Easter

Easter is very much a big holiday here—and probably similar to the U.S., it’s not so much because everyone is religious. It’s because kids are out of school and there are “bank holidays” on the Friday before and Monday after Easter. Thankfully for us, this also meant that one of our daughters and her husband and our grandson were able to come for the Easter holiday/spring break. Because we had a few days off from “work” (our missionary service takes place in the Area Office and it’s closed on bank holidays) we were able to spend time with our family sharing some of the things we love about this area and going on a little weekend getaway to the Cotswolds. England designates certain areas as AONBs or “Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty”. The Cotswolds area more than qualifies with its beautiful rolling, green pastures and charming, old villages.

In a few short days, we packed in a lot! Bath (the Roman baths, Jane Austen Center, the Royal Crescent, Bath Abbey), Gloucester & Lacock (Harry Potter film locations), and small villages of Castle Combe, Lower Slaughter, Bourton-On-The-Water and Bibury. Here’s just a little sampling of the beauty we experienced:

Everywhere we went we saw evidence of spring really putting on a beautiful show!

We also visited Kew Gardens and Hampton Court Palace--both filled with blossoms and beauty.

I shared this thought on social media, but I’ll share it here as well:

So many things here point me to God. Cathedrals with their spires pointing to heaven. Beautiful old cemeteries. Crosses. The stunning beauty of nature. All are reminders of the Savior and His desire to reach out to us and have us turn to Him. This Easter weekend I’m so grateful for all He has done for me and all He is to me.

There were two particular things I noticed this week that I captured in photographs. First, in the Gloucester Cathedral I was drawn to this beautiful and thought-provoking tomb effigy of a young woman named Elizabeth, a daughter of a church Bishop from the 1600s (she was the daughter of Bishop Miles Smith who was responsible for the translation of the later books of the Old Testament, and preface, for the King James Version of the Bible). She had died in childbirth, and her infant’s shrouded effigy lies next to her.

The plaque above her is translated from the Latin and reads:

“Husband, you carved in marble here your wife;

Thus you’d ensure her immortality.

But CHRIST my hope and trust was, all my life;

So God forbids that I should mortal be.”

What a beautiful reminder that no statue or monument can make us immortal—only Christ can do that. I hope at the end of my life I can say like this young Elizabeth, “Christ my hope and trust was, all my life.”

And finally, I walked towards the front of the chapel to take a picture of the beautiful stained glass. I would have normally waited until this sweet older man was out of the way and not in the picture.

But as I stood and waited and watched him dutifully sweep every step in preparation for the Easter services, oblivious to the tourists walking through, I was so touched by his devotion. He probably won’t ever have any statues in his honor, and we’ll never know his name, but God sees him and knows him. The scene I was trying to capture was not “ruined” by having him in the way, instead it was made holy. I want to be more like this man.

Happy Easter to all of you. We pray you’ll put your hope and trust in Christ and that you’ll “sweep every step”.

♥ Until next time, we love you! Cheerio! ♥

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Words of the Week:

(Words or phrases we hear “on the street” that either delight, confuse or amuse us.)

Love - seems like an obvious word, but in the British way of speaking, when it’s said at the end of a statement or question by someone talking to you, it just sounds infinitely more charming, for example by a cashier, “What can I help you with, love?” or “Is that everything, my love?”

Dip in - to go inside a store for just a short time, “I’m just going to dip in here to pick something up.”