8.15am Hello and happy Easter Saturday! I’m feeling a bit better rested because Nathan went in to see Sophia at 2 and she didn’t wake again until 6.30. Which means I slept all the way from about midnight to 6.30 with no interruptions.

As well as that, there’s nothing happening this morning so I can have slightly longer in bed!

9.30am Dad has produced a lovely fry up and I’ve managed more than I thought I would!

11am We’ve taken Soph over to St Giles to see the decorations being put up. She’s had a lovely time sat at the altar, looking at the figures and learning about the story.

11.30am Time to go to church! I’m picking up extra Easter eggs for tomorrow on the way.

12.05pm Look who I found having a car picnic outside church!

Right, there’s so much to do! Set up, chalking the pavement, printing the risk assessment, making sure everybody knows what they’re doing… I’d best crack on!

4.45pm BLIMEY! That was brilliant! We had so many amazing volunteers making everything happen, and we think we had somewhere between 70 and 80 kids in attendance, plus their parents and a couple of dogs!

Here are some pictures.

Various people had told me that they were away this weekend so I half expected it to be a flop. But it wasn’t! It’s so lovely to be in a position to freely offer quality family time to those in our community. It might have been my idea, but it would have been awful if it was just me on my own! None of what happens at ASSF could happen without a huge amount to teamwork. I will always be so grateful, and I don’t take it for granted.

6.10pm We’re back home for a lovely tea of pie and mash. Nathan has got another service tonight so I’m settling Sophia and then going to reward myself with a bit of crochet.

8.23pm She’s asleep! Not bad considering she ate at least half a chocolate bunny this afternoon. She was wandering round under the careful watch of my Dad, and every time I saw her, the rabbit was smaller and smaller. Eventually, she let me take it when I said, ‘How about two more bites, and you can have the rest tomorrow?’ She’s such a good girl.

10.15pm I’m just lying on my bed, contemplating my day. It’s been an exhausting week, worse than I anticipated in several ways. But today has been utterly brilliant. The sun shone and it was warmer than we thought it would be. More people are getting to know us as a church, and it feels to me like we are more confident in our outreach and community events than we were a year ago. We’re on such a journey together, and who knows where it will take us.

But the most exciting, most life changing and world shattering joy comes at sunrise. I’m so lucky to have Jesus as the purpose of my life. Although I’m very tired and still not right, I’m so excited for our two services tomorrow, especially the second one. It’s been months in the planning, and we’ve got a very special visitor coming… but more of that tomorrow!

Afterwards, we’ve got three lots of visitors, some for lunch, some for a cuppa and some to stay overnight.

Best get some rest x