Surprise! Jesus is Alive!

Wow! What a great Easter weekend we had... we headed to Greenville, SC for the weekend for lots of family and food. We had our Easter dinner on Friday night at Mom & John's complete with a slumber party that included the Stepps. Not only that, we decided that the Easter Bunny should hop through Carisbrooke a day early. So he did! It was so fun to wake up Saturday morning and see the kids excitement as they checked out their Easter loot. We continued the morning with Mimosas, Bloody Marys and again, more food! It was perfect! My sweet grandmother was able to come for a visit and see four of her six great grandchildren. She lights up when she sees these little creatures and her head just turns in awe as she watches them. Bless her heart, she was exhausted by the time she left. I don't blame her :) We completed the day with a cookout at the Stepps. The cookout consisted of family, friends, great hospitality and hot dogs! My goodness, who could ask for more? Not this girl!

On Sunday morning, Archer and I were invited to church with Mary Lanier and Graham. They started attending a new church a few years ago and speak ever so highly of it. While I was excited to go and see what all of the hoopla was about, I must admit, I was a tad bit anxious about what to expect. They are attending a non-denominational church that is more contemporary and forewarned us that it was not the least bit traditional. BUT... I trusted them, as did Archer. They LOVE this place... surely it wasn't that aberrant.

So, Katherine comes to pick us up and we head to church... in our everyday clothes (not so shabby I do say so myself). We meet Mare and Graham in the lobby and head to our seats. I have never seen so many people flock into one place in my life! The room is dark and we're shown to our seats with flashlights. I am pretty sure at this point that Kenny Chesney may be about to perform. (maybe that was my Easter surprise!) Not so much... within minutes the lights shine on the stage and a band starts singing. Now this is no ordinary ensemble... this is a straight up rock band playing Christian music. Good Christian music. Music that I would listen to on the radio. Okay, not traditional but I'm holding on for the ride. We sing a hymn... "It Is Well With My Soul" (a favorite of mine and one that my mother apparently wants played at her funeral so I found out yesterday - thanks for the downer, Dulce!) We pray, we give offering and then we pray again. And then the most technologically advanced thing happened... the minister appeared, except that he really didn't. You see, this church has FIVE campuses and it's based out of Anderson, SC. The minister, Perry Noble, speaks from Anderson but was with us in Greenville in the form of a hologram. I swear you would have thought that he was there. Crazy!

My reason for writing this is because Perry is one of the best ministers I have ever heard. He speaks directly to you and parallels his preaching with everyday life. I left church yesterday with a rejuvenated sense of faith and belief. I left and actually wanted to discuss what I had just heard rather than worry about what I was going to have for lunch. I wanted him to speak longer. The really cool thing (so I'm told) is that his message is like this EVERY SUNDAY, not just Easter Sunday! I can't even begin to tell you what kind of person I'd be if I could get a little bit of this every week. It's amazing... absolutely amazing! Thank you Mare and Graham for inviting us and thanks Kat for the ride! You guys, along with Perry & New Spring, have sparked a fire in me that I haven't felt in a very long time. It was a very emotional service for me and one that I've been needing.

So, to all you naysayers out there who want to poo-poo the ol' contemporary church, well... shame on you! First of all, why would you ever think negatively of a church? Secondly, don't knock it til you've tried it! New Spring had over 22,000 people at its five campuses over three services. If that doesn't tell you something... I don't know what will! And I might add that if New Spring ever decides to move into NC, I'm a goner :)

After church, the Butlers headed home to the elder Butlers to celebrate some Easter in Winston. And whatdaya know? The Easter Bunny made a stop in Winston, too! It was a great night and everyone was to bed early! Whew... we were ALL tired and glad to be back with our "roomies" :)

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter - We sure did.

Butler notes & mishaps:
-Pat Pat peed on Mimi's couch in the sunroom. Lovely!
-The Easter Bunny took away Patterson's popis (pronounced poppies), AKA pacifiers. This has been a huge deal because for those who know Patterson, she goes NOWHERE without the popi! It's her crack - she's like an old lady smoking a cigarette. She moves it to the side of her mouth to talk. It waits for her by the door until she gets home from school. But it's gone! Hooray! And she's doing unbelievably well going cold turkey. We're all really proud of her.
-CeCe has been singing non-stop as her Kindergarten Play is this week. She's so excited and so are we!
-Tee has mastered the art of growing. That sweet tub of love is 18 lbs. Hard to believe just six short months ago he came into this world weighing four pounds and six ounces!
-I, yes I, have started exercising. I'm getting up with my friend Kimberly at 6am to walk most mornings. I'll keep you posted on how long it lasts. I HATE exercise - UGH!