Happy Easter. He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
When Noel and I were talking about being gone on Easter, we decided that we didn't want to miss worshipping our Risen Savior just because we were on vacation. At first I was looking into churches that were in walking distance of our house and I found a beautiful Catholic church that offered an Easter mass. Nolan has never been to a Catholic service so I thought that it would be a beautiful way to spend Easter, but I also knew that in my heart, I really wanted to find a church that felt like home and one where I could fully participate in the service. As Noel and I were talking, he suggested that maybe we could reach out to our friends who live in Charleston and ask them where they attend and possibly go to church with them. Not only did they agree to that, but they also invited us to their family's Easter dinner after the morning service.
It seems like this church is normally pretty large and on Easter Sunday, they were offering three services to accommodate everyone. Since our friends have young children, they suggested that we meet them for the latest service which began at 11:15. When we arrived, the second service was still going on, so we had to drive around the parking lot a couple of times because there weren't any parking spots available. Finally we began to see the first people leaving so as they started to drive away, we found one of the spots to pull into and then we were finally able to make our way to the lobby where we met Meredith and Doug.
I think this church is quite a bit larger than our church back home and I was a little nervous when I saw the lights dim and a fog machine turn on. But the praise team did a really nice job leading us right into a quiet worship atmosphere and we were so blessed to enjoy a morning worshipping. I am SO glad that we decided to go this route rather than visiting an old church just because of the rich history. God knew that I needed the message that the Pastor gave and my heart was blessed.
Once the service was over, we drove about 20 minutes north, back towards Summerville, where we joined Meredith's brother and his family for their Easter lunch. They were SO very gracious to include us in their family dinner. The food and fellowship were all amazing and we definitely enjoyed a day with family.
Doug and Meredith have two young children and they quickly became attached to Melayna and wanted to sit with her wherever she went.
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After several hours had passed, we realized that it was getting late so we excused ourselves and headed back to Charleston. We ate spaghetti back at the house and then we decided to walk from our house down to Kings Street and see what the fuss was all about. We also needed to make a quick stop at Target for a couple of groceries so that we could have a few more things to eat over the next couple of days.
I only have one picture from our walk on Sunday night but let's just say that King's Street is one street full of expensive shops. Everything from Brooks Brothers to Kate Spade to Gucci. (Even their Abercrombie store was marked up about 3x what they normally are). There were some really expensive art studios and a few really cute bookstores. Everything had closed at 6:00 except for one bookstore so we just looked into windows as we walked up and down both sides of the street. We did find one side alley that led to a cute park with a fountain. We took a quick selfie and then started walking towards the exit. 'Good thing that we were ready to leave, because they closed the gate right behind us.
This day felt more like a family day at home than a vacation, which was really sweet. And I am so grateful to Doug and Meredith (and also Chris and Michelle) for making us feel like part of their fabulous family.
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