Today has been a surprisingly busy day – phone calls and helping friends with projects and even doing a curbside pickup from a friend of some yummy, healthy food.

In the midst of all of that, I received an email from Jackie Taylor sharing the palm branches her household had coloured with young Kelan. How lovely! So I just had to share this with you. I don’t always know if the things I’m doing on this blog are helpful/being accessed/being used. So please, send pictures or stories or make comments or hit “like” on Facebook!

It’s Holy Week, and normally I’d be feeling nervous and excited and a little bit overwhelmed by the extra work I need to get done. And I’m feeling happy about the fact that this year, in this vastly changed reality we find ourselves in, I’m feeling nervous and excited and a little bit overwhelmed by the extra work I need to get done. Something that feels normal!

I have plans and some exciting surprises for the posts I will be doing on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. After a couple of weeks of feeling a little frozen in place, I suddenly have some forward momentum, some things to look forward to…Easter this year won’t look anything like ‘normal.’ But I am beginning to feel that’s not a bad thing.

Sure there are things that I am grieving and will continue to grieve – there won’t be a SonRise Ecumenical Service on the top of Centennial Hill this year, for the first time in 50 years (and don’t you dare try to gather there, friends. STAY HOME!); we won’t have our Good Friday breakfast; or be together to bring flowers to the cross on Easter Sunday. And all of that is hard.

But Jesus isn’t stopped by this physical distancing. Faith isn’t stopped. In fact, as a friend said to me, recently – if there was ever a time for a closer walk with Jesus, I don’t know what it is.

So that is my prayer for you this week – that you would experience a closer walk with Jesus, even in this vastly changed reality. And that in walking closely with him, you would find peace unto your soul.

While not the greatest quality video, I love Randy Travis’ version of Just A Closer Walk with Thee. Until tomorrow, dear friends!