I first wrote this on an After-Resurrection Sunday Monday Morning in a Covid-19 Isolation lifestyle in 2020. I revised it last year on another After-Resurrection Sunday Monday Morning when I was struggling with sciatica pain before my son’s wedding. Both times, I needed the encouragement of that call to meet Jesus in Galilee –Hope in such goodness planned by a Redeeming Father and Savior, even after a crucifixion experience, even after a resurrection experience – His plans for goodness don’t stop – they just continue from glory to glory if we press into it, regardless of whether it’s comfortable, whether we understand, and even doubt we can – but we step forward in faith trusting, believing. . . in a Meet Me in Galilee Invitation. This is a further revision.

The challenges have changed since 2020 – and since last year, too. . . and in a world where so much is less safe, more upside-down, more offended and less forgiving, where our faith is more mocked and less tolerated, where the fears for physical safety the apostles experienced feel closer to home, I find myself leaning into the hope of a Meeting-Christ-In-Galilee encounter.

Yesterday, we celebrated Easter: the day the Son of God, after having died for our sins, rose from the dead, restored to His Father – and restoring us to His Father, too.

Then came Monday, Everyday Ordinary Monday.

“We are the Easter People, and Hallelujah is our Song,” said Pope John Paul II.

Does Monday feel like that? Like a Hallelujah Song? Tuesday? Wednesday? Many other days after that? Where did our Hallelujah Song go? Do we backslide into wondering if it was only for Easter Sunday?

About 2,000 years ago, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna (Joanna, wife of Chuza, a steward in Herod’s household, who had been healed by Jesus), Salome (the wife of Zebedee, mother of James and John, possibly the sister of Mary)–these women set out early Sunday morning to Christ’s tomb. Instead of finding hopelessness and death, they found resurrection hope – and something to carry into the week.

Jesus tells them,
“You’re holding on to me for dear life!
Don’t be frightened like that.
Go tell my brothers that they are to go to Galilee,
and that I’ll meet them there” (Matthew 28:10).

What did they do with that Resurrection Joy? That Resurrection Hope? The Impossible somehow Possible! Did they walk home, walk back into their everyday ordinary Mondays? Doing things the same old same old?

“Meet me in Galilee,” Jesus said – and I cannot get it out of my head.

The Impossible just became Possible – there are things to be done, lost to be found, souls to be saved. . . Meet me in Galilee. . .

Meet me in Galilee
those who came to the tomb were told

Meet me in Galilee
he said – tell all our friends

Meet me in Galilee
Don’t despair – all is not lost –
it’s all been won

Meet me in Galilee
there is so much more

Meet me in Galilee
it’s just beginning

Meet me in Galilee
there are the lost to be found
and souls to be saved

Meet me in Galilee
there are unclean spirits to be cast out
and minds to be freed

Meet me in Galilee
there are the sick and broken
to be healed and mended

Meet me in Galilee
for a Holy Spirit rain
to fall and fill
your souls

Meet me in Galilee
before you go proclaim
the Kingdom of God
to the world

Meet me in Galilee
it is not the end
we are just beginning

Life had radically changed from Friday to Sunday on that first Easter. Sunday morning Jesus’ followers and friends were probably woke wondering what to do about it all. Would they return to their fishing nets? To their brick laying? To their Tax Collecting? How were they to live out what Jesus poured into them?

Monday morning brought a different opportunity. With a resurrected Jesus, anything was possible.

We need to take that Resurrection Excitement, that Resurrection Hope into a post-Resurrection Monday morning challenge, like Jesus’ friends did.

Meet me in Galilee is where he is,
anytime I draw close, he is there.

He meets all of us where we are right now, whether it’s in the overcast moments, whether I’m bent over coughing my insides out, whether I’m shivering on the side of a soccer field, or too weak to climb higher on a misty mountain, whether I’m isolated in a pandemic or in the middle of trying to get a loved one’s fever down, or cannot find what I need at the grocery store.

He meets me in the wait of a prayer sent out, in a good-news moment, in the freeze of a teen grump, even the pile of unmatched socks.

He meets me in my gracelessness, when I’m steeped in a give-up minute, when I’ve lost my direction (not my faith–just the direction).

Not only does me meet me and you, but He encourages us that there is so much more to this journey–so much more to this living with Him in it that will amaze, humble, fire up with His love for you and me, a love that needs to be shared and given to others.

Easter, my friend, isn’t just a celebration. It’s a way of life.
Yes! We are the Easter People! Yes! Hallelujah is our Song!

But we need that Galilee meeting! Isolation and Quarantine cannot stop it. A world gone upside-down can’t stop it. Only you can stop it by not meeting Him.

Where’s Jesus meeting you? Where’s your Galilee? What does your Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday look like? What do you want it to look like?

Remember Me Monday: #91 & Link-up

“I’ll make a list of God’s gracious dealings,
    all the things God has done that need praising,
All the generous bounties of God,
    his great goodness to the family of Israel—
Compassion lavished,
.    love extravagant.”
~ Isaiah 63:7, The Message

In the Old Testament, God repeatedly, quietly and loudly, tells his children, “You have forgotten me!”  (Jeremiah 3:32, Ezekiel 22:12, to name a few). It’s a heart cry from a father to a child who has forgotten all the love, all the saving, helping, little and big blessings – and it leaves me stunned when I realize our Father, the creator of the universe, who knows things I cannot begin to fathom, who authors storylines that leave me amazed, delights in all of us so much, He cries out, “Remember Me.”

While every day is a Remember God Day, I am inviting you to join me on Monday mornings to come by and remember what God has done for you, for your family. Maybe God sent a cardinal darting out in front of you, as if to tell you, “I’m here,” or broke a child’s fever after you laid it all down at His feet in a 2 a.m. bedside vigil. Maybe He stood with you in the wait of a prayer sent out, or brought someone you loved to Christ. Maybe He healed your broken heart, gave your courage, or you gave Him your dreams as a love offering only to have Him give them back in an unimaginable way. Maybe God helped you survive to bedtime after a crazy Monday, or forgive yourself for missing it with your kiddos –– Whatever it is, let’s Remember Him. . . in a “Remember Me Monday” love letter.

“My mouth will tell of your righteousness,
Of your salvation all the day long,
Though I know not its measure.
I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign Lord”
~ Psalm 71:15-16.

Let us delight in Him by telling the  stories of what He’s done!  If you wrote a blog post remembering what He’s done for you, join the linky. If you didn’t but still want to praise Him for what He’s done – write it in the comment section. Then visit a comment before or after yours! One of the beautiful things about the blogging community is the relationships it builds!

Rules?  Write long or short, a list or a story, include photos or not. Just Remember Him and what He has done, and let the gratitude of your heart guide you. Let’s make Monday so Rejoice, that the goodness of God spills into the rest of the week!

Places I’m Linking at This Week:
 Inspire Me Monday,   Instaencouragements, 
Legacy Link-Up, Recharge Wednesday
 Faith on Fire, Tell His Story, Grace&Truth
Let’s Have Coffee Wednesday Celebrate Your Story