Palm Sunday was so exciting . . .

As a second grader, I was finally old enough to be able to stand with the “big kids” as we were assigned a row on the long aisle of Ascension Lutheran Church. We practiced holding the big palms high! Would my arms be strong enough to hold the palms as all the members of the Choir processed into the church?

It was the stuff of fairy tales, when a live donkey walked down the aisle followed by our choir director as Jesus. I practiced “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna!” My voice proclaimed it loudly, proudly, perfectly.

As a little girl, I knew this day was the start of something very special . . .

It’s so easy to let the years turn the thrill into ho-hum. It’s so easy to forget that this is not just a church drama for the entertainment of children. It’s so easy to forget that Jesus deliberately chose to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, that the crowd waved their palms in reverence, that they spontaneously broke out into Hosannas . . .

That this day is the start of something very special . . .

Let me feel the excitement, as a child.

“Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion. Shout Daughter Jerusalem. See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah 9:9

He comes because He loves us, unconditionally.

Patti