This morning was challenging. Considering the fact that Justin had never participated in a Palm Sunday processional and I only had once in high school, I was a little nervous. All I could think about was how silly I thought that processional had been back then, plus the fact that Hope Fellowship is different anyway, so who knows what's going to happen. We met at the Meeting House, grabbed a palm branch, and walked about the neighborhood singing songs, half of which were in Spanish (per Hope's intentionally-bilingual style), and waving our branches in the air. At one point, I looked over and saw a man just standing and watching us walk by, almost like he was watching a parade. I then leaned over to Justin and said, "I'm intensely uncomfortable right now." I eventually got over it, but I've been thinking about the processional and my feelings about it for the rest of the day (which I guess is a good thing!).
Why was I so uncomfortable? It wasn't the fact that I was doing something different. Let's be real, that doesn't usually bother me. It was the fact that this different-ness (yep...it's a word) was so public and the people around me were so devoid of shame about it. It wasn't like the majority of the people were kind of clustered together in small groups, chatting about other things and giggling because they felt silly. There was actually none of that. People were singing boldly with smiles on their faces. It was so refreshing that I think it sort of shocked me. Justin and I were talking about how the people at Hope are normal people, but at the same time, they're super not. I would say that you can usually tell just by looking at them that there's something different about them, which I love.
I think the reason I was able to get over my pride and feel more comfortable by the end of the processional was because of the attitude of those around me. They weren't too proud to sing and maybe look a little silly. Their confidence in their faith drew me in until I stopped thinking about being embarrassed and started singing without reservations (unless the song was in Spanish because it's rather difficult to read a language you don't speak, singing it to a tune you don't know, while walking on a lumpy/grassy sidewalk-ish path with a baby strapped to your chest). I'm so excited about going to Hope Fellowship! I know Christ lives in their community and I can see their counter-cultural attitudes already helping to shape me into the Christian I want to be.
In other news...
The boys and I played with ice in the backyard the other day and had lots of fun. Levi's main focus is to eat the ice, while Lincoln's is to eat the toys, but both of them explored the cold and watched ice melt in their hands, which was pretty awesome.
Also, this happened...
Don't worry. Levi wasn't putting too much weight on him, other than on Lincoln's bottom, and as soon as he shifted I took him off. Not sure why he decided to do this though.
I also finally started our herb garden!! YAY! I thought it might be fun for me to document the progress of our little sprouts on the blog as well. Hopefully that doesn't mean that I end up documenting the death of several plants, but we'll see. I started with an eco-friendly green house kit that I found at Target (literally everything in the kit is compostable and made from sustainable/renewable resources...so cool!). I've got 5 little pots of each of the following: Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, Parsley, and Cilantro. I use these fresh herbs the most so I thought I'd start with them. Hopefully these do really well so I don't get discouraged and second-guess my plan to have a veggie patch as well. Positive green-thumb thoughts!
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