celebrating, but sobered too

at last! our foster license was approved today, and we are currently eligible for placement. there's some serious celebrating happening in our hearts today. we started the process in mid-august, and have been working through it over the last seven months.

it was within a few hours of the final email from our licensor that we received our first placement request email. i was quite surprised. DSHS starts by emailing a list of all currently-eligible families with a summary of the situation, and we can reply if we're interested. while it would've been a crazy night, the situation sounded worth exploring, so i replied and asked if we could talk if the child was still available. within moments, my phone was ringing, a blocked number, which i knew immediately was DSHS. the placement worker told me the little boy had been placed, but that they now had a sibling set available out of our local office. we're not at all prepared for a sibling set, but i asked a few of my questions anyway, and told them to contact us if they couldn't find another place for the kids.

as i drove home from the office today, i reflected on this conversation. surely there is celebrating in our home tonight, but my heart is sobered too. that was a real conversation. with real kids. a real family. real moms and dads with real problems. and real kids with real pain and trauma. suddenly, this isn't just an idea or a theory or a dream anymore. it's become very real. and it will only get more real. so while we celebrate the end of the challenging beginning, i am sobered by the realities of the next chapter, and reminded of the vision God has given us for this journey. our hearts are for hurting kids.

Making the Most of Easter

For most adults, Easter isn't about jelly beans and hunting for Easter eggs. In fact, if I'm not careful, Easter feels a little like my grown-up birthdays: "It's Easter. Eh. Just another Sunday."

In ministry, I've found this feeling exaggerated, because it's not just another Sunday; it's a really busy workday.

Don't get me wrong: I love Easter. I love the meaning. I love the celebration of new life. I even love the spring-themed stuff that goes along with the jelly beans and the Easter eggs.

But frequently, I find myself "missing" Easter. What I mean is this: week after week goes by as we just truck through the year, and suddenly we're saying "April already? Wow!" And then suddenly it's Easter, and we expect ourselves to feel especially joyful or connected to God. And then it's over.

After several years of these feelings, I realized that Easter was passing me by. So in order to fully appreciate Easter, I've developed a few habits that help me each year:

1. Intentional Preparation.

Preparing oneself, heart and spirit, for Easter looks different for everyone, and it looks different for me every year. Usually, this includes celebrating Lent.

If you didn't participate in Lent this year, it's not too late to start. Easter is more than a month away. What could you sacrifice for a month, to allow yourself to experience a small taste of Christ's sacrifice for you?

If you have kids at home, I would recommend planning some opportunities or experiences for your family to help learn about and celebrate the Easter story together. In the next few weeks, we'll be publishing a Family Experience Guide which will offer you ideas for daily family moments between Palm Sunday (4/1) and Easter (4/8). This is a great opportunity to prepare your hearts.

2. Intentional Serving.

Just hours before He died, Jesus demonstrated serving to us at the Last Supper, so we'd be remiss to skip this part. I look for a serving opportunity over Holy Week or Easter weekend. This year, Creekside is partnering again with community businesses to provide the Mountlake Terrace Easter Egg Hunt. There are 2 opportunities for you to serve:

• Bring individually-wrapped candy on Sunday, March 11th, 18th or 25th and drop it in the bin in the lobby.
• Help us get ready for easter egg hunters on Saturday, April 7, at the Evergreen playfield in MLT. (Interested? Email me: kthaete @ gmail.com)

3. Intentional Celebration.

Since Easter Sunday is a "work day" for me, I've found it helpful to celebrate throughout the whole weekend. We start by observing and reflecting on Christ's death at our Good Friday service. Saturday is when we break our Lent "fast", and often do something fun or special together. Sunday is about celebrating with our church family, and sometimes visiting our family if time allows.

However you decide to observe Easter, don't miss it. Don't let it pass you by. It's not just another birthday. It's a celebration of great sacrifice, new life, and free gifts. (Okay, that really does make it sound like another birthday - but you and I both know, it's not.)