Easter with the Oldies..

I had to work this weekend. Let me start off by saying that I was not one bit happy about this. Well, I guess that isn't completely true. At first I thought I was going to get overtime pay for Sunday since I assumed it was a holiday. Well we all know what they say about people who assume things(hardy har)! I found out at 6a.m. Saturday that Easter wasn't in fact a holiday where I work. That is when my bad attitude hit and it hit hard! I was bummed that I would be missing out on church and Easter basket finding and dressing little girls in their best dresses!
I literally think there was an audible "Grr" when my alarm went off again this morning at 4:30. But as soon as I got there it become more and more clear that this is exactly where God wanted me to be. Several of the residents leave their doors open so be who pass by can say hello. I have established several of my closest relationships with these "open door" residents. Believe or not many of their doors are open by 7a.m. so I was heartily greeted by many, "Happy Easters" I even got to say my favorite Easter greeting, "He is Risen!" to which of course these sharp,Christian oldies responded with a "He is Risen indeed!"
As the day wore on I realized that while many residents were being taken out by their families a number of them were not. One lady in particular had a very sad and public interaction with a family member in my dining room. Another who recently lost a spouse was sitting sadly in the public sitting area despairing that this was the first time in his life that he wasn't at church on Easter. Yet another lady when asked by me how she was doing responded by saying, "I guess ok, I am just so lonely!" Because I wasn't terribly busy, seeing that many of my regulars were gone, I was able to sit and chat with her for awhile and maybe,for a few moments, get her mind off her loneliness.
By the end of the day, I swear I could hear God whispering to me, "See. This is where I need you to be." And of course, He was right!(duh) My kids found their Easter baskets, got dressed(of course Ellie's outfit was on backwards but hey..who really cares?) I even managed to make it to church during a break for the Easter Egg Hunt! I was home mid afternoon and we had a nice family evening together complete with Honeybaked Ham and a screening of our newest movie courtesy of the Easter bunny, "Tangled".
I am ending this Easter feeling good. Happy that God is in control of even the tiniest details, like who works in an assistant living dining room. Wow. How Great Thou Art!
I hope you had a blessed Easter...