Spring Break!

This week is spring break. There is no subbing for me (almost glad for a break, but thankful to be getting work!) and a needed break for Tom. Though we have a list 10 miles long of things we'd like to accomplish during break- mostly outdoor and garage projects- summer prep-related.

This week is also Holy Week, which means I'll be at church nearly every day, with either and actual service or a rehearsal or meeting of some type. and I actually really enjoy Holy Week- likely in the neurotic way that most Lutherans actually enjoy Lent. (Really, with Holy Week being the culmination of Lent, isn't that appropriate? I'm almost ready to say "H---------!" again- if you don't know what that is, wait until Easter Day and go ask a Lutheran.)

This year we have the luxury of having Passover (Pesach) happen during Holy Week. While at church, we will be observed a shortened seder=like dinner on Thursday, my family is going to "real" family seder on Monday night. I look forward to this all year, as it is fun, meaningful, good food and company, but really enlightens my understanding of why we, as Christians, celebrate Easter. In part, I am confused on why Christians no longer celebrate some of the Jewish holidays- it is the foundation of our faith and many of the traditions make so much sense. In my mind, they give more meaning to the faith I believe- and the traditions which the church sometimes seems to really lack. That and I've never really gotten a straight answer to why we DON'T observe some of these holidays/festivals in the same way, when some of them (like Passover) I really think we should.

The Wall Street Journal had a great article last week on Passover and the modernizing of the holiday- the tagline was "Passover Meets Twitter"- but I do encourage a reading. The seder we attend is a family seder and it does include "acting out" the plagues- and part of the levity of the celebration, and its participatory nature, helps me understand it even more.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703909804575123562145336920.html?KEYWORDS=New+Seder


As we move into spring break and holy week, we also enter the last 3 months of wedding planning. And I must again revisit some of the prescribed lists to figure out what I have to do next. I feel this is partially a time of "hurry up and wait," which is a little unnerving. Mostly because I am not sure what I need to be doing, if anything yet. It is too early for many things and other things, I think, are either done or in a holding pattern until after Easter (like some service prep and pre-marriage counseling, though the inventories start this week for us).

In other news, I finally posted the Hawaii pictures to Facebook. Next will be a brief section of shower photos- I don't really feel the need to post pictures of Tom and I with almost every gift- though some of the shots are kind of fun and funny, and therefore those will get posted later in the week.