Hallelujah!

It was fun to spread some Easter tidings into the week by sharing a video of the Goodrich Memorial United Methodist Church choir singing the "Hallelujah" chorus from Handel's Messiah. The recording starts after the choir is already singing (the director succeeded in his surprise start!) -- and it's shot from the back of the church using a cellphone. These circumstances limited the production quality. Should I even post something like that on Facebook? But I couldn't resist. Something about the heart of those 17 singers, the director and pianist necessitated sharing. And the response was genuine and gracious. 

The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of the Lord and of His Christ. And He shall reign forever. Hallelujah!

It required perseverance to finally get that video where people could see it. The effort was rewarded not just by the appreciative responses, but also a sense of lightness and joy. Other things also seemed to be falling into place during the week. I learned I would be getting the full reimbursement on my flexible spending account, instead of losing about $200 as I had feared. I followed through with action to help out a relative. 

I planned a partial fast Tuesday, but just couldn't bring myself to do it. So I pushed it to Thursday. It's still not easy for me to follow through on this discipline, but again I persevered. And at the end came such a sense of gratefulness and peace. 

Every day, I hoped to get to bed early enough for eight hours of sleep. It never happened. I was in bed eight hours Thursday night, but the light was off only about seven and a half hours or less. At the end of Friday, it's well past midnight and I'm still writing. 

And Saturday is my date with the Oklahoma City National Memorial. I visited the memorial briefly for the first time about three weeks ago with my mother. I knew then I wanted to go back on my own before the 20th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. As I wrote to my pastor this week, the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Murrah Building was a defining moment in my life as a journalist, not as much for what I saw and covered as for what I didn't witness and write about. And it was pivotal for me as a wife, daughter and one who is not a mother -- as a Christian woman trying to find her place in the world. I struggled with plenty of life issues before that date but the dynamics changed afterward. The  $25,000 Mustang convertible I took possession of four days earlier also fits into this story somewhere. As does the unexpected death two years later of a precious, 5-month-old baby.

The message of Easter 2015 and the sharing of a joyous chorus have helped me prepare for being with my memories and thoughts about the bombing. I am ready. 

The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of the Lord and of His Christ. And He shall reign forever. Hallelujah!.