He is Risen!!

Last Sunday was Palm Sunday, though there were no palms distributed or waved at our service.  That's not a tradition here, because the focus is instead on Jesus' upcoming week of suffering.  There's a separate special little worship book that is used just for the Passion worship services.  Our pastor loaned us one, so we were able to look up all the verses in our English Bible and follow along.  The hymns and responses are all in the book too.  

This was a short week at school, with Thursday and Friday off for our Easter holiday.  Wednesday we only had the first three classes, and then everyone from both the primary and secondary schools walked to the church for our monthly worship service.  Tim and I had been rehearsing with the young people leading the contemporary style music, some in Slovak, some in English.  I was asked to read scripture, and Tim said a prayer during the service.  It's neat that they are beginning to incorporate a little English into our services now, but we always have translation - this time it was my office-mate, Ad'ka.  Zuzana, her son Timko, and Katarina went with us to eat lunch out after church - it was so nice not to have to rush back to school, since there were no more classes the rest of the day.  

Late Wednesday afternoon, we met Erik at the train station for a short ride to Ružomberok to watch game #2 in the Slovak national championships for women's semi-professional basketball.  

Ružomberok was the home team, and they were the underdogs.  Two of their better players were Americans.  We googled them later, and they were both star players, one at Boston College and the other at Virginia Tech.  

This is the team from Košice, who has won the championship for the past 10 years.  They also had a couple of Americans playing for them.  

When the Košice fans arrived, they were very enthusiastic supporters!!  

We were cheering for the Ružomberok team, because the three girls who played with Tim and Erik at the coed teacher tournament had all played basketball in the program here, though not at this level.  Our cheering section was pretty rowdy too!!  There were drums, noisemakers, huge flags, etc. just below us.  

The game was intense, and much more physical than we expected.  International rules allow a lot more contact, evidently!  The level of play was really excellent - somewhere between good college ball in the U.S.A. and the WNBA.  We were impressed, and we really enjoyed the game.  It's a best 3 of 5 games, so the next one will be in Košice, but we may go to watch game #4 back in Ružomberok!!  (We won this one, so the series is tied at 1 each now.)  These gals can really play defense, and they are great shooters.  

Thursday we slept in a little, which was really nice for a change.  Then we did some shopping in the late morning, and our trip to the grocery store really reminded us of being at the Ankeny Hy-Vee right before a big holiday weekend.  The parking lot and all the aisles were packed!!  It was crazy, and fun too, feeling all the excitement in Easter preparations!  

i took the camera along on our bike ride to the store, and I stopped for some spring flower pictures along the way.  The grape hyacinth of course remind me of our yard in Ankeny!  These are right outside the front door to our block of flats.

Daffodils and narcisse just outside our place too!!  

Our friend Janka has a beautiful yard and garden, and we loved her Cyclone-themed tulips! 

There are flowering trees absolutely everywhere now!  There are so many apple, plum, and cherry trees in this area, so they all bloom in the springtime.   

The gardens on the main square are starting to bloom too.  

Forsythia can be spotted everywhere, and here they call it "Golden Rain" --- nice!!   :-)

Here's the view from my bike - Tim ahead and the mountains in the distance.

Close-up of the mountains, since they didn't show up so well on the previous picture.   Sorry it's crooked --- I was still pedaling!!  

More flowering trees, and a colorful flowerbed just beyond.  

We love to take time to 'stop and smell the flowers' on our bike rides in the Slovak springtime!   

Another garden view.  All the houses have fences around them, but most every garden has a lot of flowers just inside the fence.  

An older block of flats, with a bush in full bloom.  

Our Maundy Thursday service was at 5:00, but here it is called "Green Thursday" because of Jesus' time in the Garden of Gethsemane.  After church that evening we met Marian and Susan for pizza and conversation.  

On Good Friday, church was at 9:00 a.m., so we met a half hour ahead of time to rehearse with the choir.  Since it's a national holiday, this morning time works fine for people, and the service was packed.  Zuzana came to translate for us, and the choir did a nice job!  

Thanks Zuzka, for taking this picture of me directing our choir.  Tim is on the far right in the back row of the choir, holding down the bass section.    :-)  

We went on another bike ride Friday afternoon, and as we went past the huge Catholic church in Okolične, we noticed they were having Mass.  We had never seen the inside of that gothic structure, so we stepped into the back entryway and listened to the music for a while.  It was beautiful!!  It started to rain, so we pedaled quickly to our flat for the rest of the afternoon, and later, Tim went to play basketball with the guys.  

Saturday we got to sleep in yet again, then we went to church for a couple of hours.  There was a 12-hour prayer vigil all day Saturday (come-and-go style), so we joined in during the segment designated for families and relationships.  It was such a blessing to be there, praying with our brothers and sisters in Christ, singing praise songs, and taking time to reflect on the magnitude of God's love for us.  

This Christmas cactus was in our flat when we arrived, and it has never bloomed yet.  So I decided to decorate it with these small Easter eggs which were tucked away in a box in a closet!   The Easter card is from Tim's mom, and our good-looking kids are center front!   :-)  

The weather has been kind of crazy the last couple of days - even during one single day the temperatures have fluctuated - warm and sunny, cold and windy, and rain comes and goes quickly.  So Saturday afternoon we decided to not venture too far away and risk getting caught in the rain again, but we really wanted to get out and enjoy the day when the sun finally came out.  So, we went into the grassy area just outside our flat and threw a frisbee around for a while!  It was one we had picked up for free at the Iowa State Fair last summer that says:  "I met a farmer today!"  Fun times!!  

Before we close, we want to reflect on our Easter journey here in Slovakia.  We have observed that the biggest focus of Easter week here seems to be Good/Big Friday, rather than Easter morning, which is the biggest focus in the U.S.   Jesus' suffering, death, and sacrifice on our behalf is indeed the greatest gift ever given.  We have also noticed that most all crosses in Slovak churches include the crucified Jesus.  But Christ's victory over death and sin was first known at the empty tomb on Easter morning.  Those empty crosses that we are so accustomed to seeing in Protestant American churches symbolize the risen Jesus!  We have been blessed this Easter season to consider both types of crosses in all their intertwined significance.  Jesus gave his life for our salvation, and He is Risen!!  Hallelujah!!

Our Slovak daughter, Katarina, gave us this cross as a gift, and it is such a perfect symbol of Easter.  Yes, it shows Jesus on the cross, and yet, Jesus did not stay on that cross.  The tomb is empty, and He is Risen!!
He is Risen Indeed!! 

John 3:16  (NIV)  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.