Following a Holiday

What do you do after a holiday? After Christmas, we clean up wrapping paper and bows. After New Year’s Eve we sleep late. After Thanksgiving, we eat leftovers. After the 4th of July, we put away our red, white, and blue clothes for a while. But what do we do after Easter? Actually, we have another special day – Easter Monday, the day immediately after Easter Sunday. It is observed by many groups, but primarily by the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions. It marks the beginning of Easter Week. According to the Bible, Jesus appeared five times on that resurrection Sunday, and then again the following Sunday. But what happened immediately following resurrection day, and prior to the next Sunday? This is all we know for sure: sometime between the two Sundays, the disciples of Jesus encountered Thomas, who had been absent when Jesus appeared to the disciples on resurrection Sunday. When they told Thomas of the risen Lord, he doubted, and continued to do so until Jesus appeared at the end of Easter Week to challenge him (John 20). If you are like Thomas, you follow the Easter holiday with doubting and discovery. If you are like the other disciples, you follow the Easter holiday with celebrating and sharing. Either way, these days following Easter ought to be exciting. Live well this week.

Join me this week in praying for the following global concerns:
• Pray for missionaries around the globe as they follow-up on activities of the Easter season.
• Pray with and for missionaries in Belgium after the attacks of March 22 in Brussels. All missionaries are reported safe, even though some were in the airport during the attack.
• Missionaries in Thessaloniki request prayer for the single refugee women traveling alone and for safety to the Christian families.
• Pray for the wives of Vancouver church planters as they gather on April 2 for a time of fellowship and encouragement.