Well - Easter looks a bit different

this year, doesn't it?

But I'm loving seeing how adaptable we are as believers 

and how we can celebrate our Risen Lord anywhere -

 If the grave can't contain Him, then the walls of a church certainly can't either -

Earlier we discussed doing a neighborhood sunrise service, 

 but decided social distancing might be an issue...
So then... we thought we'd set out a cross to flower up... 

but someone at the end of our street put one out early in the week... 

So this is what we did to decorate and celebrate Easter at home. 

I moved the little seat close by so people could take photos if they want...

As I write this, our dogwoods are blooming [LOVE THEM] and we have several Easter plans in the works - Saturday night we plan to grab some Chick Fil A and go to "drive-in" church

in a neighboring city [area... city... is it a city?] 

Then early Sunday we're going to join in, via live-stream, with the Easter Sunrise service we've attended these last few years... It's one of my favorite ways to celebrate Easter!

Next will be a little family service via zoom!

Then our church's live-stream... and we're recording the Franklin Graham / Michael W. Smith service from Central Park - Later in the evening we'll be watching one or two of the many  christian artists who are sharing with us from their homes ...

So you can see, even in this time of social distancing [or are we calling it quarantine now?] there are still SO MANY ways we can connect!

The dogwood has always been a symbol of Christ's death and resurrection to me.

[See more info, here.]

 [Again - our trees, right now -]

So when I saw this Bible Journaling page from Carol Spillan-Akian

I knew I wanted to give it a go - It just feels perfect [to me] 

for this time when we are all concerned about the health of our lungs

 [what the COVID19 virus might do, etc.] 

To me this shows that Christ's love is what breathes life into us 

and since we have [this] breath, we should praise the Lord. 

Right here in this crazy life we're in.

So here's a quick how-to - 

I was pleased to find that I had plenty of space to journal in Psalm 150 [it's the last chapter in Psalms!] And y'all know... I always start with a pencil and a BIG eraser - truth.

So I just sketched in two egg shaped lungs, and added what I think looks like roots on a tree... then the dogwood flowers [note that there are five petals per flower and they are flat on the edges.] I added leaves too.

Next I added watercolors... white inside the flowers [with just a hint of yellow / tan / pink,] a light pink inside the lungs, grey veins and flower centers, and a darker pink outline... 

oh, and of course, green for the leaves. [Allow time to dry between colors...]

After this dried completely I went over it all with a pen - 

A bigger pen for the verse [maybe a pt8] and a smaller pen for the lungs / flowers [pt3] becasue I wanted a sketchy feel on this - In this photo, you can see how the pen on the top right really makes a differences in the over all look.

I added in dots around the center of each flower and other small swirly lines coming from that 'roots' that give us life... This is my completed page - 

Pardon the wonky sunlit photos... I did my Bible Journaling in #AnnieLeetheArgosy one afternoon last week - and those windows let in A LOT of light. [but I love 'em.]

She's my vacation destination these days - ha.

Happy Easter y'all!