Happy Easter!

I was originally going to go home for Easter this weekend, but schedules and golf tournaments made it a less-than-ideal time to make the trek home. Instead, I traveled to Atlanta two weeks ago, leaving me in the City to celebrate the holiday. I suppose this was the first big holiday that I haven't gone home for, so in and of itself, I knew it was going to be different.

I woke up Sunday morning bound and determine to dress for Easter and spring rather than taking into consideration the grim and freezing forecast for the day. Well on my way to becoming a real live New Yorker, I put on a black dress, black leggings, a jacket and ballet flats. Not quite the pastel dress or white patent leather shoes of my childhood, but I was wearing a dress instead of jeans to church, so I was feeling good. After a fantastic morning service at Gallery, my friends and I set out to celebrate Easter lunch. With no Honeybaked Hams or casseroles in sight, we found the next best thing - Brother Jimmy's. I was A-OK with this decision, because I figured that barbecue, macaroni and cheese and sweet tea were a reasonable substitute for a home-cooked holiday meal.

Upon leaving Brother Jimmy's, I was greeted by freeeeeeeeeezing wind. I mean, seriously...it's April. It was Easter, the quintessential start to spring, summer and white clothing season. So why on earth was it 38 degrees?! These are the questions that I in my ballet flats was asking myself as I shivered in the cold while standing on the corner of 81st and Amsterdam. My spring fashion stubbornness finally surrendered to the chills running down my spine, and I headed home for a quick change. Goodbye quasi-New Yorker-Easter attire, hello jeans, boots, turtleneck sweater (bright pink, mind you), coat, and gloves. That's right. My evening Easter ensemble was something I would have worn in the snow in January.

Speaking of snow. After the quick change, I headed down to Washington Square Park for Easter service numero dos. It was really lovely to have the service in the park...nothing says He is Risen like snow flurries falling on your face. Seriously? Seriously. While the wind knocked over our equipment and we huddled together holding Venti Starbucks coffee, I thought to myself, 'This just might be the most interesting Easter I've ever had.' The snow subsided, though, the wind died down, and at 5pm, the Gallery Church of Manhattan had a beautiful, joyous service to celebrate the most momentous day in our Christian faith. It was incredibly moving to be worshipping in the park, singing at the top of our lungs, with the New York City skyline surrounding us and NYU students yelling at us like we were freaks. God was certainly alive and working in a lot of lives, including my own.

After the service, my sweet friends and I headed out for Easter dinner (because one large meal on a holiday is never enough). We ate at Coffee Shop, which was delicious and yet probably the least Easter-y place I could possibly imagine eating. We gulped up coffee and plantain chips and hamburgers and weird Christmas tree salads, and enjoyed our time together as a sort of little urban family.

And that was Easter '07. As I said before, it was definitely not a textbook holiday celebration. But the beauty of Easter is that it's glorious truth rings true no matter where you are, what you're wearing, who you're with, or what's on your table. The joy of Easter - that Jesus Christ conquered sin and death and offers us new life - lives beyond the cookie cutter traditions. As I sang yesterday, 'My chains are gone, I've been set free, my God, my Savior has ransomed me. And like a flood, his mercy reigns, unending love, amazing grace.'

No matter what your day looked like yesterday, I hope that you were able to celebrate the freedom, joy, love and grace that is found in Jesus Christ. Happy Easter!