Steele (the Day)

Living in Saturday

// April 11th, 2010 // Faith

Last weekend was none other than a Divine Easter experience. After considerable reflecting all week and a quiet at-home study on Maundy Thursday, I went to a powerful worship service on Good Friday. Who knew two-plus hours could fly by so quickly? I didn’t even care that I was by far the oldest person in that Christian mosh pit as the praise team belted out their magic. Even more delightful was the fact that the crowd was so loud, I could sing at the top of my lungs and not offend anyone. Or perhaps there were others there who couldn’t carry a tune either, so I went unnoticed.

(There’s a good reason my dad always asked me to sing “Far, Far Away”).

The extended worship service that evening left me feeling very moved, and not dreading so much the “Saturday in between” that I have in the past. That Saturday between Good Friday and Easter, where everyone sat, waiting for God to do something, and it felt like nothing was happening. It had to be the longest day ever.

Sometimes I feel like I live my entire life on that Saturday. Just waiting. Wondering.

Stuck. In Saturday.

Our “baby” joined us for Easter service Saturday evening. As we left the parking lot in separate cars, he texted me:  “I think that message was meant for me.”

{{heart leaps}} I am reminded of Andy Stanley saying something like “God doesn’t want to get you back, He wants to bring you back.”

I have often thought when hearing a particularly powerful message, that the pastor has been lurking outside my house all week, waiting to pounce on the weekend with something I need to hear. I finally figured out that we all need to hear pretty much the same thing. We start to doubt The Plan. We think we are in control. We fall into the trap of thinking we can do life on our own terms. Our way. We forget what that did for the prodigal son or a host of other arrogant characters in scripture.

And then when our plans fall through, it hits us and we realize we’re living in that Saturday. Feeling a little bit hopeless, helpless, and waiting.

I was determined to let the light of the Easter message continue this time. To not let it fade away. To not get thrown back to feeling like Saturday. But the week was long and draining.

This brings the story to yesterday when we started doing the spring yard work. I was dreading the chore of cutting down my favorite tree, a flowering crab that had apparently succumbed to the devastation of the ice storm a couple years ago. The leaves had ceased growing mid-summer and the crab apples had all shriveled and fallen off. The bark was stripping and branches were snapping. By September it was leafless and lifeless.

As headed toward the pond, I ducked under one of the branches and my head was brushed with this.

And I am reminded once again that even though it was Saturday, it was not that Saturday.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

Proverbs 13:7

Tea today: Jasmine

Related posts:

1. Bustin’ out on a Saturday night
2. Then Sings My Soul Saturday
3. Beautiful Saturday