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I was lucky to be able to spend some time with my family on Easter. The food was excellent and the weather cooperated. We spent the day outside, catching up with each other. It was so good to see my parents and siblings and to spend time talking with them. It was nice to take a deep breath and slow down.

I haven’t seen my nephew who lives in Puerto Rico for a couple of years. He loves the island life. He teaches surfing and kiteboarding. To see his smile and to hear him talk about life on Puerto Rico was great. My favorite story was hearing about the time he was kiteboarding and came within a few feet of a whale that was flapping his tail on the water.

One of my nieces lives out west as a midwife. She radiated joy. She shared a few stories and told me a little about her boyfriend. She listened as I shared a few stories of my own. Another niece was there with a new baby. She and her husband were glowing new parents. They talked about their new little one, their new home and asked for some advice about gardening.

The best part of the day was the Easter egg hunt. A bunch of us scattered eggs across the yard. Then the 80-plus crowd and the few small children were allowed to begin collecting eggs. Later, the rest of the adults joined in. The eggs contained candy and fake money. The money could be used to “buy” prizes. It was so fun to watch the seniors take their money to the tables and get their prizes. I think they were as excited as the kids. The laughter and memories of those few minutes was priceless.

COVID has stolen so many of these kinds of family moments from us. It is good to find ways to gather, especially outside, where we can safely be together and share these kinds of family moments.

The Fourth of July is another one of those family moments where we can gather outside and re-connect. Families and friends need these opportunities to come together to share our love and our stories with each other.

I started my Easter Sunday at church, where we had a really nice service. My pastor’s wife painted a picture while the pastor gave his sermon. The two intertwined to illustrate God’s unfathomable love for us. As he spoke and shared the scriptures about God’s love, she painted a picture that illustrated God’s great love for us. It was powerful, meaningful and moving to experience.

But there was a moment during the worship that grabbed my imagination. We were singing a song that I have sung many times. There is a line in the song that says, “I know the author of my story and He’s mine.” The line captured me, and my imagination kicked into overdrive as I thought about the words.

I could see myself sleeping in bed. Then I could imagine God pulling up a chair beside me and pulling out a pen and notebook. His glasses were on the end of his nose so He could focus on His writing. He would occasionally look at me with the biggest smile as He wrote what was going to happen in my life. I could imagine the joy on His face as He looked at me and then wrote my story.

I thought about those images all day. I thought about the joy He has just looking at us. I saw the same joy as I looked at my niece and her husband as they looked at their newborn child.

The Bible is clear that God is planning a good future for us. It makes it easy to imagine that God takes great joy in writing our future. He smiles as He plans the things we will discover, the hidden treasures…just like those Easter eggs. I think we often fail to realize just how much pleasure we bring to Him just by being ourselves.

I want to encourage you to stop and think about the fact that God loves you and that He is actively creating a future for you that is bright and hopeful. He looks at you and is filled with joy. He sees the best in you. He believes the best about you. He is planning wonderful things, not only for this lifetime but for all eternity, for you.

The truth is God loves you and He can’t wait to spend all eternity with you. Enjoy the good story that God is writing for you.

Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041 or doug@dougcreamer.com.