It turns out that sunrise service is held while the sun is rising. At 6 a.m. When it is early and there is a chill in the air. This service is held outside, when folding chairs are damp with dew. In order to be on time for sunrise service, you have to leave your house when it is dark, before the sun is up and before the Easter bunny has hopped into your home and left candy.All these things I didn't know until this Sunday. I had never attended a sunrise service before. I didn't even know that Easter church services could be held outside until I met Benny.
See Benny loves sunrise service. Each and every Easter he talks about how wonderful this service is. To Benny sunrise service with its upbeat cheerful music, usually accompanied by a trumpet, is the definition of Easter.
To me, Easter is rolling out of bed around 7 a.m., eating candy for breakfast, before you put on your new Easter dress and head to Mass at the reasonable hour of 10a.m. I thought it was enough of a pain in the butt to arrive 30 minutes early so you can sit in your regular seat before it was taken by a family who attends church only on Easter and Christmas.
I always thought sunrise service was just a cleaver marketing tool for Christians. Like saying midnight Mass because traditionally Christmas service was held at midnight, but in today's modern world is conveniently held at 10 p.m.
On Saturday night, Benny and I went to bed with alarms set. Mine was set for 4:30 a.m. so I could shower and dress before waking Olivia at 5 a.m. I would feed her while Benny got ready at 5 a.m. It was a great plan.
Then Olivia decided to wake up at 2 a.m., 3:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m., so I ended up sleeping a chair with her. And we took her to the chapel in her yellow pajamas because I didn't want to wake her at 5:30 a.m. even though I did want her to wear a pink Easter dress.
At the breakfast following the sunrise serviceThis was Olivia's first Easter, so besides attending sunrise service, she also had to get her photo taken with the Easter Bunny.
The three of us went to an Easter brunch buffet at a Marine Corps base's restaurant with views of the ocean.
I got to play Easter Bunny by buying a few goodies for her and placed them in this pink basket. I didn't get her basket and Benny's basket filled until about 6 p.m. last night, but I tell myself it's the thought that counts.
4 comments:
I went to church on Friday because I had never been to a Good Friday service (being raised Pentecostal, we didn't believe in those high-church rituals). But when I got to church, only the youth group was there, eating some kind of mixed concoction of pepper, spaghetti sauce, sour cream and other sundry items from the church kitchen. The youth pastor offered me some. It was disgusting just to look at and smell. So warning to those who love services -- check the calendar and the times twice, or you may be forced to eat something concocted by a 13-year-old. (Service had been at noon, seven hours prior, turned out it had been misprinted). Lesson learned.
YAY!!!! I'm so happy there was an update! lol...this made my Monday morning. I love the pictures! :)
Indeed it is the thought. You all look great! And I'm glad you really did come out of strike mode :)
Great talking to you last night. It had been too long!
CEOs (Christmas and Easter Only). Those are the most important people in the church--we get exactly two chances a year to set 'em straight!
I, for one, did not go to an Easter Sunrise Service this year, which turned out to be a good thing as the sun never did rise...
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