Easter Blessings!

Blessing #1
Chris, Kaylah and Gracie join

us at church for Easter Service Blessing #2

Daddy's and Daughters

hanging out at Aunt Tina's

Blessing #3

A phone call from Mike

& Samie, and picture of

their Easter spread

(Summer's 1st Easter, but she couldn't wait for the feast!)

Blessing #4

Kherington's 1st Easter too!

Girl's Night out to see "Riverdance" at the Fox

It was my Mom's Birthday on March 24th, so I wanted to find something that she would like. What better gift than a night out with her favorite girls? :)

Riverdance - On a stage bathed in the blues and greens of the Irish sea, in a Celtic-looking, rock-like setting worthy of Stonehenge, a thunderous battalion of Irish step dancers, furious fiddlers, and sonorous voices tell a story of ancient Celtic mythology and Irish history.

The first Act speaks of a primitive and powerful world, where the ancestors knew fear and joy and fire, worked wood and stone and water to make a place they could call home. The first peoples knew the world as a place of power; their songs and dances and stories are negotiations with elemental powers.

In Act 2, war, famine and slavery shattered the ancient bonds between people and place. Forced dislocations marked and altered the histories of the native peoples. As they came into history, they learned to guard what they valued, to accomodate themselves to others, to learn new ways of being themselves, to embrace new kinds of courage. Cast out and momentarily orphaned, they learned to belong to the world.

The only sad thing, in my opinion, is that God doesn't seem to be anywhere in the mix (in Riverdance I mean, not Irish history). Just a thought......

Haggadah

I was invited last night to a Seder

where the story of Passover was told.

They had a Seder plate in the middle of each table,

along with a whisk to remove the leaven (sin),

a candle, the Matzoh, the bowl for washing the hands,

and the 4 cups (Sanctification, Deliverance, Redemption & Praise).

The Passover Seder Plate Hebrew: ke'ara (קערה) is

a special plate containing symbolic foods used by

Jews during the Passover Seder.

Each of the six items arranged on the plate

has special significance to the retelling of the story

of the exodus from Egypt, which is the focus of this ritual meal.

The ceremony lasted for about an hour and a half

and ended with a celebration dance.

I have always been interested in learning

of Old Testament practice relating to the coming

of the Messiah, and considered it a blessing

to be at this Christian held event.

Did you know that when each man took a lamb

for his family, that they had to keep it among

themselves (in the house, with the family)

for 4 days before they would sacrifice it?

And, did you know that

when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey,

He was there 4 days before He was crucified?

JESUS - The Lamb of God!

Amen

The Toddler Class

Since we only had two kids last Sunday,

we had a little extra time for...............

.........Worship - 2 yr-old style!

Of course, we did the lesson too! (see, here's proof!)

We even had a special "pop-in" visit!

I love those kids!

Stepping out in faith

What does it mean?

God assigns the task - THEN He equips us.

It's the difference between: "If the Lord would give me wings, I would fly", and "If God bids me fly, I will trust Him for the wings".

One of my favorite scenes in the film 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' is when Indian Jones is standing at the edge of deep, deep valley that seems to plunge down forever. On the other side of this valley is The Holy Grail - just what Indiana has spent his life searching for. But there appears no way across the valley. What can he do? Luckily for Mr Jones he has a parchment he can consult. On the parchment it shows an old faded drawing of a man seemingly walking on air. This must be a leap of faith, says Indiana. So he steps out into what seems like fresh air and finds a bridge waiting for him, and within a couple of steps the Holy Grail is in reach.

If God has given you a task or a special work that seems scary to do, it is your responsibility to step out and do it, and His to see you through.

When we sing: "Where You go, I go; what You say, I say; what you pray, I pray, God"... do we really mean it?

His word to us is: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go". (Josh. 1:9)

(a paraphrase from Richard De Haan in Our Daily Bread)

Ask a direct question - get a direct answer!

What happens when you get specific about your prayer request? Well, I can tell you what happened for me yesterday morning.

On my way to work, I was asking God to help me to restructure my life. Without getting into great detail, I think we can all relate to getting lax, sloppy, and lazy in our spiritual life and schedules. I went on to tell Him what He already knew about my life, and how I wanted it to have more purpose.

This is what I read on my "Verse-A-Day" Calendar when I got to work:

"The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live."

OMG! Could it get any clearer than that?! This verse was from 1 Timothy 2:1-3 in the 'MSG'. I don't even know what version that is, but I'm sure I have read that verse at least 100 times in my years as a Christian.

Today it became clear to me.

He's the God of the Random

Random - adj. of or characterizing a process of selection in which each item of a set has an equal probability of being chosen.

I was thinking about this on the way to work this morning as I was wondering what my "Verse-a-day" Calendar that Kaylah gave me ("thank you Kaylah - I love it!") would say, and low and behold, today's verse - 'randomly' placed by Dayspring, ministered to the very situation that I was dealing with.

This 'happens' so often in my life that God will show me personally that He is there and cares about ME! - proving that nothing 'happens' by 'chance'; no such thing as 'kismet' or 'fate'; just a loving and real God who loves us and has our best interest at heart!