1. "Hope springs eternal"...discuss. I can't imagine living life without hope. Hope is often the thing that keeps us moving forward. Thinking about this past year, we've had hope that the pandemic would eventually end. I personally have hope that after my next vaccination and the time required afterwards, I will be protected from a terrible case of covid at least for a while! I have hope that maybe soon our supper club can be together around our dining room table sharing a meal and we can gather with other friends in restaurants. I have hope that we can all come back to church.
Hope
Springs
Eternal
I do have a funny story about "hope" and this story was actually what I thought of when I read Joyce's prompt. Quite a few years ago, we saw the HGTV dream home sweepstakes advertised. Our kids were probably middle schoolers, and the internet was not as readily available to us as it is today. I think we had internet access and email addresses, but we weren't consumed with spending hours per day on our computers. Our family actually went to the post office and bought a BUNCH (at least 100 - maybe more) of pre-stamped postcards and sat around our kitchen table filling them out. We had "hope" that we were going to win the HGTV dream home that year. Just FYI - we didn't win.
2. Last time you needed to 'spring into action' or 'spring to someone's defense'...explain. When our granddaughters are around, I feel like we need to spring into action quite often. We have a playground with a slide and swings in front of our house and I feel like I've "sprung into action" (is sprung right? Auto correct wants me to use sprang) to keep one of the girls from going over the side of the slide, etc.
3. Tulips or daffodils? baby birds or baby bunnies? The cherry tree or the dogwood tree? Jellybeans or peeps? March madness or spring training? Peas or carrots? I love daffodils but tulips are pretty, too! I think I would choose baby bunnies! We have lots of dogwood trees in Alabama and they are beautiful! Our family tends to eat jellybeans more than peeps - though my oldest granddaughter had a peep the other day and she didn't know what it was called and when she described it, I immediately knew it was a peep. She enjoyed it! I'm not really into March madness or spring training. I love peas and carrots together!
4. I read an article here on the South's best cities on the rise. They are-Baton Rouge Louisiana, Fayetteville Arkansas, Greenville South Carolina, Huntsville Alabama, Lexington Kentucky, Norfolk Virginia, Tulsa Oklahoma, Waco Texas, Wilmington North Carolina, and Winston-Salem North Carolina. Of the cities listed how many have you seen in person? Which one on the list would you most like to see? Have you spent much time in the southern states (USA)? Any spring road trips on your calendar? I've been to Huntsville many times and it is indeed a growing city as are the suburbs around it. I've driven through some of the other cities, but I don't think I've ever stayed in any of the other cities. I would like to go to Waco, Texas! I live in Alabama in the middle of the deep south, and I love it. I have lived here my whole life. We have two tiny road trips planned for later in the spring - a wedding weekend in Franklin, TN and a wedding weekend in Oxford, MS.
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| Great Mexican restaurant in Huntsville - Huntsville is the halfway point where we can meet our friends from Nashville |
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| The "rocket" in Huntsville, AL |
5. Tell us how your outdoor space needs sprucing up this spring? Which do you enjoy more (or hate the least-ha!) yard work or housework? Mark has been working on sprucing up our outdoor spaces because we had a drive through baby shower on Saturday. He painted our picket fence and trimmed shrubs and edged the sidewalk. Do you want me to be honest? I don't particularly enjoy yard work or housework!!
6. Insert your own random thought here. Our church has secured the local football stadium for our Easter service so that we can all be together. I know that it is too early to truly predict the weather for that day but right now there is a 24% chance of rain that day. We need no rain that day. It is going to be so awesome to be in the same place with many of our church family. We will be wearing masks and social distancing as much as possible. One of my close friends said she couldn't decide whether to buy an Easter dress or wear her son's football jersey. Either one would be just fine!
Life before easy access to internet was so thrilling. Great picture of granddaughter in her swing so cute. Great idea of having service at the football stadium. Last year was the first year in over 50 years I did not attend church on Easter. My church is open so I have enjoyed being back in person...capacity is probably 500+ but our attendance has been about 100 to 200.
ReplyDeleteHave a great rest of the week.
our church reopened for worship in October and our sanctuary normally holds close to 1000 but in order to social distance, our numbers for each service are 150 or less. We would need about 14 worship services to accommodate enough people on Easter and we haven't ALL been together in so long. I'm really excited about the service. Last year was our first Easter to miss church, too, and we were alone for Sunday lunch. It was an Easter to remember in weird ways!
DeleteI liked the Easter dress comment, and yes, it really doesn't matter does it. Our church will be having three indoor services Easter Sunday and I feel sure all will be full. The sanctuary holds several thousand. Wearing masks is by choice and very few do it and there is no social distancing at all. It has been wonderful and I realize we are the exception.
ReplyDeleteEach person and each church looks at things differently which is what makes the world an interesting place :-).
DeleteI'm cracking up over wearing a Sunday dress or football jersey. I can get behind a church that would be ok with either.
ReplyDeleteYes!! We have two campuses and at our main campus, we have two traditional services (people dress up more) and we also have contemporary services where the dress is much more casual. Our other campus is a total mix. We want ALL to feel welcome!
DeleteInteresting how we have all adapted to the new naormal. I am hoping it will not rain on your service.
ReplyDeleteI love your postcard story! Reminds me of my sweet mother, so optimistic she would someday win Ed McMahon's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes. Love the idea of holding Easter services at the stadium. My uncle (pastor) used to officiate Easter services from the racetrack in Sarasota.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a fun Easter celebration! We're going to an April wedding near Nashville too. Ours is not in Franklin but I have been to Franklin and it's a cute town. A friend told me today she was at a wedding in Mobile this past weekend and thought Mobile was a nice town. Another one I haven't seen. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteYou must have a huge church to need a football stadium for Easter services! Wow! Great idea! Praise God when and where you can! I enjoyed your Hodgepodge answers!
ReplyDeleteToo bad you didn't win that dream home, that would have been a great story! Still, what a fun family memory. So glad your church will be gathering for Easter. "He is Risen, He is Risen, Indeed!"
ReplyDeleteI'm going to pray for no rain! Yes, springing into action after grandchildren is never ending. Sorry you didn't win the contest. Enjoyed your answers.
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