Easter Signs

I have a few interesting signs we have seen in Hawaii.  This one on the North Shore warns of dangerous rip currents: "You could be swept out and drown.  If in doubt, don't go out."  This being Easter weekend I was reminded by this sign of another warning that God gave to us to be remembered every Easter.  It is found here (Acts 17:31).

We saw this sign on a house on the way back from the North Shore.  It caught our eye because of the word TUTU on it which is Hawaiian for Grandma.  When we got home and looked at the picture we noticed it has a yellow fire line around the house and a warning of danger-keep out.  The message says more than just "TUTU," as we thought.  It says; "Forgive us Tutu, we failed to Malama."  The last word means "to care for someone."  One can only wonder about the sadness and the story behind this sign of regret.

This final sign was on a plaque in front of a twenty foot tree lining Pearl Harbor's Channel.  The tree was planted and the plaque placed in 1973 (one year after we arrived in ND) in memory of Maj. Thomas Reitman, USAF pilot, who disappeared in the Viet Nam war on December 1st, 1965, leaving a wife and four children, the youngest being 5 months.  He was a week short of his 34th birthday.  Some of his remains were discovered and cared for over 40 years by a poor Vietnamese farmer before being turned over to authorities who identified the remains as Maj. Reitman's.  Maj. Reitman was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetary on November 11, 2011.  On the way there his family was honored by another pilot... an airline pilot: “I remember on the way there in Atlanta, the pilot came over on the plane and told everyone on board, ‘we are privileged to the have the family of Major Thomas Reitmann on board.  Please stay seated as I escort the family to the tarmac.”  Forty-six years later, Major Reitman, USAF, was home.

Easter is a sign of coming judgement for the world and joyfully it is also the remembrance of the resurrection of the Christ who gives eternal hope to the troubled and grieving through believing faith in the resurrected Christ.  He is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Happy Easter!