Holy Week 2014: Easter Space

In my last post I kind of spun Easter in a pessimistic light.  But at the end, I resolved to take responsibility for my own worship. I decided to find a way to create some meaningful space for my soul to celebrate the Resurrection in a way that was different from previous years.  As it turns out, the solution was pretty simple.

In the morning, I carved out about 15 minutes of space.  I bundled myself in blankets, then took my coffee and my iPod out to the porch.  Outside, I took some time to breathe in Spring.  I don't think it's accidental that Easter is in Spring.  For me, it's just another way that God reveals His love as an object lesson.  Things in Spring burst to life and fill the world with beauty and fragrance and newness.  Spring causes me to worship a God who, after a cold, harsh season, makes all things new again.

After I took a minute to just be...I popped my ear buds in and shuffled through to some of my favorite worship songs on my iPod.  There are a handful of songs that always whisper truth and peace to my soul. They are lyrical and poetic...violins soar, harmonicas wail, drums lead my heartbeat, and voices sing rich, heavy theology.  This is worship that matches my "heartsong" (little Happy Feet reference for ya).

I pondered, I prayed, I cried. In the quiet, I connected to God.  I thought of Him, thanked Him, let love flow out of my heart and allowed Him to pour out love for me.  It was space.  It was worship.

While 15 short minutes wouldn't seem to make much difference, today's quarter of an hour did.  Taking time to focus my heart and mind informed the rest of my day.  I was able to have a soft, teachable heart during the sermon.  I was comfortable being as exuberant as I cared to be without feeling the weight of the "shoulds" of Easter.

Knowing myself and feeling free to change the way I do things, has today, proven to be beneficial for my soul.  I am a woman who is wrapped up in doing things "right".  Today, right was different.  Right was thinking outside the box and being intentional about interacting with God the way I was uniquely created to.