Easter Weekend was a busy one.

Easter baskets were done on Saturday morning.
(The girlies in their Easter dresses)

Beau & I were each heavily involved in our Easter production so we spent most of the weekend at church.
(My peeps also involved and me)

We saw over 4000 people in attendance throughout our 5 services. Wow! My pastor explains the service best at his blog.

In a nutshell … “Stones” was the title of the production & series. We all have something (a stone) that stands in the way of God’s best for us … something that we have put there or something that is part of us because of our past.

Seeing all these people write what their “stone” was on their rock and place it at the altar was very moving and powerful.

There were so many stones at the altar that said “FEAR.”

Honestly, I’m not sure that one stone would be able to hold all the things that I put up between me and God. But, when I think about all of those things, they really do all come back to fear.

I’m not talking the kind of fear you have when you see a scary movie, I’m talking about real fear.

Real fear that stems from real hurt.

Because when you’ve been hurt, you have to have some type of mechanism to keep you safe.

There go those walls again. Man, I have issues.

Fear takes on so many forms.

Fear of rejection … fear of being alone … fear of trusting … fear of being hurt … fear for the welfare of your family … the list goes on.

I have personally laid my stone of fear down a while back.

But, every now and again, I pick it back up.

It’s like a tug-o-war … put it down, pick it up, put it down, pick it up … Geez, will I ever learn?

But, fear is really hard to let go of, but I’ve made tremendous steps.

Almost three years ago, I truly believe God urged me to start a Bible study with some ladies at the church. Some of us didn’t really know each other at all and others of us were already good friends.

This group of girls has become my closest friends.

I have never been one to have a lot of girlfriends. I was always more comfortable being around the boys. And, let’s face it, girls are vicious & can’t be trusted. It was just easier.

But, now that I’ve formed these relationships, I understand the true bonds that women can have and actually need from one another.

I have made myself vulnerable to them. They have made themselves vulnerable to me.

I can’t imagine my life without these girls. They encourage me and support me. They love me even though I can be a handful. And, I love them.

Choosing to pick up that stone is a daily choice.

I don’t want to be that person that misses out on so many relationships because I’m too scared. Life’s too short.