Easter 2017

Our family has a ranch in southwest Texas called The Texana.  We love the seclusion, the land, the wildlife, and how with each sunset God reminds us that wherever we go:   HE IS THERE!  My daughter and I love getting on the ATV's  with our wireless headphones.  We ride for hours checking out the roads, the animals, and the wildflowers. Remember, everything is Texas is bigger!  You can ride for 3+ hours and not hit every road on the Texana. This Easter we went to the Texana and I was a little concerned about not being at our home church for this important Holy day.  But God was not, He was going to bless us outside of our comfort zone.  

We got up on Sunday morning, had breakfast, got ready while we listened to worship music and headed outside the gates to the small town in which The Texana resides. Mertzon, Texas, population 781 fine people They have a Methodist, Catholic and Baptist church.  We attend the Baptist church when we are there.  I honestly chose this church because I love how it looks in the distance when you get up the hill from the ranch. (It was cloudy the day I took this photo but you can see the steeple in the distance)

 

 The pews are covered in red velvet and lined with white, painted wood.  At the end of each pew is a hand crocheted afghan in case you get chilly during the service.  The pastor leads the music as well as the sermon.   The sweetest ladies play the piano and the organ and they are highlighted by the stained glass windows behind them.  On Easter, the organist donned a tiny, laced hat with flowers.  (boy did that make me miss my Nana)  The pastor gave the sermon with passion and love.  The congregation "amen'd" on certain points; and after the invitation was offered, the congregation joined hands and circled the tiny room singing "We're a Part of The Family of God."  

It did not matter, Easter 2017, if I worshiped at our home church. It made no difference if I was with 2000 or 75 people in a building.  It made not a bit of difference whether there was smoke and artificial lights or lights from a stained glass window.  The fact that there were not drums or guitars did not change the way my heart felt singing to a piano and organ. When we left we did not talk about Clint's work, but had people ask us if we had been successful in our turkey hunting.  We did not go out to eat with friends afterward, but drove back to The Texana and ate a home cooked meal together.  I did not wear my finest clothes and Clint did not have on a suit and tie; however, God chose to bless us anyway for our willingness to worship.

I should have known this all along.  I climb the hill every single night, rain or shine, on The Texana to worship at sunset.  God is there with me.  I have been all over the world and THAT dusty hill is my favorite spot on earth.  So, I should have been prepared for what God was going to do at First Baptist Church Mertzon, Texas on Easter 2017.  It was a precious experience not to be forgotten. I was reminded that in scripture God never tells us WHERE to or HOW to worship him specifically. But instead, wherever we are and however we are led to worship Him is all he really wants from his children. 

 Psalm 95:6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

Isaiah 12:5 “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously

Psalm 29:2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. 

 I Timothy 2:8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray

Hebrews 12:2  Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe

So, no family photos of pretty dresses and bow ties.  No high-healed shoes and Easter egg hunts.  Just a few photos about how God re-taught me what Easter is about:  worshiping wherever you are for Him and not man.