Jesus Christ is Risen Today!

Easter Morning we woke up bright and early and ate a breakfast of eggs and muffins before we set out to church. Every Easter I always have the hymn "Jesus Christ is risen today" stuck in my head. I can hear my grandma singing it from the choir loft all the way in South America! :) Luckily when we were walking into Mass that morning the choir was singing that as their opening song and I felt right at home.

I've always been a big fan of Easter and in fact I think that I even like Easter better than I like Christmas. Easter is a big deal at our house back home and it just doesn't feel the same being down here in South America. I did however get to do a lot of thinking with the time off that I've had.

It started on Good Friday when almost everything down here is closed and no one goes out in order to keep the reverence of the day. I did a lot of thinking about the disciples. They had been following Jesus for about three years at that time and their leader and their hope was being crucified. I think that I would feel lost, confused and completely alone. I am sure they had many doubts and were ready to just give up at some points. I think about how there are so many times here in Guyana that I just get fed up and want to quit. To have one of those moments where you are looking all around you but all you see is darkness. We can all relate to Good Friday and the hardships that we face in life.

Then we have Holy Saturday and really it's just a day of waiting. I think that often we don't think much about Holy Saturday it's just the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Yet I feel like a lot of times in life we really need to think about how often we are in the Holy Saturday position. To be between a difficult time and waiting for a response from the Lord. It's not like we ask for something to come our way and it automatically happens. We need to have faith that Easter Sunday is coming. I find myself always becoming impatient. I have completely faith that after Holy Saturday the sun will set and rise again on Easter Sunday, however, I don't always have faith that God will change my Good Friday's into Easter Sundays when I am living in the Saturday. These three days are really a lesson telling me to learn to trust. Sometimes our Holy Saturdays could last years and years or it could just be a short period of time, either way I have to have faith.

Easter Sunday of course is the resurrection! New life, rejoicing, and renewed hope are all found on this glorious day. For us the ultimate Easter Sunday would be once we have finally found ourselves in God's Kingdom but they are many other points of resurrection in our lives. As I have said before and been reminded many times by others we are Christians of Easter Sunday.

I enjoyed Easter in Guyana we went and took walks out on the Sea wall and enjoyed flying kites. Audrey took some really good pictures and I promise to put some up very soon. I enjoyed spending time at home and relaxing with my roommates. My roommate Sarah happened to be in NYC for part of this week transporting a patient back to the USA. It was hard for me to not have Sarah around all the time. I think the reason it was hard for me was because it was hard for me to actually imagine the fact that she was in the USA. I haven't been back home in about 20 months and I am still having a hard time conceptualizing that fact that I will be home at the end of august. 

I was talking to my friends the other day about sometimes it becomes difficult to describe my life in Guyana because it feels so normal. I don't feel like anything is different and that it's the exact same as my life back home. Then I talked to my family over Easter and saw my house in the background and I was really reminded that life was different. Then Sarah came home from the states and we all stayed awake talking about all the things we had forgotten about.

I've been walking around the past few days a little bit more mindful of the situations around myself. I have learned that maybe there is a lot of garbage on the streets but I've learned to overlook it and appreciate the sea breeze and beautiful sunlight. There may not be good traffic crossings but I've learned to fully use all my senses when about to cross the street and appreciate being aware of my surroundings. I've fallen in love with chaos and find a completely sense of peace in a busy and crowded market like I was sitting at home enjoying a movie.

I promise to post pictures of my Easter experience later this week!

Love and prayers,

Ashley Ann