a wonderful Easter as you celebrate the death and resurrection of our Messiah.

Joe